Corporate Trust & Securitization Litigation

Overview

Our Corporate Trust & Securitization Litigation Team works across practices, including corporate trust, agency & asset servicing, bankruptcy, tax, and regulatory, to provide comprehensive, industry-leading services to our corporate trust and securitization clients.

Our attorneys understand the roles, risks, challenges, and opportunities of trustees, agents, custodians, bond administrators, residential and commercial master and special servicers, and related corporate trust service providers, and are often engaged before a dispute arises.

While we seek to resolve all disputes before litigation, we know when to take the dispute to litigation, the best type of action to achieve an efficient resolution, and how to defend you to limit liability and corporate exposure. We also offer a full, cross-border corporate trust litigation practice with team members based in both the United States and United Kingdom.

Dedicated Teams

• CBO/CDO/CFO/CLO
• CMBS/REO/CRE
• RMBS
• Defaults
• Corporate Debt/Municipal Bonds
• ABS

Experience

Please follow the links provided for our representative experience in:

Interpleader Actions in State & Federal Courts

• Trial counsel to a CDO trustee in a dispute between bondholders and the collateral manager involving the payment of administrative expenses. The trustee also brought contractual and equitable claims against the collateral manager and affiliated parties.
• Trial and appellate counsel to a CDO trustee in a dispute between junior and senior bondholders involving the interpretation of indenture provisions.
• Counsel to a CLO trustee in a dispute between the former and current collateral managers over the apportionment of collateral management fees.
• Defense counsel to a CDO trustee in a $100 million civil action alleging breach of duties under the indenture and other governing documents in the Southern District of New York. We won the motion to dismiss with no appeal.
• Defense counsel to two U.S. banks, both in their individual capacities and as trustees of separate mortgage trusts, in a civil action in Delaware state court that alleged breach of contract and other claims related to the banks’ actions and assignments after borrower defaults. We won the motion to dismiss, which was affirmed on appeal by the Delaware Supreme Court.

Minnesota Trust Instruction Proceedings

• Counsel and special servicers of a CMBS trust involving discretion to create reserves from trust proceeds for future anticipated expenses and liabilities.
• Counsel to a CDO trustee involving the amendment of the indenture.

New York Article 77 Proceedings

• Counsel to a CDO trustee in an action involving the liquidation and termination of a trust after a default under a credit default swap agreement.
• Counsel to a CMBS trustee involving a potential special servicer termination event.

Defense in Breach of Contract & Fiduciary Duty Cases

• Counsel to a CLO trustee in multiple proceedings arising out of a public auction of loans and equity interests in distressed companies.
• Counsel to a warehouse lender in an action alleging breach of contract, equitable, and tort claims arising out of the failed sale of mortgage loans.