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Experience:
Steven Wolowitz is an accomplished litigator whose practice focuses on financial services litigation, antitrust matters and complex commercial cases.
Steve represents investment banks, broker-dealers, and issuers in securities litigations, including class actions and FINRA arbitrations. In derivatives and futures litigation, he represents FCMs, broker-dealers, banks, and institutional users of the markets in complex cases involving derivatives, futures, foreign exchange, securitizations, hedge funds, insurance, mutual funds, asset management, and fixed income instruments.
US and foreign banks rely on Steve in connection with disputes involving lender liability, equitable subordination, letters of credit, operational matters such as wire transfers, and securitization transactions of various kinds.
In the area of enforcement and compliance, Steve represents bank, securities and issuer clients in SEC, DOJ, FINRA, and state securities bureau investigations and proceedings. He also conducts internal investigations and reports to Boards of Directors and Audit Committees for public companies in the financial, healthcare and retail sectors.
Steve defends US and foreign companies and financial institutions in cases, including class actions, arising under federal and state antitrust laws and related statutes. He also prosecutes and defends lawsuits and arbitrations relating to the enforcement of covenants not to compete and the protection of trade secrets.
Beyond these areas, Steve represents corporate and individual clients in the federal and state courts and in arbitrations regarding a variety of civil disputes, including cases involving contracts, derivative suits, entertainment, fiduciary duty, and trademark-related issues.
The authoritative Chambers USA professional directory (2007) has noted of Steve that his "'thoughtfulness and insight' in litigation most frequently benefits members of the financial sector." In 2006, Chambers commended Steve for his ". . . breadth of vision in the preparation and execution of cases: 'He is telescopic when identifying problems on the horizon, wide-angled in his ability to see who is coming at us sideways and microscopic when picking up on trial-winning details.'"
Steve joined Mayer Brown in 1988. Previously, he was a partner with another prominent law firm in New York.
Notable Engagements:
Holden International Inc. & IEC Holden Inc.- Obtained an important victory on behalf of clients Holden International Inc. and IEC Holden Inc. in an arbitration conducted before the International Centre for Dispute Resolution. Following a two-week trial, a three-member arbitration panel awarded Holden $11.3 million in contract damages and lost profits.
Alloy, Inc. - Represented the Audit Committee of Alloy, Inc., a publicly held media and merchandising company, in an independent investigation of allegations asserted against Alloy and its senior officers. Based on our report, which reflected a thorough investigation and consultation with a forensic accounting firm, the Company's outside auditor accepted our findings and approved Alloy's Form 10-Q for filing.
Société Générale - Obtained the dismissal of a $1 billion consequential damages claim asserted by the plaintiff, a Cayman Islands hedge fund. Plaintiff claimed that our client's alleged failure to post approximately $70 million in collateral with the fund caused a creditor to file for the liquidation of the fund. The trading involved a series of non-deliverable forward contracts tied to US dollar/Russian ruble exchange rates, which were governed by an International Swaps and Derivatives Association ("ISDA") Master Agreement and related schedules and confirmations. The court agreed with our showing that (1) the liquidation was not proximately caused by our client's alleged collateral shortfall; and (2) the claimed damages were not reasonably foreseeable by our client at the time it entered into the derivatives contracts.
Bank of America - Represented Bank of America in trade secret litigation arising from a large CDO securitization transaction. The case involved defending claims against the bank in New York and prosecuting claims on behalf of the bank in Charlotte. The short-term goals were immediately to remove the litigation cloud over the bank's transaction so that it could close before the end of the fiscal quarter, to defeat the effort to enjoin the bank's transaction, and affirmatively to enjoin the other side from interfering in any way with the bank's transaction. In New York, we defeated the other side's application for a TRO to enjoin the bank's transaction, and then achieved a dismissal of the plaintiff's lawsuit. In Charlotte, we obtained a TRO and a preliminary injunction enjoining the other side from interfering with the bank's transaction.
EMI Records Limited & Capitol Records - Represented EMI and its sister company, Capitol Records, in the high-profile case brought by the Beatles and Apple Records seeking alleged underpaid royalties regarding sales and promotions in North America. The case was resolved on terms favorable to our clients.
Vermont Telephone Company - Successfully defended our client in the defense of a private antitrust action involving the company's Internet access service. Plaintiff had asserted claims of monopolization, attempted monopolization, monopoly leveraging, predatory pricing, denial of an essential facility and common law unfair trade practices.
Bank of Montreal - Obtained a dismissal, with prejudice, of causes of action for breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, negligence, negligent misrepresentation and fraud, in connection with the bank's alleged withdrawal of a commitment to finance the plaintiff's proposed acquisition of a broadcast company. The case set important precedent regarding the meaning of "material adverse change" clauses in bank commitment letters.
CIBC World Markets Corp - In an action alleging breach of contract and fraud arising from an investment management agreement between our client and the plaintiff, involving a portfolio of Japanese warrants and convertible bonds having a market value of at least $100 million, the trial court dismissed the contract causes of action based on the agreement as written and the alleged oral understandings of the parties, and plaintiff's fraud-based cause of action. We appealed the trial court's denial of our motion to dismiss the other causes of action, which were based on the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and a claim for reformation of the contract based on mutual mistake. The case was argued to the Appellate Division of New York. The Appellate Division reversed the trial court insofar as the trial court had denied any of our grounds to dismiss, and ordered the dismissal of the complaint in its entirety.
Prudential Securities Incorporated - Obtained a unanimous decision by an arbitration panel, after a ten-day trial, for our client. The claims by a former employee alleging discrimination, retaliatory discharge and defamation had been featured in The Wall Street Journal.
Credit Lyonnais Rouse, Ltd. - Served as national counsel successfully defending CLR, a UK-based commodities futures broker, in the US class actions that alleged a conspiracy to manipulate the worldwide physical copper and copper futures markets from 1990 to 1996. The cases included federal class actions in New York, state class actions in California, and multi-district litigation in Wisconsin. In a ruling of significance in the RICO area, the federal court in Wisconsin dismissed the RICO claims against CLR, holding that (1) most of the allegations against CLR suggested that CLR did nothing other than provide standard broker services; (2) the only specific allegations of purported wire or mail fraud by CLR were not sufficient to support a finding that CLR had any part in directing the affairs of the alleged RICO enterprise; and (3) plaintiffs failed to state a claim for conspiracy to violate RICO, because an injury caused by conduct that is not itself an act of racketeering cannot give rise to a claim under the RICO conspiracy statute.
Merrill Lynch - Defeated certification of a securities class action involving a $135 million offering of hotel limited partnership interests and, following successful motion practice, obtained a favorable settlement for the client in a "mass" action involving more than 1,400 plaintiffs.
Brunswick Corporation - In a decision of significance in the proxy area, we successfully opposed, on behalf of Brunswick, a shareholder action seeking to require the company to include a national health care proposal in its proxy materials.
Education:
The George Washington University Law School, JD, with honors, 1977 o The George Washington University, BA, with distinction, 1974; Phi Eta Sigma Honor Society; Phi Beta Kappa. |
