Emmet appreciates that each client’s needs are unique and demand legal advice that achieves the best result in a timely and responsive manner. Here are some examples of what we have accomplished for our clients. Although each case study is different, they all demonstrate our accomplishments, our resolve and the insightful way we work with our clients to meet their goals.
Emmet’s client asked for help after it had been defrauded by a mortgage bank and its closing agent in connection with warehousing loan advances used to fund residential mortgage loans. Emmet acted quickly by filing a federal court suit and obtaining orders of attachment and restraining orders against the mortgage bank, its principal and comptroller, as well as the closing agent. Emmet’s actions resulted in the client receiving multi-million-dollar recoveries.
Emmet represented a client as indenture trustee in connection with the bankruptcy of an international retail company. Notwithstanding the liquidation of the U.S. business of the company and the inability of the company to satisfy its post-bankruptcy obligations to vendors, Emmet successfully negotiated a plan of reorganization with the company and various creditor groups that provided for a distribution to the holders of the notes for which the client was trustee and the payment in full of the client’s fees as a result of the trustee’s interest in the international business through the parent company’s guarantee of the obligations
Emmet represented an indenture trustee in connection with a 2019 secured notes issuance by a limited liability company (LLC) incorporated under the laws of the Cayman Islands, and secured by its right, title and interest to diversified payment rights existing on or generated after the closing date and sold to the LLC by a Turkish banking corporation to the LLC. The collateral consisted of the right to future and existing payments rights (known as diversified payments rights) related to payment orders originated by payor banks and customers. The transaction was nominated for deal of the year.
Emmet advised an indenture trustee and reinsurance trustee in connection with the successful restructuring of one of the largest Regulation XXX reinsurance securitization transactions. The restructuring was accomplished through an Irish scheme of arrangement followed by Chapter 15 recognition. The Emmet team guided the trustees through the multipart restructuring process that included the novation of certain indemnity reinsurance arrangements and the commutation of certain monoline guarantee obligations. Following approval from the Irish High Court and the Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York, the client realized the novation of its reinsurance obligations and distributed its assets to creditors.
A foreign investor pool that owned mineral interests in a foreign country hired a group of U.S. geologists to advise them on the feasibility of developing the interests and, if determined to be feasible, managing their development and production. The U.S. group engaged Emmet, who drafted and negotiated the service agreements governing their relationship with the foreign pool, ensuring that the client was not held to an unreasonable standard of care, limiting the liability of the client in the event the pool suffered losses, and limiting the ability of the pool to sue the client outside of the United States.
The founder and major shareholder of a successful technology company engaged Emmet to represent him. The client was embroiled in a heated dispute with another large shareholder and senior executive over the company’s future direction. The situation was exacerbated because the client suffered from a progressive disability that impaired his ability to lead the company. After many lengthy and contentious negotiations, Emmet formulated an agreement that safeguarded the financial interests of the client and his family while providing a smooth management transition that ensured the future of the company.
Executive clients involved in securities litigation against their former employer sought Emmet’s advice on adding a cause of action focusing on Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) claims, as had been urged by counsel for other executives who were involved in related actions but who did not have securities claims. After a focused review of the case, Emmet advised against pursuing potential ERISA claims, after concluding that they were so precarious they might prejudice the legitimacy of the securities claims. This advice allowed the securities case to move forward expeditiously, which was an important goal for the client.
A publicly traded European client asked Emmet to develop a stock-based incentive plan in the United States similar to the plan maintained for senior managers in their home country. The home country structure posed numerous issues under the Internal Revenue Code, the ERISA, and the federal securities laws. Emmet was able to successfully design a structure that avoided U.S. legal problems, while providing benefits economically identical to those received by the European managers.
Using forensic analysis of financial data, Emmet discovered that its client’s loan funds had been diverted to finance the construction of a large, purportedly privately held development project. When the developer attempted to sell its rights to this development project, so as to reap the profits obtained using the bank’s wrongly diverted funds, Emmet prevented the transaction through litigation. This led to an advantageous global settlement and a substantial recovery by the bank in a highly complex and contentious matter.
Emmet represented a dual national of the United States and a foreign country. The client’s father was a citizen of the same foreign country. When the father died, the client inherited accounts in the foreign country, but failed for several years to exert control over them. The client failed to report the accounts on Foreign Bank and Financial Acts (FBAR) returns or to report the income on Form 1040. Emmet negotiated a settlement with the Internal Revenue Service pursuant to which the accounts were deemed owned by the father’s estate until the client took control, resulting in no prior income being taxed to the client and a waiver of all failure to file penalties.
A foreign national engaged Emmet after moving to the United States to take an executive position. The client intended to stay in the U.S. for several years and then retire to a nontaxable jurisdiction. The client was entitled to a significant sum of money under a deferred compensation plan with a prior foreign employer, and was potentially subject to U.S. tax on the entire amount. Emmet devised and negotiated numerous changes to the plan to ensure that the U.S. would not tax any portion of the deferred compensation.
Emmet’s clients, who served as co-trustees of a multimillion-dollar trust holding various interests in a closely held family real estate business, sought Emmet’s representation in a dispute with another co-trustee over diversification of the investments held by the trust. Through Emmet’s involvement, the dispute was successfully settled without having to resort to litigation. As a result, Emmet also achieved significant potential estate tax savings for the family.