Recent Courtroom Success

Sequor Law partner Daniel M. Coyle, with assistance from Daniel J. Halperin and Joseph Rome, secured a significant win before Judge Delano last month when she gave her oral ruling in Gaby Fraifer’s bankruptcy case on Sequor’s client DISH Network L.L.C.’s second renewed motion to dismiss or convert, and objection to the confirmation of the Third Amended Plan.

The debtor violated DISH’s copyright by selling what the laity would call ‘black boxes’ with apps that broadcast Arabic language television through content delivery networks, boosting the quality of the signal with encoders. DISH obtained a judgment in the MD of Fla. supported by a memorandum opinion detailing the factual findings supporting the judgment of direct copyright infringement.

Sequor was retained to pursue discovery in aid and satisfaction of the judgment. Soon after seeking charging orders, the debtor filed a Sub. V petition under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. The debtor’s main assets were a 10% legal interest in three LLCS, two of which owned real property and one of which owned a promissory note secured by a mortgage. The two properties were leased to tenants paying Triple Net Leases (whereby they pay most of the expenses on the property). Despite that the debtor’s wife was purportedly the owner of 90% of the interest in the LLCs, the LLCs were managed and solely run by the debtor and the debtor provided documents in which he, as manager, had reserved the right to revise the ownership percentages of the LLCs at any time. The original operating agreements were nowhere to be found, and the only documentation supporting the debtor’s narrative regarding the ownership of the LLCs post-dated DISH’s lawsuit against the debtor.

The debtor proposed three plans whereby he would contribute his distributions and salary to the plans, along with income of his wife. The plans involved significant educational expenses to debtor’s adult children, along with other significant living expenses. The debtor also attempted to demonstrate a reduction of the income generated by the LLCs by subtracting the expenses paid for by the tenants and refusing to fully lease up the properties or invest the funds generated by the LLCs.

The Court saw through all of the debtor’s machinations and denied each of the debtor’s proposed plans, which required two separate trials.

Before the second trial, the team mediated over a period of six months before Judge Brown, including numerous joint and single zoom sessions and a two-day in person session.

Joseph Rome assisted at the first trial in May 2023 on the initial motion to dismiss or convert and objection to plan, and this evidence was judicially noticed for purposes of the most recent trial. Daniel J. Halperin assisted at the second trial in April 2024 and elicited key testimony from the expert witness to undermine the debtor’s testimony.