Recent Developments
Kane Kessler Completes Tax Advantaged Investment
New York, July 2011 - Kane Kessler’s Corporate and Securities practice group successfully completed a $50 million tax-advantaged investment in commercial solar power projects for a family wealth management office.
Successful Loan Closing
New York, August 2011 - Kane Kessler’s Real Estate practice group negotiated and successfully closed a “New York-style” commercial loan defeasance and refinancing for a Class “A” mixed-use building located in downtown Manhattan.
Victory in Patent Marking Litigation
New York, July 2011 – Kane Kessler’s Intellectual Property and Litigation practice groups successfully obtained the dismissal on a motion to dismiss for failure to plead with particularity of a false patent marking litigation commenced against a client in federal court.
Proxy Contest Victory
New York, July 2011 - Kane Kessler’s Corporate and Securities practice group advised a hedge fund in a proxy contest resulting in the election of the hedge fund’s nominee to the board of directors of one of its portfolio companies.
Collective Bargaining Agreement
New York, June 2011 - Kane Kessler’s Labor and Employment Law practice group successfully negotiated a three-year renewal of a collective bargaining agreement for a large health plan with more than 600 employees.
Speaking Engagements/Press Coverage (Summer/Fall 2011)
Adam M. Cohen, Chair of the Intellectual Property practice group, moderated the panel “Lawyers on the Clock” at the October 2011 annual meeting of the Association of Independent Commercial Producers.
Brendan P. McFeely, Senior Associate in the Intellectual Property practice group, spoke at the annual “The Pitching Hour” panel at Summer 2011 Comic-Con International in San Diego, California, giving advice to authors, artists and screen-writers on how to protect their work as they seek to break into the publishing and entertainment industries.
Adam M. Cohen, Chair of the Intellectual Property practice group, was quoted in the September 19, 2011 online edition of Corporate Counsel magazine regarding the importance of education of corporate employees in intellectual property matters.
Brendan P. McFeely, Senior Associate in the Intellectual Property practice group, was interviewed by Christopher Byrne of Summit Security Services for the FBI’s Infraguard public-private partnership on the topic of methods of protection against intellectual property infringement by foreign and domestic infringers.
Appointment to Mediation Panel
New York, September 2011 - S. Reid Kahn, Co-Chair of the Litigation practice group, has been accepted to the Mediation Panel for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (“SDNY”). SDNY has not accepted new members to its Mediation Panel for many years. Mr. Kahn is also a member of the Mediation Panel for the Commercial Division of the Supreme Court for New York County, and he is included on the Statewide Roster of court-approved and qualified mediators for civil, general equity and probate cases in the state of New Jersey.
New People (Spring/Summer/Fall 2011)
Kane Kessler is pleased to announce that:
Barry E. Negrin, a registered patent attorney, has joined the Firm’s Intellectual Property practice group as Counsel. Barry brings over 20 years of experience with a diverse practice of patent and trademark law managing the intellectual property portfolios of clients both domestically and internationally. Prior to joining Kane Kessler, Barry was the co-founder of the patent group at a New York based 125-attorney general practice firm.
Marisa A. Jerome has joined the Firm’s Corporate and Securities practice group as an associate. Marisa’s experience includes the representation of public and private companies in a broad range of corporate transactions, including initial and secondary public offerings, private offerings, mergers and acquisitions, and financial transactions.
Stanley Seuradge has joined the Firm’s Intellectual Property practice group as Trademark Paralegal. Stanley brings with him over 18 years of trademark paralegal experience.
Discrimination Lawsuit Dismissal
New York, April 2011 - Kane Kessler’s Labor and Employment Law practice group obtained dismissal of a discrimination lawsuit on the grounds that plaintiff had signed an enforceable release of his discrimination claims in settling his union arbitration.
Kane Kessler Completes $1.2 Billion Debt Restructuring
New York, March 2011 - Kane Kessler’s Corporate and Securities practice group successfully completed a $1.2 billion secured bank refinancing for a New York Stock Exchange-listed client.
Proxy Fight
New York, March 2011 - Kane Kessler’s Corporate and Securities practice group successfully advised a hedge fund in a 3-way proxy contest resulting in the election of the hedge fund’s nominee to the board of the target portfolio company.
Kane Kessler Completes Auction of Division
New York, May 2011 - Kane Kessler’s Corporate and Securities practice group advised a multibillion dollar defense company client in the successful auction of a multimillion dollar division.
Construction Contract
New York, March 2011 - Kane Kessler’s Real Estate practice group completed negotiations of construction trade contracts on behalf of international not-for-profit organization for build out of entire floor addition.
Lease Negotiation
New York, May 2011 - Kane Kessler’s Real Estate practice group successfully completed negotiations of a 10 year lease on behalf of a landlord for a specialty themed restaurant located in Downtown Manhattan.
Trademark Dispute
New York, May 2011 – Kane Kessler’s Intellectual Property group successfully defended an internationally recognized apparel and accessories retailer in a cancellation proceeding before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board attacking the core trademark registration of the client. The proceeding was dismissed with no compensation paid.
Super Lawyers
New York, April 2011 - Kane Kessler is pleased to announce the selection of 3 Kane Kessler partners as New York Super Lawyers. Jeffrey H. Daichman (in the field General Litigation), Reid Kahn (in the field of General Litigation) and David Rothfeld (in the field of Employment and Labor) were all selected in the Metro Editions of New York Super Lawyers Magazine for 2010.
Kane Kessler Elects Partners and Counsel
New York, January 5, 2011 – Kane Kessler, P.C. is pleased to announce the election of Gary Constable (Corporate and Securities practice group) and Gary Ostroff (Real Estate practice group) as partners, effective January 1, 2011. Kane Kessler is also pleased to announce that Lois Traub (Labor and Employment Law practice group) was named counsel to the Firm, effective January 1, 2011.
Speaking Engagements (Spring 2011)
New York, April 2011 - Adam Cohen, Chair of the Intellectual Property practice group, spoke at Columbia Law School as a panelist at the Entertainment, Arts & Sports Law Society’s annual Arts Law Symposium.
New York, May 2011 - David Rothfeld, Chair of the Labor and Employment Law practice group, was a featured presenter on May 15 and 16, 2011 at Cornell University’s Center for Hospitality Research at the 2011 Labor and Employment Law Roundtable sponsored by Cornell’s International Labor Relations School and Law School.
New York, April 2011 – Niki Franzita, Senior Associate in the Labor and Employment Law practice group, gave a presentation on April 11, 2011 to students at the Preston Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management in a course on Accelerated Restaurant Operations. The presentation focused on labor law as it affects the restaurant industry.