UBS Win for Secured Lending Industry Earns Litigators of the Week Recognition

2 minute read | April.12.2024

American Lawyer today recognized a financial services litigation team led by partners Darrell Cafasso and Rich Jacobsen in the Litigators of the Week feature for a recent $100+ million win for UBS Asset Management.
A bankruptcy judge in Texas last week found entirely for UBS in a lengthy litigation battle against energy tycoon Charif Souki over his defaulted loans. We represented UBS Asset Management and certain funds they advised, which were owed more than $100 million under various loan agreements with Souki. We prevailed in the litigation in both bankruptcy court and New York state court.
The bankruptcy court, after hearing the evidence at trial in December, issued a decision rejecting Souki’s claims and importantly found our client “acted in good faith and were commercially reasonable” in all of their actions, which were undertaken in an effort to reach a consensual resolution of the matter. The judge not only wiped out Souki’s claims but ordered him to pay $100 million in damages.
The decision establishes important precedent for the secured lending market, preserving best practices that protect both borrowers and lenders.

The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Bloomberg, American Lawyer and Law360 reported on the significance of the win.

In addition to Darrell and Rich, the team includes partners David Litterine-Kaufman and Nicholas Poli, and associate Harry Murphy.

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Darrell Cafasso Partner, Complex Litigation & Dispute Resolution, Financial Services Litigation

New York

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D:+1 212 506 3618
E: [email protected]

Practice:

Complex Litigation & Dispute Resolution
Financial Services Litigation
Securities Litigation, Class Actions and Shareholder Derivative Lawsuits
White Collar, Investigations, Securities Litigation & Compliance
Internal Investigations
Trials
Bankruptcy Litigation

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Darrell Cafasso Partner

New York

Prior to joining Orrick, Darrell served as the Global Head of Litigation and Regulatory Proceedings at Goldman Sachs, where he served as a key advisor to the firm and oversaw litigation, arbitration, and other disputes, as well as regulatory, criminal, and investigative proceedings, affecting Goldman Sachs, its world-wide affiliates, or their employees. In this role, Darrell managed a large international team of lawyers that determined legal strategy for threatened or actual litigations, regulatory and criminal matters and other contentious proceedings, oversaw internal investigations, and advised legal and business constituencies on legal, reputational and regulatory risks and issues involving all businesses of Goldman Sachs including investment banking, global markets, merchant banking, research, trading, lending, M&A, asset and wealth management, and consumer lending. Darrell was responsible for the firm’s most critical litigation and regulatory matters and successfully resolved a number of important matters on behalf of the firm.

Before joining Goldman Sachs in 2018, Darrell was a litigation partner at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP. Over the years, Darrell has litigated a broad range of commercial cases, including in the areas of securities, banking, financial services, antitrust, consumer financial products, products liability, business torts, bankruptcy litigation, ERISA and other complex corporate litigation. For example, Darrell has represented several financial institutions and public companies, including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Moody’s, Banco Popular, and Fiat Chrysler, in numerous securities class actions, shareholder litigations and other disputes. Darrell also has guided corporate and individual clients across the globe through multi-billion-dollar investigations, enforcement proceedings, and significant compliance matters including a wide range of matters before the DOJ, the SEC, the CFTC, FINRA, the Federal Reserve Bank, the New York Department of Financial Services and various state attorneys general, and foreign bank regulators. For example, Darrell advised Goldman Sachs in reaching coordinated resolutions in multiple criminal and regulatory investigations in jurisdictions around the world relating to an alleged multi-billion-dollar money laundering and corruption scheme involving the Malaysian sovereign development company, 1MDB, and senior public officials in Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates. Darrell also served as lead counsel to one of the preeminent automobile manufacturers in multiyear criminal and regulatory investigations relating to diesel emissions, sales reporting and bribery issues.

Richard Jacobsen Partner, Complex Litigation & Dispute Resolution, White Collar, Investigations, Securities Litigation & Compliance

New York

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D:+1 212 506 3743
E: [email protected]

Practice:

Finance Sector
Complex Litigation & Dispute Resolution
White Collar, Investigations, Securities Litigation & Compliance
Internal Investigations
Mass Torts & Product Liability
Class Action Defense
Trials
Fintech

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Richard Jacobsen Partner

New York

Rich serves as lead counsel for Credit Suisse’s entire residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) docket in federal and state courts throughout the country. He is lead counsel for Goldman Sachs in two RMBS cases in the SDNY. For nearly a decade, he has been lead counsel for Ocwen Financial Services in all matters concerning its market-leading business servicing loans in residential mortgage-backed securitizations. He is currently lead counsel for Nationstar Mortgage LLC d/b/a Mr. Cooper in a breach of contract action pending in the Delaware Court of Chancery. Rich has also frequently represented companies with respect to disputes involving the distressed debt trading market, including Jefferies and Citibank, and frequently tries nine figure disputes in the most important bankruptcy jurisdictions in the United States for clients such as UBS and Blackstone.

