Ed litigates complex commercial lawsuits for U.S. and international companies, and also helps his clients avoid litigation – where possible – by taking proactive steps that leave room for resolution. He has litigated breach of contract, restrictive covenant, foreign sovereign immunity, and injunctive relief claims in the federal and state courts, and his work has taken him well beyond New York, including Dubai, London, and Baghdad.

Clients appreciate Ed’s calm demeanor, steady hand, and legal acumen to identify and implement creative solutions to complicated disputes, often before they escalate to the courts.

Ed helped resolve through mediation a long-running dispute between two large co-venturers over raw material supply pricing. He played a key role in settling a particularly contentious insurance coverage dispute triggered by the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Ed acted as national counsel for a European manufacturer embroiled in a mass tort product liability litigation spanning nearly a decade. After participating in Dubai liquidation proceedings on behalf of a U.S. client, Ed persuaded the federal district court in New York to find that the Dubai proceedings should not be afforded comity recognition in the U.S.

Ed litigated sovereign immunity issues in U.S. district and appellate courts for several years in a series of lawsuits, acting on behalf of the Republic of Iraq, the Central Bank of Iraq, and Iraqi-owned commercial banks.

A Manhattan resident since 1994, Ed walks more than three miles to work. He is the President of his co-op board.

REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS

• Lead defense counsel in a Delaware Chancery Court expedited action over a delayed merger transaction.  The action entailed claims and counterclaims alleging breaches of the parties’ merger agreement.
• Co-Lead counsel on insurance coverage matters for company facing thousands of claims arising from largest oil spill in U.S. history.
• Lead counsel to a foreign government sued for breach of contract and tort claims arising from oil purchase agreements entered into under the auspices of the United Nations.
• Lead counsel to a U.S. bank in claims arising from the fraudulent use of wire transfer facilities in Argentina.
• Lead counsel to an international manufacturer named in a federal multi-district litigation and in state court product liability actions throughout the U.S.

Education

• Columbia University School of Law, J.D., 1982, Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar
• University of Nebraska (Omaha), B.A. Journalism, 1978

Bar and Court Admissions

• New York State
• U.S. Courts of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Second, and Ninth Circuits
• U.S. Tax Court
• U.S. Supreme Court

AV Preeminent Rated Attorney (highest rating) from Martindale-Hubbell

Member, American Bar Association (International Law and Practice Section)

Member, New York State Bar Association

Former member, Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Professional Responsibility Committee

Publications

• Terenkian v. Republic of Iraq, 694 F.3d 1122 (9th Cir. 2012), cert denied, ___ U.S. ___ (Oct. 7, 2013)
• SecondMarket Holdings, Inc. v. Chakford, 106 A.D.3d 606 (NY 1st Dep’t 2013)
• Landmark Ventures v. Wave Systems Corp., 513 Fed. Appx. 109 (2d Cir. 2013)
• ReAmerica, S.A. v. Wells Fargo Bank Int’l, 577 F.3d 102 (2d Cir. 2009)
• Chase Bank v. Unifund, 2010 WL 3565169 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 23, 2010)