After rigorously pursuing every avenue available to secure recovery of the pending claim in courts in the United States, it became clear to Connor Bifferato of The Bifferato Firm, P.A. that the defendant in his case would have to be pursued in Austria. He had no direction or practical means to proceed, but fortunately, he
A leading Hungarian commercial bank had been offered securities held on a securities account owned by a “Sparverein,” a specific Austrian legal entity similar to a savings club, as collateral for a credit agreement with a separate entity. As the bank was unfamiliar with the corporate form of a Sparverein, and the laws applicable for such entities, it raised several questions and the bank wanted to ensure that its collateral would be valid and enforceable. These questions, among others, related to whether the Sparverein is allowed to offer its funds as collateral in general, and with respect to loans granted to a third party in particular, as well as the enforceability of the security deposit in a liquidation procedure or any other insolvency situation.
The bank, being a key client of ILN Hungarian member, Jalsovszky Law Firm, approached the firm to get their assistance with the matter in Austria. Partner Gábor Pázsitka contacted Dr. Andreas Bauer of the ILN’s Austrian firm, Brauneis Klauser Prändl Rechtsanwälte GmbH (bkp), and following the necessary administration, bkp examined the case further and learned it would be a challenging one.
Continue Reading ILN Member Firms Work Together to Assist Hungarian Commercial Bank
Our latest referral success story starts in Chicago, with the ILN’s 2014 Annual Meeting. As part of our business sessions, our host firm, Arnstein & Lehr, had invited long-time client, Steve Felkowitz, the CEO of Atico International USA, Inc. to participate as the moderator for Bill Daley.
We welcomed Mr. Felkowitz to join us for the opening night’s reception and dinner, which gave him the opportunity to meet a number of ILN members, including Beirne Maynard & Parsons‘ Martin Beirne from Texas. Arnstein & Lehr’s Jeff Shapiro and Whitney Cruz are the national counsel for all product liability litigation in the US involving any of the Atico entities, and Mr. Shapiro was enthusiastic about connecting Mr. Felkowitz with his friends and colleagues in the ILN.
When Atico International USA needed a referral for a lawsuit venued in El Paso, both Mr. Felkowitz and his national counsel knew exactly who to call – Beirne Maynard & Parsons. The case is a product liability lawsuit involving a fan allegedly manufactured by New Atico Int’l Limited Taiwan Branch. The fan is alleged to have been defective, and to have caused a house fire, which resulted in the death of two minor children, and burn injuries to a minor child and an adult. The case is ongoing, and being handled by top ranked litigation firm, Beirne Maynard & Parsons. Continue Reading ILN Member Finds Referral Success with Client Introduction at ILN Annual Meeting
Some of the ILN’s greatest success stories are seen when multiple member firms coordinate and collaborate to service each others’ clients. The most recent example of this occurred when the ILN’s member in Missouri, Lewis, Rice & Fingersh, L.C. required a consultation with a number of Latin American jurisdictions regarding privacy laws. Together with Alan
Our latest success story comes from Fisher Jeffries, a law firm affiliated with the ILN’s Australian member, Gadens Lawyers, who enjoyed a fruitful referral relationship with the ILN’s Clark Wilson LLP.
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In August 2012, Fisher Jeffries, a South Australian law firm affiliated with the major Australian national firm Gadens Lawyers, received urgent instructions from two major Australian banks in relation to the provision of additional financial accommodation under an existing club facility agreement to a listed Australian corporate borrower group (Borrower Group).
The purpose of the additional financial accommodation was to enable the acquisition of all of the share capital in an existing Canadian company (Canadian Target) by the Borrower Group and, following completion of that acquisition, the amalgamation of the Canadian Target with the Borrower Group’s Canadian subsidiary (Canadian Subsidiary). Both the Canadian Target and the Canadian Subsidiary were incorporated in the Province of British Columbia, Canada. The additional financial accommodation was also proposed to be provided by the lenders in Canadian dollars.
ILN members are working together all the time, and sometimes they pick their noses up from the grindstone to share one of their successes with me. Here’s a story about an excellent collaboration among ILN firms in Sweden, Italy, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.
In 2010, Thomas Ekenberg and Johan Sund of Ekenberg & Andersson Advokatbyra, Sweden, were retained by an Italian-American client requesting legal advice regarding an investment in Stockholm – namely, the purchase of an apartment and the opening of an art gallery. The origin of the client’s financial resources, which were necessary to proceed with the investment, consisted of an inheritance of considerable value – his portion amounted to around 80 million Euros worth of real estate and other assets – received from his mother in 2002, and originating from the client family’s prominent involvement in the Italian real estate business as far back as the 1930s.
The client claimed that he had been prevented from being fully aware of the majority of the information concerning the Italian patrimony, and from having any direct control of the interests of his assets. As a matter of fact, since his mother’s passing, the client’s interests had been deceitfully managed by his elder brother.
Continue Reading ILN Members in Sweden, Italy, Liechtenstein & Switzerland Collaborate