Corporate
LBKM’s corporate practice offers clients practical, effective, and outcome-driven advice on a variety of corporate and commercial legal matters. We make a special effort to understand our clients’ business needs, their industry and culture, and the dynamics they operate in, and tailor our work to most effectively and expeditiously address their projects. We emphasize creative, pragmatic and bespoke solutions to the issues they face.
Our lawyers have extensive knowledge in local and overseas corporate and commercial laws, with a proven record advising on complex international and domestic transactions, and years of executive-level in-house experience.
More specifically, our professionals provide day-to-day corporate guidance to startups, large corporations and high-net-worth individuals, and advise on multi-jurisdiction company and joint venture formation, corporate governance and funding, asset structuring and protection, critical due diligence processes, sophisticated divestments, mergers, acquisitions, significant private equity investments and asset purchases and sales. Our firm acted on behalf of numerous clients in complex private asset sales on both buy and sell sides, such as advising on the sale of an international soft drink bottling company in Egypt, the sale of manufacturing facilities in UAE, Jordan, and Tunisia, and the acquisition of shares in a private manufacturing business in Saudi Arabia. We have advised clients on widespread franchising models, multinational service agreements, telecom-industry specific transactions, IP-related agreements, and other bespoke documentation required for each client’s specialized situation. We also represent clients in negotiations with talent agencies and others in agreements with prominent sports and entertainment figures.
Representative Matters
- Represented client involved in organizing and producing a promotional event in Qatar, in which our firm led negotiations with various talent agencies and third parties, managing myriad legal and logistical issues to bring together such public figures as Trevor Noah of The Daily Show; Jalen Rose and David Jacoby of ESPN; and NBA Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady.
- Advised seller of soft drink bottling company in Egypt in sale and settlement with U.S. purchaser
- Advised seller in international sale of manufacturing facilities in Jordan, UAE, and Tunisia.
- Advised purchaser in sale of private shares of oil services entity in Saudi Arabia.
- Advised shipping and logistics provider in numerous service agreements with international clients.
- Representation of multiple international and local clients with company formation, structuring, and legal operational issues in the U.S., including European cosmetics supplier, Cayman investment fund, political consulting startup, marketing and promotional events startup, and others.
In the News
Who's Who Legal (WWL) has again recognized Cristián Francos as a global leader in the field of investigations. WWL highlights lawyers at the forefront of the investigations field, spanning white-collar crime, corporate compliance and regulatory enforcement.
April 2024On Tuesday, La Dolce Vita laid out a detailed argument supporting its request to seize the paintings, saying New York-based Christie's records confirm that Zhang was the successful bidder for the artworks and that Christie's considered Zhang the "true client," and not Apex.
While La Dolce Vita noted that Christie's wrote a "to whom it may concern" letter in January 2015 to "confirm" that Zhang's shell company had "paid in full for their purchases and is the owner" of the artworks, it also said that Apex failed to take possession of the paintings because "Christie's was not fooled" and refused to deliver them.
Law360, March 14, 2024An arm of the private equity firm CVC Capital Partners is trying to seize two paintings, including one by Andy Warhol, to satisfy $142 million in arbitral awards that it claims the Chinese restaurateur Zhang Lan has sought to avoid by concealing her assets.
Law360, July 24, 2023Tom Malinowski, two-term representative for New Jersey's 7th Congressional District and former vice chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is moving to an international litigation boutique to serve as senior policy consultant.
Law360, July 12, 2023The Supreme Court held in Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railroad that the assertion of general jurisdiction over an out-of-state corporation that has waived its jurisdictional defense as a condition to doing business in a state comports with Due Process.
July 2023In a recent wide-sweeping decision, Twitter v. Taamneh, the United States Supreme Court dramatically reshaped liability under the 2016 Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (“JASTA”), which imposes secondary, civil liability under the Anti-Terrorism Act (“ATA”) on persons who aid and abet or conspire to commit acts of international terrorism.