He and his Orrick team bring to each representation a combination of deep financial markets knowledge, holistic litigation strategy and a problem-solving mentality. In an industry where many cases are settled, he has established a formidable record at trial and on appeal, while achieving regulatory settlements at a small fraction of the industry benchmarks.

Named Litigators of the Week by The American Lawyer for his representation of Credit Suisse that yielded a precedent-setting decision from the New York Court of Appeals that will change the future of RMBS litigation, clients laud Rich telling Chambers (2022), “He makes my job easier by deploying a combination of impeccable legal skill, excellent judgment and a knowledge of the financial services industry.” “I would recommend Rich to anyone.” (2024) "He makes my job easier by deploying a combination of strengths - impeccable legal skills, excellent judgment, knowledge of the finance sector and a formidable reputation." Echoing that praise, clients say (2021) “I would recommend Richard Jacobsen in the highest terms,” he is (2020) “an exceptional litigator” and “a master of navigating commercial disputes.” Chambers also reports that clients regard him as “a commercial disputes wizard.” Clients hold Rich in high regard, telling Legal 500 our commercial disputes team is (2021) “brilliant,” while the publication calls out his “business critical disputes” work for Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs. Clients further endorse Rich when speaking to Legal 500, noting he (2020) “is always available and willing to do what is necessary in any situation. His knowledge of the industry and more importantly where we fit in the industry has paid tremendous dividends from a legal representation perspective. I have not dealt with an attorney from any other firm that had the combination of knowledge, ability, reputation and judgment that Rich has.” Another client called out Rich’s “razor sharp intellect” which sets him apart from other disputes and trial lawyers.

A first-chair trial lawyer recognized as one of Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Litigators in America, Rich has litigated commercial, securities and product liability disputes for clients in many other industries in venues across the country. His clients have included: Amazon, Caesars Entertainment, Inc., The Dow Chemical Company, Microsoft, DISH Network, Acer and Wyeth. He has argued numerous appeals at the state and federal levels and frequently represents clients before state and federal regulators. He has argued multiple times before seven of the eight current justices in the Commercial Division of New York’s Supreme Court, New York County, and has arbitrated before the American Arbitration Association and London Court of International Arbitration.

David Litterine-Kaufman Partner, Bankruptcy Litigation, Financial Services Litigation

New York

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D:+1 212 506 3540
E: [email protected]

Practice:

Bankruptcy Litigation
Financial Services Litigation
Trials
Securities Litigation
Complex Litigation & Dispute Resolution
Intellectual Property

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David Litterine-Kaufman Partner

New York

David is a partner in Orrick's Complex Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice Group based in New York and co-head of Orrick's Bankruptcy Litigation Working Group. His practice focuses on representing lenders, underwriters, and large public and private companies in financial disputes throughout the litigation process, from pre-litigation dispute resolution to success at trial.

David has litigated high-stakes bench and jury trials and pretrial proceedings involving nine-figure secured claims in bankruptcy, multi-billion dollar securities offerings, complex long-term supply contracts, and valuable trademarks.

David also has years of experience litigating distressed asset and syndicated loan trades, contract disputes, and residential mortgage-backed securities issuances for both plaintiffs and defendants. David's background in computer science and mathematics allows him to quickly master complex financial transactions and craft effective litigation strategies for his clients.

Before joining Orrick, David was an associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP.

Nicholas Poli Partner, Financial Services Litigation, Trials

New York

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Practice:

Financial Services Litigation
Trials
Complex Litigation & Dispute Resolution
Bankruptcy Litigation
Securities Litigation
Trade Secrets Litigation

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Nicholas Poli Partner

New York

Nick is an experienced bankruptcy litigator, representing financial institutions, pharmaceutical companies, and trustees in all stages of the bankruptcy process. Most recently, Nick served as co-lead trial counsel to the private credit arm of a global financial company and secured a $100 million trial victory in connection with multiple defaulted loans.

Nicholas also has extensive experience in issues arising out of the financial crisis, including a range of issues relating to residential mortgage backed securities (“RMBS”) and lending practices. He has represented issuers and sponsors of RMBS in fraud and breach of contract cases, as well as federal and state securities actions. Nicholas has defended a global financial institution in connection with two separate trials in the New York Supreme Court.

Nicholas is a key member of the Orrick team that represents Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse, multinational investment banks and financial services companies, in connection with more than a dozen cases. This includes defending the clients against claims brought by investors, trustees, and monoline insurance companies in connection with the purchase and sale of RMBS. Nicholas also completed a secondment at Credit Suisse, where he was in the litigation and investigations group. During this time, he worked on regulatory matters involving FINRA, the SEC, the DOJ, the CFTC, and the NY Department of Financial Services. Additionally, he handled internal investigations addressing issues such as insider trading.

Nicholas has also represented one of the nation’s largest mortgage loan servicers, including in a class action lawsuit involving allegations of improper loan servicing practices.

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