James E. Brandt is the Managing Partner of the New York office of Latham & Watkins. Mr. Brandt is a member of the Litigation Department and the Restructuring, Insolvency & Workouts, Securities Litigation and Professional Liability and Takeover Defense practices. He focuses extensively on complex litigation involving financial matters, including securities and corporate transactions, and insolvency matters, including litigation in bankruptcy court and commercial matters.
Mr. Brandt is an experienced trial attorney who has run matters that are local, national and international in scope. He practices regularly in the state and federal courts of New York and has also handled cases in numerous jurisdictions, including, among others, California, Delaware, Illinois and Florida.
Mr. Brandt has handled numerous cross-border controversies and matters in alternative dispute resolution forums, and also has a specialty in the defense of companies against bondholder claims. He has handled the full gamut of commercial litigation matters and has served as outside litigation counsel to Jefferies, the Weider Companies, HedgServ and Rothschild, Inc, among others.
He speaks and writes regularly on topics within his areas of expertise. Mr. Brandt has been cited as a leading attorney in the area of commercial litigation by The Legal 500 US and Chambers USA.
Mr. Brandt's experience involving securities and transaction related matters includes representing:
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Issuers, like American Superconductor, A123 Systems, COMSAT, RHI and Fannie Mae, and individual underwriters, such as Deutsche Bank, Lehman Brothers and Jefferies, and underwriter groups in cases under both the 1933 and 1934 Acts involving IPOs, securitizations, private placements, exchange offers and other forms of transactions
Representative M&A litigation matters include representation of:
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The Special Committee of Southern Peru Copper Corporation, numerous private equity sponsors and a variety of parties in the post-closing adjustment arena, including KKR, Odyssey Partners, Energy Capital Partners and Carlyle portfolio companies
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Sabre Inc. in its acquisition of the minority public interest in Travelocity.com
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CPI Development Corporation in the disposition of Carter Wallace Inc.
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International Paper Company in its acquisition of Champion Paper Corporation
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UBS in the Arvin Meritor/Dana matter
Mr. Brandt's experience involving insolvency related matters includes representation of:
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A variety of lenders in workout matters and insolvency related litigation, including Société Générale, Deutsche Bank AG, and Global West restructuring, and ING (US) Capital LLC
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Debtors such as Boston Generating in the full gamut of Chapter 11 litigation, and a variety of parties in fraudulent transfer and preference litigation, such as MRI in the Asarco bankruptcy
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Continental Airlines Creditors' Committee in Eastern Airlines’ more than US$1 billion stripping claim action against Continental
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Continental Airlines, itself, in its multimillion dollar fraudulent transfer claim against Frank Lorenzo
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The Yucaipa Companies in its buyout claim brought by the estate of Almac’s Supermarkets
Representative complex commercial litigation includes representation of:
- The American Beverage Association in its opposition to the New York City Soda Ban. This victory earned Mr. Brandt recognition as "Litigator of the Week" in The American Lawyer Litigation Daily (March 2013)
- Financial institutions such as Credit Suisse, Barclays, UBS, Jefferies, Rothschild, Inc. and Société Générale in complex litigation related to mergers and acquisitions and contracts disputes