Some examples of results Rubin Ferziger has achieved for satisfied clients:
Business & Commercial Law
Business problems often involve several areas of law and require a sophisticated, multidisciplinary approach to achieve excellent results. An example of this involves a client who was managing partner of a “family-owned” real estate partnership in New York City. In the early 1960's and 70's the client’s father had successfully purchased a conglomerate of real estate parcels locally with partners. Not unlike many parents, the father asked his sons to come into his successful real estate business. Two of his three sons accepted, but, as time passed, one left to pursue another career. When the father died, the remaining son who had learned the business from the “ground up,” had become a driving force in maintaining its success and continued managing all the properties. Years later, his brothers decided that they wanted a piece of this now quite successful real estate partnership. An extremely unpleasant battle followed. At the time he retained Rubin, the client was already involved in litigation, wherein an attempt was being made to wrest control of millions of dollars in assets. Additionally, he was facing the loss of his career and a business into which he had put all of his energies. Rubin was able to devise a comprehensive defense involving aspects of business, real estate, bankruptcy, and estate law and a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. This multidisciplinary approach successfully protected this client from several lawsuits and saved him from losing his entire business and millions of dollars worth of property.
When a business relationship turns sour, and you feel you need a lawyer, hire one who can negotiate well on your behalf.Negotiation is as important as knowledge and experience – it prevents situations from escalating into ugly lawsuits with horrendous legal fees. In this case, a T-shirt company from Canada suspected theft by its U.S. partner. Complicating the situation was rising tension between the parties. Rubin negotiated a buyout package, secured the American store and the trademark, and negotiated an arrangement whereby the Canadian partners were given authority to do business in the United States. Contract law, employment law, intellectual property law, real estate law, banking law and the Patriot Act were all involved in this transaction, all of which Rubin was able to address for his client.
Collection problems can be solved much more quickly when you hire a lawyer to help you. In this situation, a New York knitting wear supplier had not been paid for its raw yarn on commercial spindles. For two years, the purchaser refused to remit payment despite demand. After a review of the Contract of Sale, several letters, and negotiation with the purchaser’s attorney, the claim was paid in full, with Rubin’s client only having to waive interest charges on the debt. Certainly better than having to settle for substantially less, or worse, having to write the whole amount off as uncollectible.
Real Estate Law
Having an experienced attorney carefully review any legal document before you sign it can save you a lot of heartache. A good example of this is a situation where an unscrupulous contractor tricked a homeowner into signing a contract for repair work, which was actually a mortgage on his house. When the repairs turned out to be faulty, the contractor refused to live up to his guarantee, and the client stopped making payments. The swindle then became even more treacherous when the contractor sold the mortgage to a third party, and vanished. The third party promptly foreclosed on the house. Rubin immediately brought this illegal and unethical transaction to the attention of the Court, got the mortgage and note cancelled, and his client set free from making any further payments. Since equity in the home represented a substantial portion of the client’s net worth, Rubin literally not only saved the roof over his head, but also almost the entire financial base he had worked so hard to achieve.
The more people involved, the more complex a deal becomes. The more complex the deal, the more likely a delay in closing. Delays can mean significant financial penalties. Rubin represented the purchaser of a $12,000,000.00 condominium in the AOL Time Warner building in NYC. The transaction involved a limited liability company, a foreign trust, a management business, and several individuals located throughout the United States. The nature of the contractual arrangements were such that any delay would impose substantial dollar penalties. The problem was that none of the parties could attend the closing, which would in fact cause a delay. Rubin was able to amend various documents pertaining to the legal entities involved, and single handedly close the deal for his client without any penalties whatsoever.
