Yankwitt LLP has secured a complete legal victory on behalf of its clients, executives with an independent investment firm, in a high-stakes commercial dispute in which the plaintiff, the defendants’ former colleague, sought $282 million in damages. Yankwitt LLP won summary judgment in the Southern District of New York, resulting in the full dismissal of all claims brought by the plaintiff.
The plaintiff alleged that he had formed an oral partnership with the defendants and claimed that the agreement was breached when they joined the independent investment firm without including him. Yankwitt LLP’s clients consistently denied the existence of any such partnership, characterizing the lawsuit as an unfounded attempt to claim a stake in a career move he had no part in.
Early in the litigation, the firm successfully moved to transfer the case from the U.S. District Court in Connecticut to the Southern District of New York, where the events at issue and key witnesses were based. After a thorough discovery process, Judge Philip Halpern granted summary judgment in favor of Yankwitt LLP’s clients, rejecting the plaintiff’s claims in their entirety.
Yankwitt LLP Partners Russell Yankwitt, Jason Swergold and Michael Reed represented the defendants.