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| Practice Areas | Complex Commercial Litigation; Creditors Rights; Equipment Leasing; Banking Law; Secured Transactions; Fraud; Corporate Shareholder Disputes | | | Education | DePaul University, J.D., 1980, Indiana University, A.B., honors division, 1977 | | | Admitted | 1980, Illinois and U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois including Trial Bar; 1985, Florida and U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit; 1986, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida, including Trial Bar; 1989, U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit; 1991, U.S. Supreme Court and U.S. Tax Court; 1994, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Florida; U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida; 1995, U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit; 2004, U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit | |
| Memberships | The Florida Bar; American Bar Association (Member, Sections on: Litigation; Business; Chairman, Lease Financings and Secured Transactions Subcommittee); Equipment Leasing Association of America (Chairman, Legislative and Regulatory Subcommittee; Legal Committee; Service Provider's Committee; Governmental Affairs Council); United Association of Equipment Lessors; Florida Association of Equipment Lessors (President). | | | Born | Gary, Indiana, June 21, 1955 | | | Biography | Charles H. Lichtman is a shareholder and member of the firm's Dispute Resolution Team. His practice focuses on complex commercial litigation and trial practice, particularly in "bet the farm" and emergency matters. Mr. Lichtman has significant experience in large fraud, corporate shareholder and finance cases of all types. His skill set is bolstered by his demonstrated ability to step into business crisis situations and manage the many, constantly changing complexities of these type cases. Mr. Lichtman has consistently been recognized for excellence as an attorney, being named to The Best Lawyers in America and other published lists of the top attorneys in Florida, including Florida Trend Magazine, Super Lawyers, the South Florida Legal Guide and the South Florida Business Journal. He has also achieved an AV rating by Martindale-Hubbell. Some of Mr. Lichtman's representations involving fraud include: The largest creditor and then as court-approved, Special Litigation Counsel to a bankruptcy trustee of a national insurance company, pursuing fraudulent conveyances against the company's principal. The judge called the case one of the largest bankruptcy frauds in South Florida history. In recovering 100% of his client's multi-million dollar loss, Mr. Lichtman first uncovered, then put together and successfully tried the civil case reported in a 47 page opinion. The adversary proceeding presentation was then mirrored by the U.S. Attorney who successfully prosecuted the debtor sending him to prison for seven years. (ii) Equity holders defrauded out of their investment in an $80 million transaction stated by the Miami Herald as the largest land sale transaction in Dade County history, related to Miami Beach's three famed high-rise Seacoast Towers. Mr. Lichtman brought a myriad of claims in Florida State and U.S. Bankruptcy Court against numerous co-conspirators and other parties including professionals. At the beginning of the case he utilized pre-judgment remedies freezing and seizing the assets of two of the fraud's leading perpetrators. He then helped trace assets around the globe, bringing recovery actions in Monaco, Italy, the Caribbean and South America. (iii) The largest group of investor creditors in a $500 million securities fraud/Ponzi scheme, working with other firms and helping to collect about 80% of the loss. (iv) A group of Japanese investors in the largest viatical fraud case in Florida. Within six months of taking the case, Mr. Lichtman recovered all of his client's $13 million investment, successfully arguing to the Court that his client's funds, then in the custody of an S.E.C. Receiver, belonged to his clients. (v) An equipment lease company against a vendor and about thirty lessees, all charged with fraud. Mr. Lichtman prevailed at trial, with the federal judge writing a 21 page opinion, which now serves as the leading case in Florida upholding an equipment leases' "hell or high water clause". Ultimately, Mr. Lichtman recovered 100% of his client's loss. (vi) Within months of each other, in two separate lawsuits where he was representing a plaintiff defrauded by the officers of unrelated public companies, he recovered nearly all remaining officer and director insurance policy proceeds. Before that, numerous other plaintiffs had sued these public companies and all of them lost their cases either through the motion process or at trial. (vii) Representing an equipment lessor who suffered a significant multi-million loss in three related lawsuits in Michigan against about 300 lessees and guarantors who knowingly entered into leases, misrepresenting facts related to the equipment and tied to the Certificate of Acceptance. The vendor in California who orchestrated the fraud is now in federal prison. (viii) Representing the investors bilked out of millions by a former engineer of the Canadian Space Authority and a storefront, fictitious bank located in Grenada. Mr. Lichtman instituted legal proceedings against parties from all over the world, and won an appeal in the case establishing that the foreign defendants were subject to the Florida court's personal jurisdiction. He also traced assets and money through the Caribbean, Canada and Turkey. The case was featured on Canada's equivalent of 60 Minutes. The principal perpetrator of the fraud was convicted in U.S. federal criminal proceedings, and sentenced to 20 years. (ix) The Bank of New England, who lost $6.2 million (in 1985) resulting from a fraudulent accounts receivables scheme. Prior to trial, the Bank's directors authorized a $20 million settlement payment to the defendants on their "failure to fund" and usury lender liability counterclaim. Mr. Lichtman prevailed upon the Bank's Chairman to let him try the case instead of making the settlement payment. Following a three week federal bench trial, the judge entered a 53 page opinion finding for the bank on all grounds. A significant amount of the bank's loss was collected through aggressive fraudulent conveyance based post-judgment proceedings. (x) The secured lender in bankruptcy court against a chain of movie theatres, which were used as conduits to launder money by its principals, leaders of the largest Mexican heroin cartel. During the case, Mr. Lichtman was told by one of these men in a courtroom hallway he "was going to end up in the trunk of a car if he didn't back off". Ultimately, after two years of work, the client was made nearly whole on its potential significant exposure. Mr. Lichtman's investigation during