May 20, 2013

In guerrilla warfare you don’t have to win every battle, or even most of them. You just have to win enough to demoralize your opponent, hoping that he (or she) will want to stop fighting and cede to your demands. That seems to be the strategy of the remaining objectors to Bank of America’s proposed $8.5 billion settlement with investors in Countrywide mortgage-backed securities. Earlier this month, the steering committee of objectors, led by AIG and several Federal Home Loan Banks, revealed that their preferred endgame for the BofA deal would be a return to the negotiating table, this time with them seated across from BofA. The various objecting AIG entities could also probably be persuaded to drop objections via a settlement of their separate securities cases. Either way, the objectors don’t necessarily have to win a ruling that BofA’s proposed settlement isn’t fair or that the Countrywide MBS trustee, Bank of New York Mellon, was unreasonable in agreeing to the deal on behalf of all certificate holders. Opponents just have to be a sufficient nuisance and distraction to wrest at least some additional money from the banks.

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Reilly Pozner LLP serves clients nationwide and is engaged in complex commercial and intellectual property litigation, class actions, civil and criminal litigation, mass torts, personal injury and appellate law.

This unique forum will take place on September 19 and September 20, 2013 at the Brown Palace Hotel in Denver, Colorado.  RP Partners Larry Pozner and Iris Eytan are Program Co-Chairs.

The National Criminal Defense Forum on Forensic Mental Health & The Law will bring the most prominent lawyers, forensic psychiatrists and psychologists together to teach criminal lawyers, judges, and mental health professionals from all over the country how to competently represent and work with mentally impaired defendants when they raise competency to proceed and insanity defenses.

The National Criminal Defense Forum on Forensic Mental Health & The Law will be funded by attorneys’ fees which were awarded to Reilly Pozner LLP as a result of a successful outcome in a pro bono civil rights case.  Reilly Pozner instituted litigation against the State of Colorado to ensure that jail detainees/defendants do not languish in jail for months, and instead obtain speedy competency examinations and restoration treatment.  This case resulted in a landmark settlement with the State in which Reilly Pozner LLP was awarded attorneys’ fees.  The firm wished to put the awarded fees to good use by bringing a program to Denver that would educate those who assist in avoiding the criminalization of persons with mental illness and developmental and intellectual disabilities.

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Reilly Pozner LLP serves clients nationwide and is engaged in complex commercial and intellectual property litigation, class actions, civil and criminal litigation, mass torts, personal injury and appellate law.

May 16, 2013

Law360, New York (May 16, 2013, 6:03 PM ET) — A Colorado federal judge on Wednesday allowed most claims to continue in a hedge fund’s lawsuit alleging that Wells Fargo NA breached its responsibilities as both a trustee and a servicer for certain residential mortgage-backed securities, costing the fund millions of dollars in losses.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Boyd N. Boland found Galena Street Fund LP had sufficiently alleged that when Wells Fargo took over from Washington Mutual NA as trustee for the MBS as well as servicer for many of the underlying mortgages, it failed to correct many of the mistakes WaMu had made, in part because of an inherent conflict between the two roles.

“Galena has sufficiently alleged that Wells Fargo labored under a conflict of interest when it purchased WaMu’s servicing portfolio and then functioned as both trustee for the trusts and servicer for many of the loans in the trusts,” Judge Boland said.

Michael Rollin, a Reilly Pozner LLP partner representing Galena, said the ruling was a boon for investors who rely on trustees of MBS to look out for their interests.

“I think this ruling is a good step forward,” he said.

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Reilly Pozner LLP serves clients nationwide and is engaged in complex commercial and intellectual property litigation, class actions, civil and criminal litigation, mass torts, personal injury and appellate law.

May 3, 2013

The Federal Housing Finance Agency and the attorneys general of New York and Delaware dropped their opposition Friday to a proposed $8.5 billion Bank of America Corp. mortgage-backed securities settlement, the same day that objecting investors said a jury, not a New York state judge, should decide if the deal is fair.

The FHFA, which oversees the housing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, said in a brief statement that it was withdrawing its opposition, joining several pension funds and others who bowed out earlier this week. The attorneys general of New York and Delaware, who had intervened in the litigation, also indicated Friday that they have decided to neither object to nor endorse the proposed settlement.

Bank of America’s proposed $8.5 billion payment to all the securities’ investors would resolve robosigning and other home loan servicing issues in $424 billion worth of Countrywide Financial Corp. mortgage-backed securities held in 530 trusts. The deal was negotiated by 22 institutional investors, including the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and BlackRock Inc.

