Martin P. Russo (attorney)

Martin P. Russo
photograph
Born Martin Russo
(1968-01-19) January 19, 1968
New York City, New York, U.S.
Education B.A. Yale University (Economics)
J.D. Harvard Law
Occupation Law Partner, Kruzhkov Russo
Known for Commercial Litigation, Regulatory Defense
Spouse(s) Marie V. Russo (Santacroce)
Children 2
Website Martin Russo

Martin P. Russo ((/ˈrʊsoʊ/; born January 19, 1968) is an American trial lawyer of Sicilian and Cuban heritage from New York. He handles complex business litigation[1] in state and federal courts throughout the United States,[2][3] and other matters pending in administrative and alternative dispute resolution forums. He has handled bet-the-company litigations, complicated commercial disputes, financial services litigation, regulatory defense,[4] white collar defense, corporate compliance and internal investigations[5] for publicly-held and private companies in the United States and abroad.

Education

Russo attended the Regis High School.[6] He earned his law degree,[7] cum laude, from Harvard Law School and received a BA, magna cum laude, in the field of economics from Yale University.[8]

Advocacy

While at Harvard Law he joined TAP, the Tenant Advocacy Program. He tried 13 cases before the Cambridge Rent Control Board, advocating for local Bostonians who were being displaced. In his second year, he became the co-chairman of TAP, while also joining the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau.[9] During his second and third year in law school, Russo litigated for disadvantaged people, dealing with problems such as housing and social security disability issues. Before graduating Russo appeared before the Massachusetts Appeals Court twice on emergency appeals and obtained stays of eviction orders that threatened to displace his indigent clients.

Litigation

Commercial

Russo represents individuals and entities in multi-jurisdictional commercial litigation. In recent years he has represented the interests of translation services CEO Philip Shawe,[10][11] supermodel Irina Shayk,[12] baritone Daniil Alekseenko, Hollywood producer and talent manager Stella Bulochnikov[13][14] and the family of Georgian-born businessman Arkady “Badri” Patarkatsishvili.[15][16]

SEC Regulation

He is experienced in counseling clients on arbitrations,[4] disciplinary actions, and investigations and enforcement proceedings initiated by the Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Justice, as well as self-regulatory organizations. He has worked on many FINRA disciplinary hearings and securing exceptional settlements.[17] He also has significant experience representing clients in high-stakes criminal matters and has obtained numerous favorable outcomes.[18] He has been an advocate on arbitrations and disciplinary proceedings.[19]

After Black Monday, the NASDAQ introduced a system known as the Small Order Execution System (SOES), which forced market makers—firms that continually buy and sell stocks at listed prices—to execute electronically placed orders of up to 1000 shares at whatever price was posted. Datek Securities trader Sheldon Maschler and Datek Online founder Jeffrey Citron engineered a computer program to spot market spreads that offered customers an arbitrage opportunity when market maker spreads were slow to adjust. With that tool Datek traders with customer orders were able to get a guaranteed execution on up to 1000 shares by pressing a button.[20] Datek’s people figured out a way to do that thousands of times a day, taking advantage of the posted listings that had not been updated. The firm and the traders were ultimately stopped and fined. Russo was hired from school to represent Sheldon Maschler,[21] the 'Bad Boy' Of Wall Street,[22] and another of Datek traders in a disciplinary case surrounding this matter and later became the lead counsel for Datek and all of the traders who were charged with wrongdoing.[21] After 27 hearing days (stretched to over more than a year of litigation), Russo’s defense forced a settlement which permitted Datek to continue in the SOES business. Under the terms of the settlement, Mr. Citron and Mr. Maschler acknowledged no wrongdoing paid a minimal fine and took limited suspensions.[23].[24][25]

Russo next represented Wall Street Short Seller John Fiero when the National Association of Securities Dealers threatened to bar him from the securities industry.[26][27] That representation continued for years and ultimately culminated in the landmark Second Circuit opinion Fiero v. NASD,[28] in which the court held that FINRA as a quasi-governmental organization could not utilize the courts collect fines it assesses against its members thereby limiting the self-regulatory body’s remedies to expulsion.[29]