the case uncovered and documented a payoff scheme with City of Chicago officials related to the purchase of certain property. Shortly afterwards, the drug cartel members disappeared, presumably leaving the country. (xi) An individual named by Interpol on its "International Top Ten List of Con Men," successfully defending him at a lengthy trial in Geneva, Switzerland on criminal charges of bank fraud. Mr. Lichtman also has significant experience in handling a variety of large and complex matters involving other facets of business including: (i) Representing a significant shareholder and investor in an internationally known cruise line in a hostile dispute with management, ultimately forcing the company to buy him out at a premium. (ii) Serving on a team that successfully defended three of the nations' most-well known retailers in a patent infringement action where, if lost, damages were estimated at between $1 billion to $10 billion. (iii) Successfully twice defending a $100 million tort claim in Federal Court by Abbott Labs against a client, alleging the illegal pirating of the cancer drug, Lupron. (iv) Representing Florida's United States Senator Bill Nelson in a Freedom of Information Act claim against FEMA, arising out of insurance issues and fraud arising out of Hurricane Katrina. (v) Settling an attorney malpractice action brought against prominent patent lawyers for full policy limits related to their negligent advice in issuing a Validity Opinion which caused the client to be sued in a myriad of patent related actions, nearly putting it out of business. (vi) Obtaining injunctions in three states preventing trademark infringement of a nationally known mattress brand, collecting significant damages and putting the infringer out of business. (vii) Retained as an expert witness on the issue of reasonable attorneys fees opposing a claim by an attorney and his client for an approximate $1 billion fee and sanction, resulting from violation of a trial order, in what is believed to be the largest such request in Florida's history. (viii) Representing a majority shareholder of a national pet vaccination business in litigation against the estate of his equal shareholder, ultimately gaining control of the company through a highly advantageous tax driven structured settlement, which saved the client a significant sum of money compared to the buy out formula contemplated by the parties Stockholder's Agreement. (ix) Guiding a national insecticide company through a myriad of hostile disputes with its equal shareholder, while keeping the matter out of court, ultimately resulting in the client acquiring the other 50% interest on highly favorable terms. (x) Successfully representing the son and his father's estate in a hotly contested and complex bidding process to purchase two locally well-known banquet halls, following the father's tragic murder by his business partner. (xi) Successfully representing a national pharmaceutical manufacturer on claims of breach of contract in a supply distribution agreement, ultimately resulting in a favorable settlement. (xii) Selection by the securities firm, Drexel Burnham Lambert, to serve as its counsel on Florida securities litigation. (xiii) Successfully defending a local bank through trial in an eviction for non-monetary defaults, in a case two trial judges said was the most complex eviction case either had ever seen, and which had been described by lawyers familiar with the case, as impossible to win. Mr. Lichtman's finance background involves significant knowledge and experience in equipment leasing and secured financing, banking, workouts and creditor's rights including bankruptcy. In representing various financial institutions, Mr. Lichtman has successfully defended numerous lender liability cases, including four alone where damages sought exceeded $90,000,000, winning two at trial, one by summary judgment and one by motion to dismiss. He has served as Chairman of the American Bar Association Lease Financings and Secured Transactions Subcommittee. As to the Equipment Lease and Finance Association of America, he served as (i) Chairman of its Legislative and Regulatory Subcommittee; (ii) on the ELFA's Governmental Affairs Council where for three years he helped plan Capitol Hill Day, a nationwide grass roots lobbying effort by finance industry leaders in Washington, and (iii) on both its Legal Committee and Service Provider's Committee. He also served as President of the Florida Association of Equipment Lessors where he spearheaded the equipment lease industry's efforts to favorably cause the Florida Department of Revenue to modify their assessment of documentary tax stamps on lease transactions. Mr. Lichtman also devotes a significant pro bono effort on matters related to election law and voter protection issues. He served as co-lead counsel for the Democratic Party in the 2000 Presidential election recount and litigation matters, pending in Broward County, Florida. He then served as Special Lead Counsel for the John Kerry Campaign in Florida in the 2004 Presidential Election. In this effort he formulated the voter protection effort which recruited 3200 lawyers in Florida alone, and served as the template used by the Democratic National Committee for similar efforts in the other battleground states. Following that election, he founded the National Democratic Lawyer's Counsel, establishing chapters across the country committed to protecting every citizen's right to vote. This organization was ultimately merged into the DNC. In the 2008 election, Mr. Lichtman served as Statewide Lead Counsel for the Florida Democratic Party, overseeing the technical aspects of the election in all of Florida's 67 counties and a voter protection program which placed over 5800 lawyers in the polls throughout Florida on Election Day. Mr. Lichtman started his career as a law clerk to Vincent Bugliosi, Charles Manson's prosecutor. After being admitted to practice, he served as lead assistant attorney to the renown Florida trial lawyer Jack Britton and then as the right hand to Robert L. Shevin, former Florida Attorney General. He has participated in over 200 trials and other full evidentiary hearings. He has often been retained as special counsel to other litigators on the eve of trial as a consultant or to try their cases. Mr. Lichtman is admitted to the Florida and Illinois state bars and numerous local federal trial, bankruptcy and appellate bars, including the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Lichtman has lectured at over thirty seminars and meetings and written numerous articles on complex litigation, equipment leasing, bankruptcy and creditor's rights issues. He is an expert on terrorism and the author of the nationally acclaimed espionage novel dealing with terrorism, "The Last Inauguration". He is presently at work on its sequel, "The Rock". | | | ISLN | 905450146 | |
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