Highlights of Real Estate and Financial Expertise:
Following six years of hard-fought litigation, BartkoZankel recovered more than $118 million for a group of real estate developer investors ensnared in a subprime mortgage fraud Ponzi scheme (known as Pinnfund). This litigation originated in San Diego federal court and resulted in several separate state court suits against a major bank and several professional firms as well as the organizer of the scheme. In the course of the litigation, the firm won a landmark victory in the California Supreme Court that eliminated contract provisions waiving the right to jury trial.
The firm, working closely with the S.E.C., Trustee and Receiver, conducted an intensive internal investigation that resulted in four major lawsuits against one of the Big 3 accounting firms, a large bank, an international law firm and the promoters.
A global settlement working in close cooperation with the S.E.C., Trustee and Receiver created a unique structure that maximized returns on the claims, and funded the litigation.
Mr. Bartko and Mr. La Bella (the Receiver in the Pinnfund matter) have conducted various CLE programs on internal investigations together. They first met while on opposite sides of the Government’s prosecution of a federal criminal case against a former leader of a foreign government in the Southern District of New York.
The Firm’s financial institutions experience led to a $108 million jury verdict against a well-known investment bank for failure to provide takeout financing. The case was settled on appeal for $36 million.
BartkoZankel also has extensive experience in all aspects of the real estate financing industry. We have represented many well-known developers, syndicators, and REITs as well as lenders in high-stakes litigation and workouts. The firm represented a variety of clients during the S&L bailout in the 1980’s and is well equipped to use that expertise in the current crisis. The firm has successfully represented borrowers in suits brought by major lenders, including a jury trial seeking to enforce a guaranty signed by the developer of a failed housing project. We have also represented many real estate lenders in lender liability cases and, as a consequence, are well-versed in the tactics and strategies employed in such disputes from both a lender’s as well as a borrower’s or guarantor’s perspective. The firm has appeared as counsel in courts throughout California as well as in New York and Nevada, including jury trials in the Sacramento federal and state courts. We have also worked extensively with bankruptcy counsel throughout the state in major bank debt restructuring efforts.
