Insights & News / Zohar Lande

Zohar Lande, Eran Winner, Lina Makhuli, and Chen Segal from our Litigation Department represented Panda, a private company embroiled in a shareholder dispute that caused a deadlock within its decision-making bodies. The dispute reached the Supreme Court, which issued an important and precedential ruling. The Court accepted the company’s position and outlined the proper manner for managing and resolving shareholder disputes, as well as rules of thumb for dealing with deadlocks in private companies. These included the option to classify a director in a private company as having a "negative personal interest" and even the possibility of not bringing a transaction for approval before the board’s general meeting.

In the past year, there has been a growing trend of institutional investors seeking to influence the companies in which they hold shares. As experts in the field, Micky Barnea and Zohar Lande were interviewed by TheMarker about institutional investors’ increasing involvement in companies.

Following a lengthy battle by the majority shareholders in Megureit, led by Phoenix Group and More Investment House, a significant reduction was made to the REIT fund’s management fees. The agreement was reached after an institutional activist struggle, including a petition to the court and a demand for a special shareholders’ meeting. Phoenix and More were represented by firm partners Zohar Lande and Hagit Ross, with additional assistance from Shachar Rothschild, Alon Anava, Tzofiya Shenfeld, and Ronit Lerer.

Our firm is representing Adi Nahum, a partner in the Contempo real estate group, and several companies owned by him, in an NIS 11 million claim for monetary relief and other remedies, including the removal of minority oppression and a declaratory judgment of ownership rights in companies in Contempo against the company's owner, Shahar Raz, and other companies in the group. Contempo oversees dozens of urban renewal projects in sought-after neighborhoods in central Tel Aviv, Givatayim, Givat Shmuel, Ra’anana, Bat Yam, and Ramat Hasharon.

 

Our firm represented RGE in the appeal the television cable company Hot filed with the Israeli Supreme Court over the Second Authority for Television and Radio’s decision to approve the establishment of FREETV, a joint initiative between RGE and Keshet. In its appeal, Hot claimed approval of the project was invalid because of alleged harm to competition and because of the project’s potential consequences on centralization in the media. The Supreme Court rejected the appeal and ruled it was not within Hot’s authority to determine a legal flaw in the decision-making process or the approval itself. RGE was represented by Zohar Lande, Eran Winner, Ido Vakshi, and Lina Makhuli.

A tumultuous seven-year family conflict ended with the issuance of a ruling by Israel’s Supreme Court. The Court ruled in our client’s favor that funds allocated by him for the benefit of his daughter and which were managed by his former son-in-law in various investments were meant to be held in trust and were not given as a gift, as the son-in-law claimed.

The Supreme Court ruled that a trustee will be appointed to manage the trust in accordance with its goals, that the former son-in-law must return the funds to the trust, and that the trustee shall be entitled to take any action necessary to recoup all of the trust’s assets, including the funds the son-in-law allegedly embezzled. In addition, the Supreme Court ordered the son-in-law to bear our client’s legal fees and expenses amounting to NIS 1.25 million.

Zohar Lande, Gal Livshits, Adi Shoham, Zohar Haim Levinger, and Liron Dahan provided representation in this matter.

Zohar Lande, Moran Bickel, Asaf Glazner, and Inbal Amit are representing the car safety company D-Lock in the NIS 20 million lawsuit it filed against SafeCar. D-Lock claims SafeCar engaged in industrial espionage, baseless lawsuits, and threats against D-Lock’s managers and service providers in order to stop its entry to the market.

 

Our firm continues to represent the institutional investors Phoenix and More, shareholders of Megureit Israel Ltd., in relation to a dispute about Megureit’s unlawful conduct. According to Phoenix and More, the REIT fund approved, in violation of the law, the extension of the agreement with the management company REIT Index Management Ltd., in a way that constitutes harm to the company itself (and, consequently, also to its shareholders). Megureit also refrained from transferring documents requested by Phoenix and More in this regard and procrastinated in an attempt to avoid convening a meeting and an operative discussion of the issue that could lead to a solution benefitting the company and all of its shareholders. Last week, Advs. Zohar Lande and Adi Shoham sent a letter to Megureit clarifying that Phoenix and More intend to insist on their rights, including by filing a derivative suit against the company and other parties. They requested that this letter be considered a preliminary notice before filing a derivative suit.

