Senior Partner
Litigation; Bankruptcy; Loan Restructuring & Workouts
About Paul
Paul is a senior trial attorney at the firm; he is a member of the New York and Massachusetts Bars and focuses on complex commercial litigation, arbitration, and appeals. Paul also serves as co-general counsel of the firm. He has substantial experience in financial, lender liability defense, environmental, real estate, construction and UCC litigation. He often represents secured lenders and has extensive experience in finance, business valuation, lost profits, real estate valuation and commercial damage issues.
Paul has successfully litigated and tried to completion cases with complex financial issues, lender liability claims, “leveraged buyout” fraudulent conveyance claims and environmental claims. Paul has successfully argued appeals before the First, Second, and Third Circuits of the United States Courts of Appeal, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and the Massachusetts Court of Appeals. Paul also regularly litigates cases in the bankruptcy courts in Massachusetts, Delaware, and New York, as well as other bankruptcy courts and state courts.
Representative Matters
MoreLess- Represented a partially secured lender with a $1.3 billion student loan portfolio in the successful unwinding of numerous marketing arrangements and in the reorganization, in the District of Massachusetts Bankruptcy Court, of a student loan originator and guarantor
- Lead Bankruptcy Court counsel for a syndicate of lenders with a $1.5 billion secured claim, in the matter of In re General Growth Properties, Inc., Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, including the successful restructuring of the lenders’ portfolio
- Represented a bank/lender in the New York Supreme Court, Commercial Division, in the successful defense of a lender liability claim regarding a residential real estate condominium project
- Lead trial counsel, in U.S. District Court, Delaware, in the successful defense of a syndicate of lenders against a $153 million claim brought in a pending bankruptcy proceeding by holders of publicly traded bonds, who claimed that the lenders had breached a negative pledge clause in the trust indenture for the bonds. Judgment was rendered in favor of the lenders after a trial on the merits. Acted as lead Appellate counsel before the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, which affirmed the trial court in an unpublished decision.
- Lead trial counsel, in U.S. District Court, Delaware, for a syndicate of lenders, successfully obtaining summary judgment and a favorable settlement while the matter was on appeal, of a $127 million claim brought by a creditors’ committee on an “LBO” fraudulent conveyance theory
- Represented a bank/lender, in the Southern District of New York Bankruptcy Court, obtaining dismissal of fraudulent conveyance claims based on a “collapsing” theory, then successfully defended the dismissal on appeal to the District Court for the Southern District of New York and on further appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- Lead trial counsel for the plaintiff-landowner in a hazardous waste contamination case involving claims of property damage and the rescission of LBO financing, which was favorably settled on the eve of trial
- Appellate counsel for financial institutions before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and Massachusetts Court of Appeals, on appeals of lender liability jury verdicts against the clients, successfully obtaining reversals of the jury verdicts and entry of judgment in favor of the clients
- Lead trial counsel in a five-week jury trial of hazardous waste claims in which the firm’s client was awarded nearly $16 million in damages by the jury due to the defendants’ contamination of industrial facilities owned by the client
- Appellate counsel in a securities fraud action in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit reversed a jury verdict against his clients
- Litigation and trial counsel to a public corporation created by the state of Rhode Island in numerous litigation matters and bankruptcy proceedings throughout New England relating to the state’s credit union crisis
Cases Of Interest
MoreLess- Hechinger Liquidation Trust v. Bank Boston Retail Finance, Inc. (In re: Hechinger, Inv. Co.), 2005 U.S. App. LEXIS 15733 (3d Cir., July 29, 2005).
- Liquidation Trust of Hechinger Inv. Co. of Del., Inc. v. Fleet Retail Finance Group (In re: Hechinger Inv. Co. of Del., Inc.), 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14386 (July 19, 2005).
- Charles River Construction Co., Inc., et al. v. Kirksey, et al., 20 Mass. App. Ct. 333 (1985).
- Rhode Island Hospital Trust National Bank v. Varadian, et al., 419 Mass. 841 (1995)
- Dinco, et al. v. Dylex Limited, et al., 111 F. 3d 964 (1st Cir. 1997)
- Arthur Kanavos, et al., Trustees of The I. Fred DiCenso Trust v. Bayer Corporation, et al., (Middlesex Superior Court, Civil Action No. 96-7323) (see Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, “Wilmington Landowner Obtains Pollution Verdict,” Jan. 8, 2001)
- In re Fabrikant & Sons, Inc., 394 B.R. 721 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 2008); In re Fabrikant & Sons, Inc., No. 07-2780, 2009 WL 3806683 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. Nov 10, 2009); and In re Fabrikant & Sons, Inc., 447 B.R. 170 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 2011) (dismissing lender liability “collapsing” case against lenders pled in Amended Complaint, Second Amended Complaint and Third Amended Complaint, respectively)
- In re Fabrikant & Sons, Inc., 480 B.R. 480 (S.D.N.Y. 2012) (affirming Bankruptcy Court) and In re Fabrikant & Sons, Inc., 451 Fed. Appx 55 (2d Cir. 2013) (affirming Bankruptcy Court and District Court)