Matthew A. Kraus’s practice focuses on complex commercial litigation in state and federal actions, in arbitration and in front of regulatory authorities. Matthew counsels and represents private and public corporations, private equity and other investment firms, partnerships, family offices and individuals in industries including financial services, technology, real estate, insurance, media, manufacturing and mining. He handles a broad range of commercial and contract disputes, antitrust litigation, securities and structured products matters, corporate governance issues and investigations.
Matthew has been recognized by Benchmark Litigation.
Work Highlights
- FinancialApps, a developer of financial services software, in its suit against Envestnet, a $3 billion wealth management software provider, and its subsidiary Yodlee, a consumer financial data aggregator, alleging theft of FinApps’ valuable proprietary information and trade secrets to unlawfully develop software products that compete with FinApps.
- The Renco Group, a mining and metal recovery holding company, and certain shareholders, in defending thousands of individual suits brought by Peruvian plaintiffs asserting mass tort and vicarious liability claims, including developing and asserting defenses based on the doctrine of international comity and Peru’s assertions of sovereignty.
- A major private equity firm pursuing and defending litigation against a former employee and purported Dodd Frank whistleblower and in a related regulatory inquiry.
- A major investment fund concerning a multi-million dollar dispute arising from international real estate development deals.
- Federal Housing Finance Agency, as conservator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, in actions in federal and state courts against numerous financial institutions and individuals. The lawsuits sought rescission or damages from the banks for, among other things, their misrepresentations concerning pools of mortgage loans that underlie residential mortgage-backed securities the banks issued, securitized and sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. After prevailing on critical pre-trial issues, FHFA settled the actions brought by Kasowitz for over $2 billion, including a $1.25 billion settlement with Morgan Stanley.
- MBIA, one of the world’s largest monoline insurers, in litigation brought by 18 of the world’s largest banks seeking to overturn MBIA’s corporate restructuring which, with the approval of the New York Department of Insurance, established a separate company for MBIA’s municipal bond insurance business. After a several-week evidentiary proceeding, the New York Supreme Court upheld MBIA’s restructuring, and MBIA received $1.7 billion in cash and a $500 million line of credit for its municipal bond insurance business.
- Source Interlink Distribution and Source Interlink Companies in an antitrust suit alleging that leading magazine publishers and their distributors conspired to force Source out of the wholesale single-issue magazine market. U.S. District Judge Paul A. Crotty granted a temporary restraining order to Source, ordering the defendant magazine publishers and their national distributors to resume supplying magazines to Source. After the TRO was issued, all 12 defendants agreed to settle with Source.
- Anderson News, a leading magazine wholesaler, in an antitrust action alleging a conspiracy among the leading magazine publishers and distributors to boycott Anderson forcing the company into bankruptcy.
- A partner in Green Valley Ranch, a Las Vegas casino, in a breach of contract action alleging that the managing partner diverted “high rollers” from the jointly owned casino to its wholly owned casinos.
- A Fairfield Greenwich Group founder in connection with the highly publicized multi-district litigation pending in the Southern District of New York and related state court actions arising out of the Madoff ponzi scheme. Fairfield Greenwich Group entities were the largest so-called “feeder funds” into Madoff.
- Interstate Bakeries Corporation in actions against lenders balking on commitments to provide financing necessary for the company’s exit from Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Media