The forum discussed burning topics on the judicial agenda and referred, inter alia, to the connections between Israeli law and the international arena. Zohar addressed this topic and explained that “we have been witnessing a trend in recent years whereby Tel Aviv has become a hub for international legal proceedings.”

Phoenix and More, two of three institutional bodies held by Megureit Israel, a residential real estate investment fund listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, sent the public company a letter demanding it disclose documents as a step before filing a derivative lawsuit against it. The basis of the letter is the claim that the extension of the agreement with the management company was carried out in a manner inconsistent with the rules of proper corporate governance and the provisions of the law, since approval of the general meeting was never received.

Advs. Zohar Lande, Adi Shoham and Tzofiya Shenfeld are representing Phoenix and More in this matter

 

Advs. Zohar Lande and Liron Dahan submitted a motion to initiate insolvency proceedings and temporary operations on behalf of several cyber companies from Ability Group. Ability Group faces debts of approximately NIS 150 million.

 

Advs. Zohar Lande, Moran Bickel, Michael and Asaf Glasner are representing an American businessman in a NIS 20 million lawsuit against Moshe Hogeg, Adi Sheleg, Singulariteam, and additional defendants.

The plaintiff claims the defendants prompted him to invest in a cryptocurrency venture called Stox, which did not really exist, and fraudulently pocketed the investment funds.

Advs. Zohar Lande, Moran Bickel, and Asaf Glazner are representing the agricultural entrepreneur Meir Arbiv, who claims Israeli businessman Nochi Dankner's new foodtech venture is based on his trade secrets. Arbiv alleges he passed on such information to Dankner after being convinced to enter into a partnership with him.

The investment fund Plus Ventures and private investor Oren Abeksis claim they invested millions of shekels in a previous incarnation of Lusha and that they were defrauded by the entrepreneurs. Zohar Lande, Eyal Nachshon, Dana Bookstein, and Naama Ben Arosh Moshe are representing the plaintiffs.

The Tel Aviv District Court ruled the non-profit organization Shavei Israel had operated improperly for two decades in reporting to the Registrar of Associations that Ms. Sarah Green was a member of the organization. Ms. Green’s ex-husband, the founder of the non-profit, was apparently falsifying her signature on documents submitted to the Registrar. Ms. Green was represented by Advs. Zohar Lande, Gal Livshits, Zohar Haim Levinger, and Naama Ben Arosh Moshe.

Our firm is representing Shikun & Binui and Egged in an administrative petition filed with the Jerusalem District Court over the tender committee's decision not to disqualify the bids of French company Alstom and Russian company TMH in the tender for the Jerusalem Light Rail's Blue Line.

Advs. Zohar Lande, and Shai Avnieli provided representation in the matter.

Our firm is representing the tenants' representatives, as well as 189 apartment owners in the luxury project Meier on Rothschild, in a lawsuit filed against the project's entrepreneur and founder, Berggruen Residential Limited and Hajaj-Cohen Investments. The NIS 2.8 million lawsuit alleges very serious deficiencies and omissions were discovered in the project.

As part of a new wave of COVID-19 restrictions, the Israeli Ministry of Health sought to implement a plan to mark vaccinated people with bracelets in all malls and shopping centers, thereby allowing them to walk freely around such complexes (as opposed to unvaccinated people). The Azrieli Group, through Advs. Zohar Lande, Eran Winner, Anat Even-Chen, Ido Vakshi, and Gaya Tsarfati, sent an urgent appeal to the Prime Minister, the Ministers of Health, Economy and Industry, and Justice, and the Attorney General. In the appeal, we argued that the plan is “discriminatory, offensive, unreasonable, and disproportionate.” In light of the criticism, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Health have decided to walk back the bracelet plan and not include it in the government vote for implementing the Green Pass in malls.

