I hope this letter finds you and your family enjoying the same lovely Spring weather that we are finally having here in New England. Over the last several months, we have been involved in a number of matters that I thought you would be interested in knowing about. 

    You may recall that in a recent newsletter I told you about a hard-fought divorce case I had been handling. That case involved a long-term marriage and issues of considerable real estate and securities holdings, substantial retirement funds, antiques and personal property, all of which were the subject of much disagreement. An indication of this is that the wife commenced her divorce action immediately before the sale of the family’s home and business, which considerably complicated both transactions. It could have resulted in a major financial loss for the family, but we were able to find creative solutions to these difficult issues and avert a potential disaster. The case was finally settled and the divorce was successfully finalized.

    In an atypical employment matter, I represented a state employee who had been passed over several times for promotion. We were able to arrange for the employee to meet with the persons making the promotion decisions in order to clear up any misconceptions or misinformation about my client. At the end of a long but constructive process, my client was promoted and is now happily working at his new assignment.

    I have previously written about a pending securities industry arbitration case involving the termination of an employee whom we believe was subjected to discriminatory treatment by an international financial institution. We were able to successfully settle the matter in the course of a mediation process prior to the commencement of the arbitration hearing. Unfortunately, an increasingly prevalent term in settlement agreements is that the details and terms of the arrangement must be kept confidential. Alas, all I can say is that the matter was settled on satisfactory terms for our client.

    In an array of recent employment-related cases, I have represented my clients both in their separation from their prior employer, for instance on the terms of their severance agreements, and then in their negotiations to join a new organization. Very often, in cases involving companies in the high tech or bio-research industries, questions arise with regard to confidentiality or non-compete agreements that were signed with the previous employer and which must be resolved prior to the client joining the new organization, as well as the expected financial issues that a reasonable severance arrangement should provide for. We have been able to successfully navigate those problems for our clients in several cases over the past year. The good news is that recently I have noticed that people in middle and upper management positions have been able to find jobs a lot more quickly after separation from their former employers than was the case five years ago. Hopefully this bodes well for individuals who find themselves in such situations, and for our economy in general.  

    A large and interesting part of my practice over the course of my career has been in the field of real estate litigation, representing property owners, developers, condominium associations and unit owners in disputes involving sale and leasing contracts, construction, and building issues. We are currently representing a large institution in a case involving building code issues and how they impact the rights of the parties to the dispute. At the same time, we are representing a commercial property owner in a case against a previous tenant who abandoned the property and defaulted on its lease. These cases are still in process with more to come in the near future. 

    This past November, I attended a meeting of the Management Committee of ij International Jurists, a world-wide consortium of law firms, which was held recently on the beautiful island of Cyprus. This meeting was graciously hosted by one of our ij members, Kalia Georgiou. It is a legendary and lovely island, the home of Aphrodite in Greek mythology, and also where Othello commanded the garrison. As many of you know, the island is divided between the Turkish population in the north and the Greek population in the south. At one of our meetings we had the opportunity to meet the Minister of Finance on the Greek side of Cyprus. A photo from that event is enclosed.

    As Chairman of the Boston Eric M. Warburg Chapter, I continue to be active in the American Council on Germany. Over this past year I have been involved with the ACG in arranging nearly a dozen events on topics ranging from migration to Europe from the Middle East and North Africa to the Transatlantic relationship. The impact of those changes affects us here in the U.S. where we are also facing many of the same types of immigration issues being encountered by Europe. In cooperation with the Center for European Studies at Harvard, the ACG hosted a panel discussion regarding the upcoming elections in Germany, where the issues and parties reflect the rise of populism affecting France, Britain, the Netherlands and other countries in Europe.  An ACG luncheon speaker event was held in cooperation with Northeastern University featuring Dr. Thomas Seidel, First Secretary of the Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations. The audience included graduate and undergraduate students in the University’s international relations program, as well as ACG members and guests.

    The ACG was also involved in a panel discussion held at Boston University in association with the Consul General of Germany, Hon. Ralf Horlemann, celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the 1957 Treaty of Rome. That Treaty was one of the early templates for the eventual establishment of the European Union. Former German Ambassador to the U.S., Hon. Klaus Scharioth was on the panel and the ACG’s President, Steven Sokol, moderated the discussion. Photos from these events are also enclosed. 

    Also included is a photo taken some years ago when the Foreign Minister of Germany, Hon. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, visited Boston and took part in an ACG event at Harvard. As you may know, Dr. Steinmeier has recently been elected President of Germany. 

    As always, 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, please do not hesitate to call on me.

    As always, I look forward to hearing from you.  

                       

    Kindest personal regards,

    Marc Redlich