I hope that you and your family had an enjoyable summer. Over the past several months we have been involved in a number of successful and interesting matters that I thought you might like to know about. 

 

    For many years, I have represented a large university based in Boston and continue to do so. Recently, I was asked by another college in the Boston area to represent it in negotiating and if necessary, litigating a dispute with a consulting company that had demanded a great deal of money which the college felt was undeserved and contrary to their agreement. There had been months of negotiation before the consulting firm sent a draft of its proposed contract Complaint. When I got involved, the consultants’ demand was far more than the college felt was owed to them. After further meetings and discussions, the case was settled for the relatively small amount I suggested, thus avoiding the cost and expenditure of time and effort by college administrators that would have been required by litigation. As a result, the college administrators have been able to turn their attention to what really counts: educating their students.

    Over the past several months, I represented several employees in matters that were resolved without resort to litigation. In one case, an administrator was anticipating being laid off at the next scheduled meeting with her supervisor and a member of the Human Resources department of the organization. Over the period of a week I met and worked with the client to develop an approach and a scenario that stood at least a fighting chance of her keeping her job. As a result, the supervisor listened to my client’s presentation and decided not to terminate her employment, which would have had a very detrimental effect on my client and her family. In the U.S. “employment at will” is the standard rule, which allows an employer to terminate the services of an employee for any reason, good or bad, wise or unwise – or for no reason at all. In most cases, there is no recourse, unless the employer has made the decision based upon unlawful discrimination or to discourage legitimate whistle blowers. This recent case involved no such illegal considerations by the employer. The best result in this case is that my client still has her job and the organization has a committed employee.

     I reported a while back that I had helped a client negotiate his departure from a large business corporation so that he could begin his own business. The hurdle to be overcome then was a tightly drafted non-competition clause which would have prevented him from working with customers he had developed during his years with his former employer. We were at a disadvantage, but we were able to work with the company to fashion a business arrangement by which the employee shared some of his profits with the company for a finite period following his departure. This permitted my client to carry on business and survive financially in his new company despite the non-competition clause. The time period for that sharing arrangement has now expired, with the result that my client can work with his customers freely and for his own account. His firm is growing and I recently prepared an employment agreement with non-competition and non-solicitation provisions for the first of my client’s new employees. 

    While getting involved in Bankruptcy Court proceedings, such as Chapter 7 liquidations or Chapter 11 reorganizations, is not a regular part of my practice, I have litigated cases such as fraudulent conveyances and preferences in the Bankruptcy Court. I have also been in a position to advise clients as to the best course of action to follow, for instance, in dealing with a situation where one of the adverse parties has been placed in a bankruptcy proceeding. I am fortunate to able to call upon my colleagues who specialize in creditors rights in order to better advise my clients in such situations. One arose recently where one of three potential defendants filed a petition in bankruptcy. We were able to fashion our court Complaint against the remaining two defendants who are not in such a proceeding. We had great success in obtaining a trustee attachment, that is, a court order freezing one of the defendant’s bank funds in an amount sufficient to satisfy the amount of money owed by the defendants. 

     Although ours is not a large firm, I can and do call upon experts in other fields of law with whom (or even against whom) I have worked over the years, whether it be in bankruptcy, real estate, taxes, corporate and business transactions or wills and trusts. No one person can know everything about the law, but what is vital is to be able to call upon the best minds to provide advice and guidance in particular matters. In my situation, I am not limited to choosing among a finite number of attorneys in just one firm. Rather, I can, and do choose from attorneys I’ve come to know and trust here in Boston, in other parts of the U.S., and through ij International Jurists - the international consortium of law firms of which I am a member - all over the world. 

    I continue to serve as Chairman for the Eric M. Warburg Boston Chapter of the American Council on Germany. I have been involved in organizing about a dozen events each year in the Boston area at universities such as Harvard, Brandeis, Northeastern, Suffolk and Boston University. I also attend on a regular basis the ACG’s John J. McCloy Annual Dinner. Attached are photos from the most recent McCloy Dinner with Hon. Peter Wittig, Ambassador of Germany to the U.S., and Hon. Philip Murphy, former U.S. Ambassador to Germany, who is presently the Democratic candidate for Governor of New Jersey.  

    Friends of Switzerland had its Stratton Dinner and the annual award was shared by three graphic artists responsible for the development and popularity of the “Swiss Style” of typography. A photo from that gala event is attached.

     I recently returned from a very interesting celebration at Harvard Law School of HLS alumni in the arts. The featured presentation was of Clive Davis, the iconic record executive who, as President of Columbia Records and Arista was responsible for signing up and recording Janis Joplin, Bruce Springsteen, Barry Manilow, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Huston and a long list of outstanding recording artists. You may have also read the New York Times’s recent in depth article about him. A new documentary of his life and successes has been released, entitled “Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of our Lives”. The film was screened with a Q & A session afterwards. A photo from that event is also attached. Footnote: Clive Davis and I both grew up in Brooklyn. Before my graduation from law school, I had attempted to gain representation at Columbia Records for my music. While Columbia’s A&R person wasn’t interested in my type of music, Mr. Davis did offer me a job to come work in the Columbia Records legal department after I graduated. I chose instead to work in Boston, and have never regretted my decision. Still – it was nice to be asked. 

     We continue to practice in a wide range of legal areas, including corporate, business and commercial law, trials and appeals, real estate issues, employment, discrimination, divorce and university law. If you have any questions about our areas of practice or about any legal matters where we can be of assistance to you or someone you know, both here and abroad, please do not hesitate to call on me.

     I look forward to hearing from you, and, as always, send you, your family and your colleagues, my best wishes for a healthy and successful fall and winter season. 

                       

     Kindest personal regards,

     Marc Redlich