May 25, 2023LBKM’s Middle East team is featured in The Legal 500 Private Practice Powerlist 2023 for Arbitration (Middle East). The publication is designed to highlight the region's leading arbitration counsel to Legal 500's broad international readership of private practice lawyers, in-house counsel, and expert witnesses.
April 27, 2023According to recent policy announcements, the U.S. Department of Justice is increasing incentives for corporate cooperation to further its goal of prosecuting individuals rather than the corporations where they work.
While the DOJ has long pursued this goal, the recent changes create firm new incentives for corporations to report wrongdoing by their officers and employees.
Law360, April 12, 2023On March 2, 2023, the US government published a multi-agency notice setting forth red flags and warning of enhanced enforcement efforts related to third-party intermediary evasion of US Russia-related sanctions and export controls. The Financial Times subsequently reported that a senior Treasury official stated that the UAE was a “country of focus” for US investigators.
March 2023Aisha Bembry, managing partner of LBKM's Washington office, was featured in Law.com's "How I Made It" series.
Law.com, November 8, 2022The Lafarge case illustrates the extent companies with operations in high-risk jurisdictions must be aware of increasing ATA-related risk, including the risk of civil litigation.
November 2022OFAC, banking regulators and criminal enforcement authorities agree: there are big cases to be made in the crypto space. The latest example is OFAC’s October 2022 sanctions enforcement action against crypto-trading platform Bittrex, Inc.
October 19, 2022- New engagements in the region include World Cup kick-off event in Qatar.
In recent weeks, LBKM’s Middle East practice group expanded its reach to help launch a large-scale, multi-day event in Qatar to kick off the World Cup 2022. As part of these efforts, LBKM’s Sports and Entertainment group led negotiations with various talent agencies and third parties, managing myriad legal and logistical issues to bring together such public figures as Trevor Noah of The Daily Show; Jalen Rose and David Jacoby of ESPN; and NBA Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady. The event served to promote cross-cultural understanding and demonstrate the ways in which sports and entertainment can be used to bridge cultural divides and effect social change.
December 1, 2021 The U.S. government’s surveillance capabilities and long-standing policies have sparked concern and reaction from the European Union (“EU”), and now, in response to a European court ruling, European partners are reaching out to their U.S. counterparts asking to amend existing contracts to strengthen or install protections concerning European data. How U.S. entities respond to such requests can determine whether their commercial relationships continue uninterrupted and potentially give them a leg up against the competition.
October 2021Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss PLLC is pleased to announce that John Moscow has been named to the 2021 New York Super Lawyers list. Each year, no more than five percent of the lawyers in each state are selected to receive this honor. In addition, A. Mackenna White has been named to the 2021 New York Rising Stars list. Each year, no more than 2.5 percent of the lawyers in the state are selected to receive this honor.
September 30, 2021Eric Lewis appeared on Corporate Counsel Business Journal's daily podcast, In House Warrior, to discuss extradition, OFAC sanctions, and what to expect from the Biden administration.
In House Warrior podcast, March 18, 2021How will reopening efforts and the protracted nature of COVID-19 affect international commercial contracts that are governed by New York law?
Law360, October 9, 2020Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss PLLC is pleased to announce that three of its lawyers have been named to the 2020 New York Super Lawyers and Rising Stars lists.
September 29, 2020In a rather short period of time, the novel coronavirus has had an extraordinary impact on the lives of millions of people around the world. The business community is no exception. Businesses are closed, supply chains are disrupted, workers are being furloughed or laid off, and no one is quite sure when things will return to some semblance of normal. As we brace for the continued global economic consequences of the pandemic, it is important to think proactively, mitigate risk, and take advantage of the resources that are available to assist.
Law360, April 28, 2020Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss PLLC is pleased to announce that three of its lawyers have been named to the 2020 Washington, DC Super Lawyers list. Each year, no more than five percent of the lawyers in each state are selected by the research team at Super Lawyers to receive this honor.