Russo represented Key West Securities founder and short seller Amr Ibrahim Elgindy in connection with two NASD disciplinary proceedings.[30] Russo’s work helped Elgindy prevail in both disciplinary matters[31] – a feat that has not yet been repeated by any single respondent. Following the appeals, the SEC issued a precedent-setting ruling which permanently established that the introduction of properly obtained accurate information into the marketplace is not a manipulation even if intended to affect the price of a security for profit.[32][30]

In 2001, Russo represented broker-dealer D.L. Cromwell Investments,[33] Inc. and its principals in a lawsuit against NASD Regulation Inc.[34] seeking to enjoin the regulatory body from compelling the individual plaintiffs to testify in an investigation under the threat of expulsion for asserting their U.S. Fifth Amendment privileges against self-incrimination in response to questions because the regulator was working directly with the federal government.[35] The case alleged that a federal Grand Jury subpoena which directed responsive materials to be produced to Criminal Prosecution Assistance Group of the NASD made the entity a state actor on behalf of federal prosecutors. Judge Lewis Kaplan initially dismissed the case, but later sat a motion to renew and reargue based on newly discovered evidence (an NASD informant’s sworn statement) for more than a year until the principals were indicted by the federal government so that he could deny the motion as moot. The principals ultimately pled guilty to federal crimes and with Russo’s representation were given sentences of probation with restitution.[36] As a result of the DL Cromwell case, the U.S. Department of Justice was forced to alter the way it interacted with the quasi-governmental NASD Regulation, now the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

in 2011, Russo worked with entrepreneur Daniel Staton to recover $8.1M from Merrill Lynch in $1 Billion FINRA REIT Arbitration stemming from an alleged illegal seizure and theft of 1,260,000 shares of Duke Realty Corporation common stock from Staton's accounts.[37][38]

Commercial Cases

TransPerfect

Russo successfully represented Philip Shawe to victory in the Delaware Chancery Court after that court had for the first time in history ordered the draconian remedy of a forced sale of a successful private company against the wishes of half of the shareholders.[39][40][41] With Russo serving as the lead,[42] Kruzhkov Russo and a team of co-counsel from other law firms navigated the negative allegations made by Shawe’s former business partner Elizabeth Elting and secured approval of the sale of TransPerfect Global, Inc. to Mr. Shawe. The irony of the case noted by Chancellor Andre Bouchard is that “the undercurrent of [Ms. Elting’s] opposition to approval of the sale which she requested, reflects an apparent, deep-seated frustration with the fact that the winner of the auction was Shawe.[43][44][45]” By Order dated May 3, 2018, written by Chief Justice Strine, the Supreme Court of Delaware affirmed the judgment of the Chancery Court.[46]

Little Rest Twelve and Fisher Island Investments

Russo, represented Inna Gudavadze, the widow of Georgian billionaire and philanthropist Badri Patarkatsishvili. Gudavadze was named in a wrongful death lawsuit, which alleged that she conspired with former Russian "oligarch" Boris Berezovsky to kill Mr. Patarkatsishvili to seize his fortune. Russo successfully defended the action and obtained a dismissal with prejudice.[47][48][49]

Following Patarkatsishvili’s death, several of his business associates made fraudulent attempts to claim his business assets from family.[50] A man named Joseph Kay, the stepson of Patarkatsishvili's aunt and someone who had worked with him, along with the American lawyer, Emmanuel Zeltser, attempted to take control of Gudavadze’s assets,[51] including a restaurant in Manhattan named Ajna Bar and a large development on Fisher Island in Florida.[15]

On March 31, 2010, Russo, with Jean-Yves Haouzi, a Buddha Bar executive and part owner of Little Rest Twelve, and a security team, walked into Ajna Bar (formerly Buddha Bar NYC) and locked out Joseph Kay,[52] his sister Nina and his son David. The NYPD was called to the scene and ordered Nina and her managers off the premises.[53] By presenting corporate documentation, and having filed a lawsuit the same morning, Russo convinced the police to eject all of the Kay parties. Gudavadze’s family then took control of the restaurant. In the court battle that followed, there was a legal question regarding whether Russo and his firm could replace Emanuel Zeltser as counsel to Little Rest Twelve.[54] Because Russo was attempting to change the status quo, he had the burden to prove that his client owned LR12. Russo met the court’s burden. He later also prevailed in his lawsuit against the Kays and the restaurant was awarded $3.7 million which the Kays had misappropriated after Badri’s death.[55]

