Arising from a $650 Million financing dispute, Pastore LLC, representing a large national investment bank, argued at the Third Circuit on September 29th. The argument was in person in Philadelphia. Pastore LLC has brought a FINRA arbitration to collect the investment banking fee. White & Case had sought to enjoin the securities arbitration in the DE Bankruptcy Court. Pastore LLC’s clients prevailed, and the DE case was dismissed. White & Case’s client appealed to the Third Circuit, arguing that the DE Bankruptcy Court had jurisdiction to hear the case.
Category: News
Second Circuit Affirms Jury Verdict Win for Pastore’s Hedge Fund Clients
The Second Circuit Affirms Jury Verdict Win for Pastore’s Hedge Fund Clients in Multimillion-dollar Securities Fraud Case Brought by Billionaire Family Office
On November 15, 2021, the Second Circuit affirmed a jury verdict obtained by Pastore in a federal securities fraud case. This concluded a contentious, multi-year litigation, defeating claims of fraudulent inducement and securities fraud brought against two hedge fund executives by a billionaire family office special purpose investment vehicle. The billionaire family office, the heirs to and founders of a well-known apparel store, had invested in the fund’s General Partner limited liability company.
In 2018, The United States District Court for the District of Connecticut granted a summary judgment in favor of the defendants. The summary judgment was subsequently appealed up to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, before being remanded back to, and concluding with, a jury trial in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut. Pastore LLC was hired for the trial. After two weeks of evidence and 7 hours of jury deliberation, Pastore LLC was able to secure a favorable jury verdict for the clients. The jury had found in favor of the defense on a federal securities claim.
Then, the billionaire family office appealed the jury verdict to the Second Circuit and argued that it was entitled to a new trial because, it alleged, the district court’s abuse of discretion had a prejudicial impact on the jury’s verdict. Among other alleged errors, the billionaire family office alleged that evidence concerning a billion-dollar company investment agreement with one of the world’s largest private equity funds should be excluded. The Second Circuit stated, “the district court instructed the jury ‘the entity that holds an interest in a security suffers an economic loss if the investment experiences a decline in value.’ App’x 559. In other words, the district court instructed the jury that it should find that…suffered an economic loss if it determined that…owned the investment interest in…, regardless of the source of investment funds, and that this investment declined in value.”
Pastore Wins Payout for Large Investment Bank After Cross-Country Federal Court Litigation Saga
Pastore LLC has won multiple complex securities and M&A actions arising from a derivative rights holder agreement and related investment banking engagement agreements that secured its client’s indemnification rights. This brings an end to the saga between the Defendant, a large investment banking firm, and the Plaintiff, a representative of the shareholders to a company seeking to invalidate investment banking fees owed following a series of complex insurance corporate mergers.
After first securing its investment banking client’s indemnification rights, Pastore LLC successfully defended its client against a multimillion-dollar suit in the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska, obtaining a dismissal of the Plaintiff’s action. After Plaintiff appealed the District of Nebraska’s decision to dismiss the case, Pastore LLC successfully defended its client before the Eighth Circuit. The Eighth Circuit affirmed the District Court ruling in Pastore LLC’s clients’ favor that Plaintiff-Appellants lacked standing.
Plaintiff then brought his same claims against Pastore LLC’s client in the District Court of Delaware only to have the investment bank, yet again, successfully obtain a dismissal of Plaintiff’s action. Pastore LLC’s first Motion to Dismiss in the Delaware District Court action caused Plaintiff to file an Amended Complaint. Its second Motion to Dismiss was granted by the District Court. In its Memorandum Opinion, the District Court agreed that Plaintiff’s claims were batted by the doctrine of res judicata and that the Plaintiff lacked standing to assert its claims.
As a result of the litigation between the Plaintiff and Pastor LLC’s client, from the District of Nebraska to the Eight Circuit and then again in the District of Delaware, Pastore LLC secured its client’s indemnification rights, which included Pastore LLC’s legal fees, and obtained a large payout for its client.
Pastore LLC attorneys have vast experience arguing and defending matters in various federal courts across the country and are well-situated to handle similar claims involving complex contractual and investment banking issues.
Pastore Argues Against White & Case in $650MM Financial Services Case Before Third Circuit
Arising from a $650 Million financing dispute, Pastore LLC, representing a large national investment bank, argued at the Third Circuit on September 29th. The argument was in person in Philadelphia. Pastore LLC has brought a FINRA arbitration to collect the investment banking fee. White & Case had sought to enjoin the securities arbitration in the DE Bankruptcy Court. Pastore LLC’s clients prevailed, and the DE case was dismissed. White & Case’s client appealed to the Third Circuit, arguing that the DE Bankruptcy Court had jurisdiction to hear the case.
