Mitchell D. Haddad is a Member of the Firm's Litigation Department and based in the Firm's New York office. He is an experienced real estate and commercial litigator who previously was with the firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, where he had been Of Counsel. Mr. Haddad has represented major domestic and international lenders and corporations on a wide variety of matters. He conducted numerous trials, argued appeals, and participated in and/or conducted arbitrations and mediations. Mr. Haddad's practice has had a significant emphasis on real estate litigation. He has represented real estate developers, and both lenders and borrowers in the foreclosure and work out of commercial mortgages. He has also been involved in complex brokerage commission litigation, including the representation of a major commercial tenant in actions seeking to recover multi-million dollar brokerage fees arising out of the leasing of almost one million square feet of space at the World Trade Center. He has successfully represented clients in vendor-purchaser litigation, mechanic's lien litigation, complex commercial landlord-tenant matters, Fair Housing Act and housing discrimination matters, and general commercial torts, partnership, joint venture and corporate litigation and matters involving real estate entities. Mr. Haddad's practice has also focused on the rights of secured parties under the Uniform Commercial Code, assignments for the benefit of creditors, and bankruptcy law. While at Weil, Gotshal, he successfully led a team of attorneys in repossessing a jumbo jet aircraft in Miami, Florida that had been leased by an international airline. He coordinated and supervised outside counsel in successfully liquidating more than twenty recycling facilities in nine states pursuant to an assignment for the benefit of creditors on behalf of a secured creditor. Mr. Haddad counseled a consortium of institutional lenders and prosecuted the foreclosure of membership interests in a limited liability company entity that owned and operated a power plant in Connecticut. Mr. Haddad also successfully represented creditors of foreign sovereigns in litigation involving the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, and was an integral member of the teams that successfully obtained - and collected upon - judgments in excess of $135 million against the governments of Panama and Peru. Since joining Sills Cummis in 2006, Mr. Haddad's major matters included defending an action seeking specific performance of a long term lease for the development and operation of a midtown Manhattan hotel or, alternatively, one hundred million dollars in damages. He successfully defended the Eastern Section of the United States Tennis Association in multiple state court proceedings to overturn an election of officers and directors. Mr. Haddad was trial counsel and obtained a preliminary injunction in the Eastern District of the United States District Court enforcing a non-compete and non-disclosure agreement in connection with a failed corporate merger, which was upheld on appeal by the Second Circuit. Mr. Haddad obtained summary judgment dismissing claims seeking $25 million in damages sounding in breach of contract and fraud arising out of an oral joint venture agreement to develop real property. Prior to joining Sills Cummis, Mr. Haddad was an integral part of the team representing a major international corporation in an arbitration to determine the fair annual market rental value for the last five years of its lease term, in which the arbitrator determined that the value was $20 million less than the landlord had sought. Mr. Haddad succeeded at trial in New York State Supreme Court in which the plaintiff sought - and was denied - various easements to a private park and a private street in lower Manhattan. He successfully led a team that obtained a judgment in excess of $24 million in favor of a large financial institution. Affiliations General Counsel, United States Tennis Association, Eastern Section (2007 and 2008) Relevant News 9/19/2006, Mitchell D. Haddad - Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Challenging Tennis Officials Relevant Events 11/29/2011, Jeffrey H. Newman and Mitchell D. Haddad - Real Estate Litigation: A Toolkit for Transactional Lawyers - Practicing Law Institute's Commercial Real Estate Institute 2011 Relevant Representative Decisions 6/27/2008, National Elevator Cab & Door Corp. v. H & B, Inc., 2008 U.S. App. Lexis 13644 (2d Cir. 2008) (Resident, New York, N.Y. Office) |