A similar corporate battle ensued with respect to the development rights to Fisher Island. When Patarkatsishvili died, Kay attempted to fire his fellow officers in Fisher Island Holdings. Kay argued that he could not be forced out of power, and during a trip to Georgia, the locks were changed to the management offices and social club. Russo, together with a team of bankruptcy and other lawyers in Florida, obtained a definitive ruling in federal court that the development rights belonged trusts that had been established by Badri for the benefit of Gudavdze and her family.[56]

Russo and his team managed to obtain a $100,000+ court sanction of Emanual Zelster and, in another Gudavadze asset related case, a possibly career-ending NY Supreme Court judgment that the attorney had misappropriated millions of dollars of funds held in his attorney escrow account.[57][58]

Personal

Russo was born and raised in New York. He plays soccer and supports soccer-related endeavors.[59][60] He is the President S.C. Eintracht,[61][62] of the Cosmopolitan Soccer League, one of New York’s oldest soccer clubs, and a USSF licensed coach who presently trains two adult men’s amateur soccer teams.[63]

References

  1. ↑ Gusrae Kaplan (15 Jan 2015). "Gusrae Kaplan Named One of the Nation's 'Most Feared Law Firms' for Second Consecutive Year". www.prnewswire.com. PR Newswire. GKN.
  2. ↑ "Gusrae Kaplan Nusbaum PLLC". NYMag.com. New York Media LLC. NY Magazine. 13 May 2012.
  3. ↑ Singer, Bill (22 July 2011). "Merrill Hit With $8.1 Million Award in $1 Billion FINRA REIT Arbitration". Forbes. Forbes Media LLC. Forbes.
  4. 1 2 Singer, Bill (23 Jul 2011). "GKN's Marty Russo Wins $8.1 Million FINRA Reit Arbitration - BrokeAndBroker.com by Bill Singer, 917-520-2836". www.brokeandbroker.com. Broke and Broker Network. RRBDLAW.com & Securities Industry Commentator.
  5. ↑ "Securities Exchange Commission versus McGinn Smith". mcginnsmithreceiver.com. McGinn, Smith & Co. Inc., et al.
  6. ↑ "1986 Graduates". Regis High School Alumni Magazine. 80 (2): 18. Winter 2015.
  7. ↑ "Martin Russo". www.lawyer.com. Lawyer.com.
  8. ↑ "About – Martin Russo | Martin Russo Passion". martinrussoblog.com. Avvo Inc.
  9. ↑ Harvard LAB. "Martin Russo Harvard Legal Aid Certification". Scribd. Scribd.
  10. ↑ Rainey, Douglas (14 July 2017). "Custodian's Attorney Declares Mediation Dead in TransPerfect Dispute". yahoo Finance. ALM Media.
  11. ↑ Mordock, Jeff (22 June 2016). "Delaware court orders TransPerfect sale". The News Journal. THE NEWS JOURNAL. Gannett.
  12. ↑ "Supreme Court of the State of New York". iapps.courts.state.ny.us. 154911/12. 30 October 2016.
  13. ↑ Walters, Mike; Goldblatt, Daniel (16 April 2018). "Mariah Carey Is 'Addicted to Alcohol' ... Says Ex-Manager's Lawyer". The Blast. The Blast.
  14. ↑ Levine, Daniel S (18 April 2018). "Mariah Carey Slammed by Ex-Manager as a 'Trainwreck' and Addict". Celebrity. Pop Culture Media. PopCulture.com.
  15. 1 2 Garcia-Roberts, Gus (17 November 2011). "Russian billionaires battle for Fisher Island". Miami New Times. New Times. Miami New Times.
  16. ↑ Cristol, Jay (29 December 2011). "FISHER ISLAND INVESTMENTS, INC., V Little Rest 12" (PDF). UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA. 11-17047-AJC.
  17. ↑ Case Number: 05-03716. "FINRA Dispute Resolution: Kirlin Award" (PDF). mossgilmorelaw.com.