Unknown environmental hazards can destroy both your transaction, and property value. A client sought to purchase a property located slightly downhill from a manufacturing facility that had closed. Initial environmental tests revealed no hazards. Despite the preliminary test, which was based on determining the prior use of the upper level property, Rubin ordered additional testing which revealed toxic discharges. After careful examination, it was determined that the flow of the toxic material would not impact the target downhill property being purchased, since the toxic discharges flowed around it. Potential liability was explored and exposed, and the Buyer proceeded to close, secure in the knowledge that the property would be free of toxic waste.
Avoiding a problem is better than solving it.A good real estate attorney anticipates both legaland business problems that can impact a company. In one instance a business owner was set to purchase a 50,000 square foot warehouse, until Rubin pointed out that 18 wheel tractor-trailers could not access the property without significant difficulty. Instead, the business owner purchased the property and then leased it to a 3rd party who did not have 18-wheeler tractor-trailer deliveries. With one solid piece of advice, Rubin helped his client make money and avoid a serious problem at the same time. Retaining a lawyer with broad, practical business and real estate law experience helps your company avoid problems down the road, both legal and otherwise.
Some attorney’s charge very low fees for real estate closings, however very often you get what you pay for in advice and service. A lady came to Rubin who was the victim of a storefront attorney’s lack of advice. She was never advised that there was a “time frame” by which she had to obtain a mortgage loan in connection with her contract to purchase a home. Nor was she advised that if she did not get the mortgage within the time frame she was supposed to notify the seller, at which point the Seller had the option to extend the time or refund the contract deposit. Since the storefront attorney hadn’t explained these obligations, Rubin’s client was required to fulfill her contractual obligation to buy the property or forfeit her 10% deposit. Unfortunately, she had used her entire life’s savings and pension money in order to make the contract deposit. Rubin was able to negotiate a settlement of a small payment in order to avoid the loss of thousands of dollars.
Intellectual Property
When you can’t beat your opponents with money, you have to beat them with strategy. Trademark lawsuits can turn into the nastiest of legal battles. Corporate giants have the financial muscle to hire major law firms, and initiate long, costly legal warfare. When you’re fighting a larger, stronger opponent and the stakes are high, you need an experienced business attorney to formulate a winning game plan you can afford. In one trademark case Rubin handled, a family business called Paco Sport sold clothing to urban youth here in the United States. Suddenly Paco Rabanne, a foreign based perfumer, decided to enter the U.S. market and sell clothes also. They retained a major law firm, threatened litigation against Paco Sport, and claimed that use of the names “Paco” and “Paco Sport” constituted trademark infringement. Rubin’s client Paco Sport was now threatened with the loss of their hard won success. Rubin responded swiftly with a devastatingly effective and creative legal strategy: he filed suit with the U.S. District Court in California to permit Paco Sport to continue selling clothes with the “Paco” and “Paco Sport” names. By doing so his client was protected by their insurance for these kinds of lawsuits, thereby easing the financial strain of litigation. The end result: Rubin’ s client Paco Sport ultimately won, and is still a thriving family business today.
When you license intellectual property, or purchase rights to sell products or services under a particular trademark, there may be other legal difficulties involved. For example, a New York wearing apparel company under Rubin’s guidance purchased trademark rights to sell clothing in the United States and its territories and possessions. Immediately upon the purchase of the trademarks, the sales representative in the territory of Puerto Rico was terminated. The sales representative claimed under that under the law of Puerto Rico, termination was not lawful. The exposure to the New York company was in the millions of dollars. Rubin resolved the matter by negotiating for his client to pay the sales representative only the sales commission actually earned, an amount less than $200,000.00 dollars.
With intellectual property, what you don’t protect you can lose. Aggressive legal action is sometimes necessary to secure your rights. In this particular case, a trademark holder witnessed counterfeit hip-hop clothing being sold on the streets of New York City. After consultation and investigation Rubin prepared the necessary documents to obtain a “knock down the door” civil seizure order, wherein forcible entry and confiscation of the goods was made with a team of private investigators, and law enforcement professionals. The counterfeiter signed a cease and desist order and paid damages to Rubin’s client.
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