Case studies
Securities LitigationWho: Our attorneys represented a group of professional day traders before the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) against a securities trading platform.
What: The claimants entered into a contract with the trading platform without knowing that the platform intended to use our clients’ high trading volume in an elaborate scheme to “pump and dump” – to overstate the platform’s revenues so that it could be sold at a premium to a prominent public company. The group traded over 500,000,000 shares in a one-year period, but was so highly over-charged that it ate up all of their trading profits.
How: Our attorneys were able to sue for millions of dollars of over-charges and used electronic discovery to demonstrate that the defendants’ executives that testified under oath before the NASD were continuing with their lies and deception to try to conceal the fraud. As a result, Kluger Kaplan was successful in forcing a significant multi-million dollar settlement.
The claimants were represented by Philippe Lieberman and Bruce Katzen of Kluger, Kaplan, Silverman, Katzen & Levine, P.L.
Finder’s Fee Litigation
Who: Attorneys at Kluger Kaplan represented a national developer and its joint venture partner in defense of a law suit filed by another company for a $50 million “finder’s fee.”
What: The suing company alleged it came up with the concept and foresight to develop one of the first modern condominium-hotels in Las Vegas. It also claimed that it was due to its knowledge, expertise, and an introduction they facilitated between the national developer and joint venture partner that the developer was able to build three highly profitable condominium-hotels and two condominiums on the land in Las Vegas. The plaintiff claimed it was owed over $50 million for its services as a “finder’s fee.”
How: After a year of pre-trial litigation and depositions, our attorneys successfully settled this case for significantly less than it would have cost to try it.
Defendants were represented by Alan J. Kluger and Philippe Lieberman of Kluger, Kaplan, Silverman, Katzen & Levine, P.L.
Shareholder Derivative Action
Who: Attorneys at Kluger Kaplan represented a prominent developer who was seeking to acquire a substantial piece of property fronting Biscayne Boulevard in order to complete an assemblage on which to build a residential condo.
What: Originally the transaction was contemplated as a stock purchase of the closely held corporation that owned the property; however, when three of the four shareholders balked, our client was forced to file a shareholders' derivative action in circuit court in Miami-Dade County. The crux of the lawsuit was the shareholders' wrongful actions in attempting to hold onto the corporation -- and the property -- by paying themselves unearned "salaries" as a means of draining the value of the company while evading federal income taxation. The defendants also used corporate funds to pay their personal legal expenses in defending against the lawsuit.
How: The case was tried in a six month period and the court entered judgment against the shareholders for fees and costs in the seven-figure range, while reserving jurisdiction to determine additional damages from the previous year through the date of the judgment, and to determine attorneys’ fees. In 2007, Kluger Kaplan's client received an additional judgment totaling in excess of $2,500,000 and is currently in the process of taking title to the entire property in the context of pending bankruptcy proceedings.
The developer was represented by Alan J. Kluger and Michael Perse of Kluger, Kaplan, Silverman, Katzen & Levine, P.L.
Telecommunications Litigation
Who: Attorneys at Kluger Kaplan represented a public company in an action brought by a well-known telecommunications provider, regarding our client’s inadvertent severance of one of the provider’s underground fiber-optic cables in downtown Miami.
What: The telecommunications provider sought compensatory and loss of use damages approximating $1,000,000.00, and punitive damages. This case was particularly important for two reasons. First, the inadvertent severing of underground cables is an unintended but very common occurrence during cabling excavations and other underground digs. Accordingly, the case had national implications for all companies that engage in excavation or other related activities. Due to the nature of our client’s business, the matter took on “bet the company” proportions. Second, this particular loss of use damage claim was a matter of first impression in the Florida courts, never previously having been squarely addressed by a Florida appellate court.
How: The telecommunications provider brought suit in Federal district court in Miami. That court found in favor of our client, and against the plaintiff on its loss of use damages claim. The plaintiff then appealed the adverse decision to the Federal appeals court, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeal. That court determined that the issues presented “raised unsettled questions of Florida tort law,” and certified to the Florida Supreme Court for its determination the issue of how the loss of use damage claim should be determined. Our attorneys briefed the issues and also argued the case in the Florida Supreme Court.
In addition to being an across the board “win” for our client our client, we successfully prevented on onslaught of similar suits not only against our client, but against other clients across the country with similar business exposure.
The client was represented by Alan J. Kluger and Steve I. Silverman of Kluger, Kaplan, Silverman, Katzen & Levine, P.L.
Family Law Action
Who: Attorneys at Kluger Kaplan represented one of the world’s most well known and highest paid professional athletes in his divorce.
What: The athlete had executed a Prenuptial Agreement prior to his marriage but when his wife filed for divorce, her lawyers positioned a contest over the validity of the Prenuptial Agreement. The consequence of the wife being successful in invalidating the Prenuptial Agreement would have resulted in the athlete potentially losing hundreds of millions of dollars.
How: Our attorney’s were able to uphold the validity of the Prenuptial Agreement and negotiate in less than 3 months a comprehensive resolution of likely the largest divorce filing in Florida, saving the client millions of dollars by virtue of the resolution. Kluger, Kaplan was also able to safeguard the well known athlete’s reputation and legacy by keeping various issues in the divorce out of the attention of the media.
The athlete was represented by Alan J. Kluger and Jason R. Marks of Kluger, Kaplan, Silverman, Katzen & Levine, P.L.