  18. ↑ Chiappardi, Matthew (19 April 2013). "Knowledge Of Bankruptcy Cannot Be Imputed To Client - Law360". www.law360.com. Portfolio Media, Inc. Law360.
  19. ↑ HEARING PANEL DECISION; Witherspoon, Sharon (19 December 2008). "FINANCIAL INDUSTRY REGULATORY AUTHORITY OFFICE OF HEARING OFFICERS" (PDF). FINRA.org. FINRA.
  20. ↑ Piskora, Beth (15 January 2003). "EX-DATEK PARTNER CITRON FINED $22.5M BY SEC". New York Post. News Corp.
  21. 1 2 Wells, Rob (19 January 1997). "NASD suspends Outspoken NASDAQ critic" (Page 93). The Boston Globe. Associated Press.
  22. ↑ Barboza, David. "Golden Boy?; He's Dazzled Wall Street, but the Ghosts Of His Company May Haunt His Future" (10 May 1998). New York Times.
  23. ↑ Patterson, Scott (2013). Dark Pools: The Rise of the Machine Traders and the Rigging of the U.S. Stock Market. Crown Business. p. 135. ISBN 0307887189.
  24. ↑ Condon, Nancy (20 January 1997). "NASD Regulation Announces Disciplinary Action | FINRA.org". www.finra.org. finra.org. FINRA.
  25. ↑ Barboza, David (15 January 2003). "Online Brokers Fined Millions In Fraud Case". New York Times.
  26. ↑ Emshwiller, John R. (9 January 2001). "Regulators Expel, Fine FieroFor Fraudulent Short Selling". WSJ. Dow Jones & Co. Wall Street Journal.
  27. ↑ Henriques, Diana B. (9 January 2001). "N.A.S.D. Panel Votes to Expel Short-Seller and Imposes Fine". New York Times.
  28. ↑ Singer, Bill (5 October 2011). "Historic Second Circuit Decision Finds FINRA Can't Collect Disciplinary Fines". Forbes. Forbes.
  29. ↑ "Case Study: Fiero V. FINRA - Law360". www.law360.com. Portfolio Media. Law360. 24 October 2011.
  30. 1 2 Jonathan, Katz (10 March 2004). "Commission Opinion: Amr Elgindy and Key West Securities, Inc.; Rel. No. 34-49389 / March 10, 2004". www.sec.gov. Securities and Exchange Commission.
  31. ↑ News, From Bloomberg (11 March 2004). "SEC Dismisses Fine Imposed on Amr Elgindy". Los Angeles Times. LA Times. Bloomberg News.
  32. ↑ Churchill, John (15 December 2005). "Court to NASD: You Don't Have a Leg to Stand On". Wealth Management ("For the first time in its 68 years as a self-regulatory organization, NASDAQ sued the SEC over a right it was never granted"). WealthManagement.com. Informa USA, Inc.
  33. ↑ "D.L. Cromwell Investments, Inc., Lloyd Bierne, David S. Davidson, Eric S. Thomas, and Matthew Greenwald v. Nasd Regulation, Inc". Courtlistener.com. Free Law Project.
  34. ↑ US District Court for the Southern District of New York (26 February 2001). "DL Cromwell Inv., Inc. v. NASD Regulation, Inc., 132 F. Supp. 2d 248 (S.D.N.Y. 2001)". Justia Law. Justia.
  35. ↑ Morgenson, Gretchen (15 February 2001). "N.A.S.D. Criminal Unit's Activities Face Legal Challenge". NY Times.
  36. ↑ Allison, Jocelyn (30 July 2008). "Ex-Broker-Dealer Execs Settle Short-Selling Charges - Law360". www.law360.com. Law360. Portfolio Media.
  37. ↑ Gray, Christopher (10 August 2011). "FINRA ORDERS UNITS OF MERRIL LYNCH TO PAY $8.1 MILLION". Investor Lawyers Blog. Law Office of Christopher J. Gray, P.C.
  38. ↑ Uhlman, Lisa (27 July 2011). "Merrill Units Must Pay $8M Over Stock Seizure: FINRA - Law360". www.law360.com. Profile Media.
  39. ↑ Mordock, Jeff (22 April 2016). "Giuliani blasts Delaware court for decision in lover's spat". delawareonline. USA Today.
  40. ↑ Hals, Tom (17 January 2017). "Delaware high court hears translation firm's messy board battle". U.S. ThompsonReuters.