Pastore LLC Counsel in Large Bankruptcy Case Involving High End Westchester Development
Pastore LLC has been tapped as counsel in two related bankruptcy matters in the Southern District of New York (presided over by Judge Drain, who is also presiding over the Purdue Pharma Bankruptcy). The first matter involved a residential development in Bronxville, New York that is the most expensive per square foot development in Westchester. The second matter involves the related construction management company. Pastore LLC represents a large creditor and owner of the construction management company.
Pastore LLC, as Co-Counsel with Skadden, Effectuates $1 Billion Purchase
Pastore LLC, as Co-Counsel with Skadden, Arps, Meagher & Flom LLP, is representing GPB Capital Holdings LLC in its $1+ billion sale of its automotive assets. Providing World Class Corporate Governance Advice, GPB and Skadden Arps tapped Pastore LLC to address a multitude of corporate governance issues to ensure that the dozens of GPB automotive entities were authorized to enter into the transaction. Working long nights and weekends, Pastore LLC was led by Managing Partner Christopher Kelly, a former Skadden Attorney, and a team of associates.
With Vinson & Elkins L.L.P as legal advisor to Group 1 Automotive, the transaction was signed the morning of September 13, 2021. The signing encompasses the agreement of Group 1 Automotive to purchase substantially all the automotive assets of GPB. GPB’s automotive portfolio generated $1.8 billion in annual revenues in 2020 while retailing over 52,000 new and used vehicles. This acquisition by Group 1 Automotive will provide the acquirer with 30 additional dealership locations and three collision centers, coupled with GPB’s extensive portfolio of luxury and non-luxury vehicles.
Media coverage of this transaction has included Yahoo Finance, WSJ, PR Newswire and Seeking Alpha, among others.
Pastore & Dailey rebrands as Pastore
Dear Clients and Friends:
I am pleased to announce that Pastore & Dailey LLC will now be known as Pastore LLC.
After nine years of dedication to our clients’ success, our friend and colleague Bill Dailey will shift his focus toward an independent practice, while continuing to support Pastore clients when needed. Furthermore, I am pleased that Christopher Kelly will assume a new role as Managing Partner, allowing me to spend more time on our client matters.
Along with our name change, we have launched a new, modern brand identity and website that are consistent with our mission to provide “AMLAW 100” quality service to clients.
Over the last two years, we have added attorneys from Paul Weiss, Skadden Arps, McDermott Will, Proskauer Rose, Kelley Drye and KL Gates. We have senior attorneys from Yale Law School and the University of Virginia and have hired many top-flight junior attorneys from the best regional law schools. Our alumni include the Lt. Governor of the State of Connecticut and attorneys who served in-house at top financial institutions. We handle matters from New York to L.A. and around the world. We work on billion-dollar transactions and cases that receive national attention.
We strive to provide big firm quality, without the conflicts and related big firm insensitivity to cost and results. Please see our new website at pastore.net. We hope that you have stayed safe during these challenging times, and like us, look forward to a return to normalcy at home and at work.
Sincerely,
Joseph M. Pastore III
Pastore Wins Jury Trial for Hedge Fund Executives in Multimillion-dollar Securities Fraud Case Brought by Billionaire Family Office
Pastore & Dailey successfully concluded a contentious, multi-year litigation, defeating claims of fraudulent inducement and securities fraud brought against two hedge fund executives by a billionaire family office special purpose investment vehicle. The billionaire family office, the heirs to and founders of a well-known apparel store, had invested in the fund’s General Partner limited liability company.
In 2018, The United States District Court for the District of Connecticut granted a summary judgment in favor of the defendants. The summary judgment was subsequently appealed up to the United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, before being remanded back to, and concluding with, a jury trial in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut in New Haven, Connecticut. Pastore & Dailey was hired for the trial. After two weeks of evidence and 7 hours of jury deliberation, Pastore & Dailey was able to secure a favorable jury verdict for the clients.
FINRA Fine and Suspension for Former CEO Dismissed
Pastore attorneys successfully represented the former CEO of a broker dealer in a regulatory dispute with FINRA. When Pastore was retained, FINRA was seeking a multi-month suspension, thousands of dollars in fines, and was days away from serving a complaint. In the space of a few months, Pastore convinced FINRA to close the case without levying a dollar in fines or a single day of suspension.
Pastore Managing Partner Receives AV Preeminent Rating for the Year 2020
Pastore LLC is proud to announce that Managing Partner, Joseph M. Pastore, III has been named by Martindale-Avvo to receive the AV Preeminent Rating for the year 2020. This rating is the highest possible rating in both legal ability & ethical standards for practicing attorneys. Mr. Pastore received this honor for his exemplary devotion to judicial standards and ethics practices as an attorney. Mr. Pastore has been a recipient of this honor for the past 10 consecutive years. In addition, Corporate Counsel & The American Lawyer magazines have named Mr. Pastore as a Top-Rated Litigator for the year 2020.