April 17, 2020Six LBKM professionals have been selected to the 2019 New York and Washington, DC Super Lawyers lists - an honor limited to 5 percent of the lawyers in each state. In addition, one LBKM professional has been selected to the 2019 New York Rising Stars list.
October 2019Jeffrey Tenenbaum, head of the nonprofit practice at the DC-based law firm Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss PLLC, was quoted in this article in The Chronicle of Philanthropy on the steps nonprofit organizations can take to mitigate risk associated with fundraising.
The Chronicle of Philanthopy, September 19, 2019Recent brain studies investigating CTE create uncertainty for defendants and their insurers
Insurance Day, January 31, 2018Criminals are opportunists. They like money. There’s a ton of money in college basketball. And, as evidenced by the federal criminal charges against 10 people, including four Division I NCAA men’s basketball assistant coaches and a senior executive at a major athletic apparel company, no one seems to keep a particularly close eye on that money — and pots of unsupervised money create attractive opportunities.
Sports Business Journal, January 15, 2018Katherine Toomey was interviewed about the President’s latest travel ban proclamation and observed that the new ban might signal future “policy changes and reciprocal restrictions on U.S. travel.” She added “I think that what we're seeing is uncertainty in the future about how many foreigners may be able to come over here for business purposes, whether for hiring or meetings or conferences and the extent to which that will have to be navigated by general counsels."
Law360, September 28, 2017The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday decided in Matal v. Tam that the federal government’s ban on offensive-trademark registrations violates the First Amendment. Here, attorneys tell Law360 why the decision is significant.
Ron Abramson, Lewis Baach PLLC. “In today’s decision, there was no dissent from any side of the spectrum. The differences in the bases for the separate opinions of the justices
were nuanced, going to whether it was necessary to address additional questions such as whether registered trademarks represent government of private speech. One group said it was private speech — and thus highly protected — and a second group said it didn’t matter because this type of censorship would be prohibited under either standard. There will surely be a rash of fringe, and truly offensive, trademark filings as a result of this decision. However, none of them will likely ever be major brands, thus the issue should not have great practical significance.”Law360, June 19, 2017"There will surely be a rash of fringe (and truly offensive) trademark filings as a result of this decision," Ron Abramson, an IP attorney with Lewis Baach, told Ars in an e-mailed comment. "However, none of them will likely ever be major brands, thus the issue should not have great practical significance."
Ars Technica, June 19, 2017
Publications, Presentations & Events
- IBA Annual Conference Mexico City 2024
Cristián Francos co-moderates a panel on business crime crisis situations in a corporate environment at the International Bar Association's Annual Conference taking place in Mexico City on 15–20 September 2024.
Mexico City, September 17, 2024 LBKM is proud to sponsor this year's CenterForce Driving Diversity in Law & Leadership Summit in Washington, DC, where Managing Partner Aisha Bembry will be a panelist at a session titled "Shattering Glass Ceilings: The Unwritten Playbook for Career Success Beyond Hard Work."
Washington, DC, June 12, 2024The U.S. lags other countries in crypto adoption, and unfavorable policy is only one reason. Another is that the problems crypto addresses are more prevalent in other countries. Join LBKM's Carol Van Cleef and fellow panelists at this open forum to share your experience and ideas about what moves the needle on crypto adoption and usage around the world.
Austin, TX, May 29, 2024- London International Disputes Week
Partner Tara Plochocki will be speaking on "The evolving impact of sanctions on commercial contracts" as part of London International Disputes Week.
Withers LLP, 20 Old Bailey, London, May 18, 2023 Cristián Francos is Senior Vice Chair of the IBA’s Business Crime Committee and will be co-chairing “The transfer of criminal liability in M&A” session on November 3rd.
Miami, November 3, 2022A. Katherine Toomey gave a presentation on U.S. "sunshine laws" at the International Business Law Consortium Annual General Meeting, held September 30–October 1, 2021.
