Le Lézard
Subject: LAW

Brown Rudnick Secures Major Victory for Fairfield Sentry and Kenneth Krys Stemming from Madoff Fraud


NEW YORK, Oct. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Brown Rudnick secured a crucial victory on behalf of client Kenneth Krys, foreign representative of Fairfield Sentry Limited, the largest Madoff feeder fund, against Farnum Place, LLC, this week, as the United States Supreme Court declined to hear Farnum's final appeal to a 2017 ruling by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Court's decision ends more than five years of litigation in the case, which sprung from the high profile conviction of investor and stockbroker Bernie Madoff in 2009. The result means an additional $100 million or more in recovery for Sentry stakeholders, many of whom had lost big in the fallout of the Madoff scandal.

"We're pleased to be able to help Sentry recover approximately $100 million in value that otherwise would have been lost," said partner David Molton, who led Brown Rudnick's representation of Krys.

The case is also significant in its implication for future Chapter 15 bankruptcies. In its 2017 ruling, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals confirmed responsibility by Bankruptcy Courts to independently review and if appropriate reject proposed sales of U.S. assets by representatives of foreign main proceedings to the same extent as in domestic bankruptcy proceedings, even if those sales have been previously reviewed and approved by courts in non-US jurisdictions.  

"Today's outcome brings clarity and predictability to the increasingly important Chapter 15 cross-border insolvency architecture," said Molton. "Today the courts confirmed that foreign liquidators selling U.S. assets enjoy the same rights that trustees in domestic Chapter 7 and 11 cases have long held, the ability to reject  a sale that indisputably is no longer is in the best interests of the estate's stakeholders."

Brown Rudnick is widely recognized for its bankruptcy litigation and distressed asset work in the US and worldwide. As a partner, Molton focuses on complex financial and commercial litigation in federal, state and bankruptcy courts, and represents foreign liquidators, official committees of creditors, unofficial ad hoc committees of creditors and interested parties in financial fraud and mass tort related litigations and bankruptcies in the United States and in foreign jurisdictions.

About Brown Rudnick LLP

Brown Rudnick, an international law firm with offices in the United States and Europe, represents clients from around the world in high-stakes litigation, international arbitration and complex business transactions. Clients include public and private corporations, multinational Fortune 100 businesses and start-up enterprises. The Firm also represents investors, as well as official and ad hoc creditors' committees in today's largest corporate restructurings, both domestically and abroad. Founded more than 60 years ago, Brown Rudnick has more than 240 lawyers providing advice and services across key areas of the law. Beyond the United States, the Firm regularly serves clients in Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America. With its Brown Rudnick Center for the Public Interest, the Firm has created an innovative model combining its pro bono, charitable giving and community volunteer efforts.

SOURCE Brown Rudnick LLP



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