An Israeli district court rejected the Israel Tax Authority’s attempt to force the Azrieli Foundation to pay taxes in the amount of tens of millions of shekels for dividends it received and continues to receive due to its holding in Azrieli Group's shares. The court accepted the tax appeal, which was filed by Barnea Jaffa Lande, and ruled that the Azrieli Foundation,  a non-profit organization that works for the public good in Israel, is not the controlling owner of Azrieli Group and is therefore entitled to a tax exemption. The court ruled, among other things, that the ITA’s position could have a chilling effect in relation to business entities’ support of philanthropic associations. Our firm's  Zohar Lande, Eyal Nachshon, Harel Perlmutter, Nir Ziman, and Omer Keydar represented the Azrieli Foundation throughout the proceedings, which lasted about five years.

In a precedent-setting ruling, a family court ordered the losing side in a family dispute to pay the winning side attorney's fees and court expenses in the extraordinary and unprecedented amount of NIS 2 million. This ruling indicates a sweeping change in the Israeli legal world, following new regulations that came into effect in January 2021.

Our firm is representing a Canadian citizen in a NIS 5 million lawsuit against Moshe Hogeg, a well-known Israeli entrepreneur in the crypto field. Our client claims the funds raised by Hogeg’s company Stox were used by the defendants for their own personal purposes, and that the defendants violated their obligations to investors.

Last April, the Maxima company, controlled by billionaire George Horesh, received a 34-acre plot in Ashdod from the Israel Land Authority, without there being a tender process.

Three private landowners holding factories near this area petitioned via our office for the Land Authority's decision to allocate the plot without a tender be cancelled. Zohar Lande, Gal Livshits, and Adi Shoham represented the clients.

Adv. Zohar Lande was interviewed by Globes, where he revealed that the number of requests for class action approval coming to our office has increased twofold since the start of the coronavirus crisis. According to Zohar, no action is required by the legislature or the courts in this respect.

Our Litigation Department is representing  the board of directors and active management of Habima Theater in liquidation proceedings filed by the company's creditors and in legal proceedings directed by the company's temporary trustees.

Dr. Moshe Bareket, the Director General of the Israel Capital Markets Authority, has proposed postponing payments, by deferring or replacing debt in order to raise interest rates to bypass a debt settlement, as part of a rescue plan for the corporate market. His proposal is largely based on the method presented by Adv. Zohar Lande, the head of our Litigation Department, in an op-ed published earlier this week.

The coronavirus crisis is affecting both stock prices and corporate bond prices and yields in the capital market. Zohar Lande, in an article for Bizportal, explains that the Israel Securities Authority must create a “fast-track mechanism” that allows companies to choose to be included in a debt restructuring arrangement subject to the different criteria.

Our firm is representing Kobi Zaid, the founder of Zaid Orniv, in a shareholder dispute and a contract enforcement lawsuit against the businessman Yaron Roziak and Rabbi David Ifergan.

Nestlé's lawsuit against Espresso Club continues to arouse great interest in the legal scene, among both law firms and copyright professionals.

Today, the Copyright Society of Israel held a workshop on meaningful judicial rulings in 2019.

As part of the event, Zohar Lande was invited to speak on “coffee and fair use” and to discuss the implications of the ruling against Nestlé on commercial companies operating in Israel.

The Tel Aviv District Court dismissed a NIS 239 million claim filed by David Appel against Michael Cherney and our client Zeev Rom on statute-of-limitation grounds and fined him attorneys' fees. Zeev Rom was represented by Advs. Zohar Lande and Moran Bickel from our Litigation Department.

 

The Tel Aviv Economic Court allowed the actor Yehuda Levy to join Shaham, the largest actors' organization in Israel, and a group of fellow artists in their legal dispute with the management of Eshkolot. Advs. Zohar Lande, Hadar Israeli and Eyal Nachshon are representing Shaham and the artists.

Advs. Zohar Lande and Anat Even-Chen are representing the license holders of the Ishai gas reservoir. This reservoir shares its gas with the Aphrodite field in Cyprus. Our firm is accompanying the license holders in their appeal to the Ministers of Energy, Foreign Affairs, Justice, and Finance to secure their rights further to the agreement signed by the Aphrodite license holders with the Cypriot government.

Our firm is representing private clients in a lawsuit against the liquidating company of the Bank of North America (disbanded in 1985), as well as against the administrator general and official receiver. The lawsuit concerns trust funds deposited in the bank by the deceased father of the family. The clients are represented by Advs. Zohar Lande and Shachar Rothschild of our Litigation Department.