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Reilly Pozner LLP serves clients nationwide and is engaged in complex commercial and intellectual property litigation, class actions, civil and criminal litigation, mass torts, personal injury and appellate law.

More about Dan Reilly, Larry Pozner, Eric Fisher, Anthony Giacomini, Caleb Durling, Mark Premo-Hopkins, Tess Hand-Bender and Kathleen Porter

Reilly Pozner LLP serves clients nationwide and is engaged in complex commercial and intellectual property litigation, class actions, civil and criminal litigation, mass torts, personal injury and appellate law.

Our “Jail Wait Litigation” team was comprised of Iris Eytan, Farrell Carfield, Sean Connelly, Caleb Durling, Ellie Lockwood, Jason Lynch, Lindsay Unruh and Kari Goodnight.  This team contributed significantly to the work of the Colorado Lawyers Committee in 2012 through their prosecution of the Center for Legal Advocacy v. Bicha matter.  This case promoted the humane treatment of detained individuals with mental health problems.

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Photos from the 2013 Colorado Pledge to Diversity Kick-Off Reception.

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Reilly Pozner LLP serves clients nationwide and is engaged in complex commercial and intellectual property litigation, class actions, civil and criminal litigation, mass torts, personal injury and appellate law.

The banquet was attended by Larry Pozner, Executive Director Jack Hanley and Associate Attorney Michelle Berge.

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Photos from the CHBA Banquet.

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Reilly Pozner LLP serves clients nationwide and is engaged in complex commercial and intellectual property litigation, class actions, civil and criminal litigation, mass torts, personal injury and appellate law.

The firm’s Colorado Super Lawyers are Daniel M. Reilly in business litigation, Larry S. Pozner in criminal defense, Sean Connelly in appellate, Iris Eytan in criminal defense, Wendy B. Fisher in business litigation, Anthony L. Giacomini in general litigation, Mary J. Kelly in family law, Kent C. Modesitt in general litigation, Dru Nielsen in criminal defense, and Joseph Zonies in class action/mass torts

The firm’s Rising Stars are Michelle M. Berge in general litigation, Thomas Clark in class action/mass torts, Caleb Durling in general litigation, Jason M. Lynch in business litigation, Clare Pennington in general litigation, Michael Rollin in business litigation, Katherine A. Roush in general litigation, and Lindsay A. Unruh in general litigation.

Reilly appears on the Top 10 and Top 100 Colorado Super Lawyers lists, Pozner and Zonies will appear on the Top 100, and Eytan, Fisher and Kelly appear on the Top 50 Female Super Lawyers’ list.

Super Lawyers® is a service of the Thomson Reuters, Legal Division.  Each year, the research team at Super Lawyers® undertakes a rigorous multi-phase selection process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, independent evaluation of candidates by the attorney-led research staff, a peer review of candidates by practice area and a good-standing and disciplinary check.

Super Lawyers® can be found online at www.superlawyers.com.

Reilly Pozner LLP serves clients nationwide and is engaged in complex commercial and intellectual property litigation, class actions, civil and criminal litigation, mass torts, personal injury and appellate law.

March 1, 2013

An $8.5 billion Bank of America Corp. settlement over claims related to Countrywide Financial Corp. mortgage-backed securities was flawed, and the deal must be given a thorough examination before approval, two American International Group Inc. expert witnesses told a New York judge on Thursday.

Tamar Frankel, a law professor at Boston University and an experienced securities law practitioner, said the Countrywide securities’ trustee had gone beyond its authority in negotiating the settlement. The trustee, Bank of New York Mellon Corp., had wrongfully expected Judge Barbara R. Kapnick to approve the deal without a thorough exploration of how non-negotiating parties — including AIG — would be affected, Frankel claims.

“This case is replete with sufficient ‘red flags’ to raise the court’s full and detailed inquiry before approving this settlement,” Frankel said. “The case involves outsiders that were not a party to negotiations but who will be bound by the settlement and the court’s approval of the settlement.”

AIG is one of a number of owners of the Countrywide MBS who were not involved in negotiation of the settlement and who have raised objections to the deal and BNY Mellon’s role as trustee for the securities.

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More about Dan Reilly, Michael Rollin, Clare Pennington, Michael Kotlarczyk, Maritza Braswell and Ellie Lockwood

Reilly Pozner LLP serves clients nationwide and is engaged in complex commercial and intellectual property litigation, class actions, civil and criminal litigation, mass torts, personal injury and appellate law.