After recognizing Riker Danzig as a “Powerhouse Law Firm” earlier this week, Law360 published a profile about the Firm and some of our 2022 work that got their attention. In its August 24, 2023 article “New Jersey Powerhouse: Riker Danzig,” Law360 stated that we scored numerous major court wins and deal closings throughout the past year for our clients across multiple industries, and says, “The firm has been pursuing its clients' interests with the same gusto and high internal standards that it has held since it was founded in 1882.”
After noting highlights from our impressive history, the article turns to interviews with Jason Navarino, Nicholas Racioppi, A.J. Borrelli and Rebecca Borgese about some of our significant matters for Crum & Forster, the New York Red Bulls and UBS, respectively.
Law360 discussed our representation of Crum & Forster in its acquisition of medical stop-loss insurance underwriter Partners Managing General Underwriters LLC. The deal was a triangular merger at our suggestion, with Crum & Forster's chief operating entity, United States Fire Insurance Co., forming a new subsidiary that merged with Partners Managing to bring it under the Crum & Forster umbrella.
Jason Navarino, chair of our Corporate and Tax practices, noted that “things went very smoothly, and it was a pleasure to be able to help structure and negotiate and ultimately consummate this transaction and bring them into the Crum & Forster family."
The article said, “When handling a mergers and acquisitions case, Jason said the firm always works to first establish what the client is after in terms of stock and assets in order to decide the best approach to the transaction, and Crum & Forster has worked with the firm multiple times before, although the Partners Managing deal was the ‘largest in terms of purchase price’ so far.”
The article went on to discuss our work “scoring a new home for a major league soccer team,” when we helped the New York Red Bulls purchase a large site in Morris Township formerly held by Honeywell International Inc. The team is building a state-of-the-art facility where it will practice, and where the club's soccer academy and youth training facilities will also be housed.
Nick Racioppi, chair of Riker Danzig's Real Estate group, told Law360 that the deal involved substantial work navigating local authorities' requirements for the proposed complex, ensuring environmental issues from its past as a Honeywell site were dealt with, and a lot of "cajoling and persuading" to get Honeywell to sell.
"It was probably some of the most intense both legal work and negotiations that I've ever done, and I've been doing this for 30-something years," Nick told Law360. "It took every day of speaking with the developer, the township and Honeywell, just every day for months."
Nick explained that the “negotiations involved input from multiple agencies and local organizations that all had their own designs for the sale.”
Our Securities Litigation practice received attention for its work “ushering in justice for securities fraud victims” when we helped 28 investors recover more than $17 million in a securities fraud case against their former financial adviser Robert Earl Turner and his wife. The case, in which Riker Danzig represented UBS as it took action against its former worker for the fraud, involved multiple complications to that recovery, as explained to Law360 by Securities Litigation chair A.J. Borrelli and partner Rebecca Borgese. Among them, Turner filed for bankruptcy twice during proceedings.
"We had to reevaluate the strategy of how we recover funds from this person," Rebecca said in the article, adding that it became necessary to "pivot" on their legal strategy during the case because Turner could not be taken directly to arbitration while he was pursuing his Chapter 13 and Chapter 7 attempts to declare bankruptcy, both of which were thrown out.
A.J. said the case "epitomizes what our team does," and noted that bankruptcy partner Tara Schellhorn also helped the securities team handle the Turner case as it related to his bankruptcy bids. A.J. also added that Riker Danzig's wide breadth of experience in multiple types of law helped ensure the case ended in its clients' favor.
The full article is available at Powerhouse Law Firm (subscription required).
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