The Supreme Court recently published a list of significant rulings handed down in the past year. The Supreme Court's dismissal of Nespresso's lawsuit against our client Espresso Club is included in this prestigious list.

Actor Yehuda Levy has joined Shaham, the largest actors' organization in Israel, and a group of fellow artists in their legal dispute with the management of Eshkolot. Advs. Zohar Lande, Hadar Israeli, and Eyal Nachshon are representing Shaham and the artists.

Our firm continues to represent Maurice Haliwa, a shareholder in Manor A.D. Construction Investments Ltd., in a lawsuit against Jacky Ben-Zaken and Avraam Nanikashvili. Haliwa recently increased the amount of the original lawsuit from NIS 18 million to NIS 100 million. Advs. Zohar Lande and Yatir Madar represent the client.

The Supreme Court rejected all of Nespresso and Nestle's claims in a lawsuit filed against our client Espresso Club. The lawsuit revolved around an Espresso Club advertisement that featured a George Clooney look-alike. Nespresso and Nestle argued violation of intellectual property rights, but the Supreme Court rejected their arguments in favor of Espresso Club's. This represents a significant ruling on issues of commercial advertising content. Espresso Club was represented by Adv. Zohar Lande, the head of our Litigation Department.

Our firm is representing Shaham, the largest actors' organization in Israel, as well as a group of artists, in a legal dispute with the management of Eshkolot, a company that handles collection, management, and distribution of royalties to all artists in Israel.

 

In this context, Advs. Zohar Lande, Hadar Israeli and Eyal Nachshon submitted a request to the Economic Department of the Tel Aviv District Court to receive documents before filing a derivative claim over irregularities and defects. The request asks Eshkolot to present information on the manner in which royalties are collected from the various broadcasting organizations.

Our firm is representing Azrieli Group in its equity investment in Compass Datacenters LLC., a company engaged in the commercialization of hyperscale data centers in North America. This acquisition is part of Azrieli Group's overall expansion into real estate in the international arena.  

Our firm continues to represent businessman Eyal Shamir in a lawsuit against British Israel over its merger transaction with Melisron. As part of the lawsuit, Shamir's conversation with Ronen Gaon, who served as a director of British Israel, was exposed. Adv. Zohar Lande, Head of the Litigation Department, who is representing Shamir, told TheMarker that "Gaon's appeals to Shamir regarding the matters discussed in the article were rejected by Shamir outright."

Following a Supreme Court hearing, Gad Zeevi and Zeev Rom decided to withdraw their mutual appeals and to keep the District Court ruling ordering Zeevi to pay Rom USD 1.5 million in connection with the financing transaction for the purchase of Bezeq shares in 2000. Rom was represented by Advs. Zohar Lande and Moran Bickel of the firm's Litigation Department.

Our firm is representing the Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Association of Internal Auditors in a petition with the Supreme Court against the Government Companies Authority (GCA). It is requesting that the court revoke the GCA circular stating that an internal auditor of government companies rated 7 and above must be a salaried employee and not outsourced. The petition was filed by Advs. Zohar Lande, Eyal Nachshon, and Adi Shoham of the Litigation Department.

Our firm is representing the Tel Aviv Taxi Organization in an administrative petition filed against after its win in the Tel Aviv cluster of a two-stage competitive process conducted by the Ministry of Transport. The organization is represented by Advs. Zohar Lande, Eyal Nachshon, and Adi Shoham of the Litigation Department.

Our firm is representing Knight Therapeutics, a Canadian public company that holds 28% of Israeli pharmaceutical company Medison's shares, in a lawsuit alleging the deprivation of its rights as a minority shareholder in Medison. The company is represented by Advs. Zohar Lande, Eyal Nachshon, and Omer Keydar of our Litigation Department.

Our firm is holding a seminar on March 18 about the ways in which recent amendments to the Restrictive Trade Practices Law meet the daily needs of a corporation and its officers. A representative from the Israel Competition Authority will also take part.