  41. ↑ Savchuk, Katia (21 June 2016). "Delaware Court Sends Translation Firm Worth Nearly $1 Billion To Auction Block". Forbes. Forbes.
  42. ↑ TransPerfect (7 May 2018). "TransPerfect CEO Phil Shawe Completes Buyout Of His Co-Founder In Court-Approved Sale". www.prnewswire.com. TPG. PRNewswire/Cisions.
  43. ↑ Bouchard, Andre (15 January 2018). "In re: TRANSPERFECT GLOBAL, INC". courts.delaware.go. Delaware Chancery Court. I note the irony of Elting’s opposition to the court approving the outcome of an auction she sought in the first place.
  44. ↑ Chiappardi, Matt (15 February 2018). "Chancery OKs TransPerfect Buyout By Shawe". www.law360.com. Law360. Profile Media.
  45. ↑ Bennet, Judson (14 March 2018). "TransPerfect Case Heads to Delaware Supreme Court, As Co-CEO Elting and Her Legal Team Bite the Hands that Feed Them, and File a New Multi-Million Suit in Chancery". SPOTLIGHT ON DELAWARE.
  46. ↑ Faes, Florian (4 May 2018). "TransPerfect Sale Clears Final Hurdle | Slator". Slator. Slator.
  47. ↑ No. 12-15595 (20 February 2015). "FISHER ISLAND INVESTMENTS, INC., LITTLE REST TWELVE, INC.," (PDF). THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT. uscourts.gov.
  48. ↑ Gordon, Maria (2 April 2010). "Judge Refers New York Lawyer Martin Russo to Manhattan DA for Investigation". www.moscowtelegraph.com. MT Newswire.
  49. ↑ Dozor, Rod (29 July 2011). "Judge Fried Controversial Budha Bar Decision". legallyblind.us. Legally Blind.US.
  50. ↑ Katznelson, Mel (4 February 2012). "Justice Bernard Fried Leaving the Bench". legallyblind.us. AbortedJustice.org.
  51. ↑ Laermer, Emily (25 July 2011). "Former Buddha Bar gets bankruptcy reprieve". Crain's New York Business.
  52. ↑ Page Six (4 April 2010). "Latest twist in Buddha battle". Page Six. New York Post.
  53. ↑ Laermer, Emily (22 January 2011). "Buddha Bar's bad karma". Crain's New York Business.
  54. ↑ "CASE NO: 11-17047-AJC" (PDF). www.gpo.gov. UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA. 30 December 2011.
  55. ↑ "Case: 16-11354" (PDF). IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT (AFFIRMED). 8 December 2016.
  56. ↑ Gusrae (23 October 2013). "» Dramatic U.S. District Court Decision Dismissing Imposter Group's Bankruptcy Foray in Drawn-Out World-Wide Fight Over Assets of Billionaire's Estate". www.gusraekaplan.com.
  57. ↑ Drogin, Bob (4 March 2009). "From a Belarus prison, U.S. lawyer's last battle". Los Angeles Times.
  58. ↑ "Plaintif. - against - VERIFIED COUNTERCLAIMS SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF NEW YORK MUTUAL BENEFITS OFFSHORE FUND, - PDF". docplayer.net. SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 20 August 2009.
  59. ↑ Taylor, Loretta (14 October 2016). "THE REGULAR MEETING of the PLANNING BOARD of the Town of Cortlandt". Cortland Manor Minutes: 20–33.
  60. ↑ PEZZULLO, RICK (12 Oct 2016). "Multi-Sports Facility Proposed in Cortlandt Off 202 | The Examiner News". www.theexaminernews.com. THE NORTHERN WESTCHESTER EXAMINER.
  61. ↑ Mwamba, Jay (Summer 2018). "UNSTOPPABLE! | Cosmopolitan Soccer League". cosmosoccerleague.com. Cosmo Soccer League.
  62. ↑ "Cosmopolitan Soccer League". elements.demosphere.com.
  63. ↑ Russo, Martin. "About – Martin Russo | Martin Russo Passion". martinrussoblog.com.
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