September 30, 2021The U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia recently denied a petition to recognize and enforce an international arbitration award against a government-owned airline on jurisdictional grounds. The decision in UAB Skyroad Leasing Inc. v. OJSC Tajik Air, 20-cv-0763 (D.D.C. Jan. 26, 2021) illustrates the hurdles to enforcing an arbitral award against a foreign state-owned enterprise, even when that enterprise is engaged in pure commercial activities and controlled by the state.
January 29, 2021- Significant Expansion of Beneficial Ownership Disclosure Requirements in the United States
The U.S. Senate joined the House of Representatives and passed the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, a defense spending bill, which included the Corporate Transparency Act (the “Act”). That Act sets forth an expansion for the disclosure requirements for certain US and non-US companies doing business in the United States.
December 14, 2020 - Practical guidance for individuals and companies to consider if served with a federal grand jury subpoena.New York Law Journal, July 31, 2020
A. Katherine Toomey moderated the International Business Law Consortium event IBLC 2020: Trends in Bankruptcy and Insolvency and gave a presentation on Chapter 15 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.
June 25, 2020The health effects of Covid-19 have created personal tragedies that seemed unimaginable a few short months ago. Despite the efforts of governments, the virus has shown that the world is inextricably interconnected. How we respond will dictate whether that interconnectedness is a positive or negative force as we try to recover from the economic crisis that has arisen in the wake of the pandemic. In Latin America, individuals and companies have either begun to see, or fear, the return of currency controls, defaults and chaos as the governments of the region confront historic challenges. Many have once again sought refuge in the perceived relative safety of the U.S. financial system. However, investors may find that their sudden search for a safe haven may bring on a series of unanticipated problems.
May 22, 2020There is a popular misconception that asset forfeiture is limited to the luxury cars, private jets and speedboats of drug dealers, but many well-meaning businesses and individuals are finding themselves with their assets seized under statutes that provide U.S. authorities extremely broad powers. And these seizures often occur without any warning to, or even accusation against, the owner of the assets. Once seized it can take years to obtain recovery of perfectly legal assets. In these uncertain times, as many well-meaning people seek the relative safety of the U.S. banking system, individuals and companies in many countries may innocently use money-transfer systems that exponentially increase the risk of having their assets seized. Why does this happen and how can it be avoided?
May 11, 2020The coronavirus pandemic has not only caused untold misery, it has forced the virtual shutdown of the global economy. Everyone hopes that this crisis will pass, but events have shown there is a false choice between mitigation and resumption of economic activity. Mitigation, with testing and social distancing, must be done to avoid wave after wave of disease, which will only lead to rolling cessations of economic activity. Given the economic dislocation occasioned by this global crisis and that it is likely to continue for at least a few more months, we can anticipate that many businesses will fail, and others will require time and help to restore financial health and operations. There is little doubt that innumerable global businesses will need the protection of an organized and coordinated insolvency and reorganization process as soon as this crisis is over. The time for them to begin planning is now.
April 24, 2020In recent weeks, the world has been engulfed by the spread of COVID-19 as governments scramble to protect their citizens and avoid the collapse of public health systems and long-term damage to their economies. The wide-ranging efforts to flatten the curve of COVID-19 has created a tidal wave of ramifications for an international business community that is today more interconnected than ever, and led to high levels of uncertainty surrounding current and future contractual obligations. At a time when government policies fluctuate daily and courts and arbitration centers are becoming increasingly inaccessible to resolve active disputes, it is difficult for a party to seek or obtain interim measures or relief. From country to country and company to company, the responses have not been uniform: some commercial parties have continued to perform their obligations, while others have argued for wholesale abdication of their responsibilities, and still others are somewhere in between. Certain trends of government action and commercial response are emerging worldwide, no less so in the hyper-connected global businesses that are found in the Middle East.
April 20, 2020