On January 29, the Government Companies Authority issued a circular stating that the internal auditor of government companies rated 7 and above must be a salaried employee and not outsourced, except in special cases. Companies for which this rating does not apply, however, will be able to continue to receive internal auditing services through outsourcing.

Our firm was asked to represent the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Israel in its demand to cancel the Government Companies Authority directive.

Advs. Zohar Lande, Eyal Nachshon, and Omer Keydar of the firm's Litigation Department continue to represent the businessman Eyal Shamir in a lawsuit against British Israel. Shamir claims he was not paid a brokerage fee for the merger between British Israel and Melisron.

Our firm hosted Prof. Issachar (Issi) Rosen-Zvi for a lecture on the new Civil Procedure Regulations. Legal advisors were also invited to attend.

TheMarker named the Supreme Court's ruling on the Knesset Channel tender as one of the five most important verdicts of 2018. According to TheMarker, the ruling provides a glimpse into the Court's attitude to the media. Advs. Zohar Lande, Eyal Nachshon, Adi Shoham, and Omer Keydar of the firm's Litigation Department represented RGE Knesset Channel, which won the tender.

Advs. Zohar Lande, Eyal Nachshon, and Omer Keydar of Barnea's Litigation Department represented Azrieli Group in a class action suit for not displaying a price per unit of measure for certain products on its e-commerce website. A settlement was reached in the suit.

Barnea is representing the Chinese infrastructure company PMEC in its request to disqualify the winning bid in the tender for Highway 16. The company is being represented by Advs. Zohar Lande, Eyal Nachshon, and Shachar Rothschild from the Litigation Department.

 

A Globes article about brokers in Israel mentioned that Barnea is representing Roni Mana in a lawsuit against Arena Group for the payment of brokerage fees.

Our firm is representing the Czech company TI Group Automotive Systems SRO in a €4.5 million lawsuit against Raval ACS Ltd. The lawsuit stems from a valve failure that resulted in the recall and repair of 250 thousand Mercedes cars.

The Supreme Court issued a ruling today rejecting the petitions of News 2 and Channel 20 against the decision to announce RGE as the winner of the Knesset channel tender. This paves the way for the operation of the Knesset channel by RGE as early as August 1, 2018. RGE was represented by Advs. Zohar Lande, Adi Shoham, Eyal Nachshon, and Omer Keydar of our firm's Litigation Department.

Advs. Zohar Lande, Eyal Nachshon, and Omer Keydar from our Litigation Department are representing businessman Eyal Shamir in a lawsuit against British Israel Investments owned by Melisron Ltd. Shamir alleges he was not paid a brokerage fee for the merger between the two companies.

The Cable and Satellite Council awarded RGE Group's proposal with the tender to operate the Knesset Channel for the next 10 years. RGE is represented by Advs. Zohar Lande, Adi Shoham, Eyal Nachshon, and Omer Keydar of our firm's Litigation Department.

An Israeli court has ordered to halt an investment deal in Arcturus Therapeutics, pending clarification of the lawsuit filed by Joseph Payne, the company's founder, regarding the cancellation of his dismissal as CEO. This decision was made despite the fact that the company operates in the United States with American management. Joseph Payne is represented by Advs. Micky Barnea, Zohar Lande, Omer Keydar, and Ron Shuhatovich.

Roni Lish, the minority shareholder in the franchise company of the French culinary brand Fauchon, is suing his partner in the franchise. Roni claims his partner acted to reduce the value of the company in order to control it and to remove him from the company. Roni Lish is represented by Advs. Zohar Lande and Gilli Cohen-Arazi of our firm's Litigation Department.

Following a bill promoted by the Israel Securities Authority, and passed by the Knesset, outlawing binary options trading by Israeli companies, Yukom Communications LTD and its controlling shareholder, Yossi Herzog, filed a petition to the High Court of Justice. Overseeing the filing of the petition were Barnea attorneys Zohar Lande, Eyal Nachshon, and Moran Bickel.

The High Court of Justice ruled in a temporary order that the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Council should explain why it did not announce RGE as the winner of the tender for the operation of the Knesset Channel, following the disqualification of Channel 20's offer. RGE is represented by Advs. Zohar Lande, Ronen Reingold, Adi Shoham, and Itay Hatam of our firm's Litigation Department.

The Ministry of Finance has decided to discontinue horse racing in Israel starting on January 1, 2018. Adv. Zohar Lande, the head of our firm's Litigation Department, represented GBI Racing, the British company that provides betting services to Toto, in negotiations with the Ministry of Finance.

The Central District Court has rejected the application for a class action filed in 2015 against Espresso Club for misleading customers about the method of charging an acquired package of coffee capsules. In addition, the court ordered the plaintiff to pay all legal expenses. Espresso Club was represented by Advs. Zohar Lande and Itay Hatam of our firm's Litigation Department.

The Tel Aviv District Court accepted the request of over 50 members of the purchase group United Sarona, represented by Barnea's Head of Litigation, Adv. Zohar Lande, to prevent a vote at the meeting scheduled for today. In the motion that was presented, it was argued that in the process of convening the meeting there were material flaws, including a lack of information.

The purchase group United Sarona, which won a tender a year and a half ago to build several towers near Sarona Market in Tel Aviv, is about to fall apart. In the last few days, several members of the group have begun organizing, through Adv. Zohar Lande, Head of the Litigation Department at Barnea, to file a lawsuit against United Sarona's organizers, after they failed to recruit new members or find alternative funding sources to ensure the progress of the project.

RGE, represented by Adv. Zohar Lande, Ronen Reingold and Adi Shoham of Barnea, petitioned the High Court of Justice over the results of a tender concerning the operation of the new Knesset channel. It requested an interim order that would prevent the agreement with Channel 20, who had won the tender. In a hearing held today at the High Court of Justice, the interim order was issued, freezing the results of the tender.

Roni Mana, represented by Adv. Zohar Lande and Gal Livshitz from the Litigation Department at Barnea, requested the court to order that Arena Star Group Ltd. pay brokerage fees for the sale of the Arena mall in Herzeliya. The Tel Aviv District Court today accepted Mana's request for a temporary foreclosure on the funds received by the company for the sale of the mall.

Adv. Zohar Lande, Head of the Litigation Department at Barnea represented GBI Racing, the UK racing betting company, at a hearing before the Ministry of Finance, following the decision to cancel betting on horse racing in Israel.

The Haifa District Court ruled that Gad Zeevi would have to pay businessman Zeev Rom USD 1.5 million in brokerage fees in respect of a deal in which Zeevi acquired 20% of Bezeq in 2000. Adv. Zohar Landa and Adv. Moran Bickel from the litigation department at Barnea, represented Zeev Rom.

After the rejection of the Nespresso and Nestle case against Espresso Club in which they alleged copyright infringement, Espresso Club, represented by our firm, filed an appeal regarding the amount of expenses determined by the District Court, claiming that the amount is unreasonable in relation to the actual expenses.

Adv. Zohar Lande, Adv. Jacques Gershoni and Adv. Yatir Madar from the Litigation Department at Barnea, succeeded in cancelling an arbitration ruling in the Tel Aviv District Court, a cancellation which was then upheld by the Supreme Court.

 

The parties had appointed an arbitrator to hear and rule on a specific dispute between them. After the arbitrator had issued an arbitration award which had been fully carried out by both parties, the arbitrator joined forces with one of the parties, while attempting to ignore the arbitration award, which had already been carried out, with the aim of unilaterally issuing a new arbitration ruling. In fact, the new arbitration ruling overturned the original award, which, as noted, had been fully carried out by the parties.

 

The party with whom the arbitrator had cooperated (the “other party’’), relying on the new arbitration ruling, filed a dual application to the Tel Aviv District Court - one for the approval of the new arbitration award and the second for the temporary imposition of liens on the property of Barnea’s client.

 

Barnea's litigation team succeeded in obtaining an order for cancellation of the new arbitration award. The Court clarified that the new arbitration award was given without authority, because it exceeded the limits of the authorization defined by the parties and because it contradicted a previous ruling of the arbitrator.

 

The other party did not accept the ruling of the District Court and chose to submit a motion for leave to appeal the ruling of the Tel Aviv District Court to the Supreme Court, as well as a request for temporary remedies in the appeal.

 

Barnea filed a firm response to the other party’s request for temporary relief, in which it was made clear that the need to impose temporary liens was never examined on its merits in the District Court, and elaborated on the fact that the request for leave to appeal the judgment of the District Court lacked any basis both in law and in fact.

 

The Supreme Court denied the motion for leave to appeal and instructed the other party to pay Barnea's client's legal fees and expenses.

 

"It is known that the annulment of an arbitration award is a rare occurrence, and that it does not happen routinely," commented Adv. Zohar Lande, Head of the Litigation Department at Barnea. "This rejection by the Supreme Court actually means the upholding of the District Court’s  ruling,  the cancellation of the new arbitration award and, accordingly, the cancellation of the temporary remedies imposed on the assets of our client”.

Adv . Zohar Lande, Head of the Litigation Department at Barnea was interviewed by Globes on the Antitrust Authority's decision to impose an unprecedented monetary sanction on the Central Bottling Company Group (Coca Cola Israel). Zohar commented that it is not enough to set the monetary sanctions, submitting that the Antitrust Authority must make use of all the tools at its disposal, including the civilian tools.

The Tel Aviv District Court rejected the lawsuit filed by Nespresso and the global food company, Nestle, against the Israeli company, Espresso Club. Nespresso claimed that Espresso Club’s advertisement, which uses a look-alike of George Clooney, violates the intellectual property of Nespresso and constitutes unfair competition. The Court rejected Nespresso's claims and ordered it to pay Espresso Club NIS 110,070  in legal costs. Espresso Club was represented by Adv. Zohar Lande, Adv. Itay Hatam and Adv. Gili Cohen-Arazi from Barnea

Adv. Zohar Lande and Adv. Gilli Cohen Arazi from the Litigation Department at Barnea in an article for Chambers and Partners on recent trends in Israeli case law, which may indicate a change in the Israeli courts' attitude to judicial intervention in the business judgment of the Board of a corporation.

Adv. Zohar Lande and Moran Bickel from the Litigation Department at Barnea represented the CEO of Kitov Pharmaceuticals at a hearing in the Tel Aviv Magistrates Court relating to his release from detention, subject to certain restrictive conditions.

Adv. Zohar Lande and Adv. Gal Livshits from the Litigation Department at Barnea are representing real estate agent, Roni Mana, and his agency, in a lawsuit filed at the Tel Aviv District Court against Arena Star Group Ltd, controlled by Marcus Weber, and the CEO, Michael Fuchs, for failure to pay brokerage fees in the amount of NIS 5.88 million.

Barnea is representing GBI Racing, a British company which provides betting services to Toto (the Israel Sports Betting Board). Adv. Zohar Lande participated in the Knesset Reform Committee meeting, which discussed the decision to cancel the permit given to Toto as proposed in the Economic Arrangements Law.

Barnea represents iTrader, an online forex trading company, which is under investigation by the Israeli Securities Authority. Adv. Zohar Lande and Adv. Moran Bickel from the Litigation department were interviewed by The Marker and commented that they hope the investigation by the ISA, which focuses on the company's activities during the period in which it was entitled to act as a trading platform, will end soon.

As previously published, Geller had filed a lawsuit alleging fraud in the amount of nearly NIS 70 million. Even though the main claim for fraud was dismissed, the District Court obliged Omer to pay millions of NIS to Geller deciding that they were granted to Omer as a loan.

Geller and Omer both appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court denied Geller's appeal entirely, accepted Omer's appeal and returned the case to the District Court.

This week, the District Court dismissed the action entirely and accepted Omer's argument that the funds were transferred to him as part of a share purchase transaction. The Court ruled that under these circumstances, Omer does not need to reimburse the funds or to transfer any shares.

Barnea represented Rafi Bar-Lev, former Salesman at the Israeli investment company Utrade of Aviv Talmor, whose operation was frozen by the Israel Securities Authority, at a hearing in the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court.

Adv. Zohar Lande, Head of the Litigation department at Barnea is representing GBI Racing, a British company which provides betting services to Toto (the Israel Sports Betting Board). The company applied to the Minister of Finance, Moshe Kahlon, to reconsider the decision to ban horse racing wagering, which was approved by a government committee chaired by treasury Director General, Shai Babad.  The company contends that it was never given the opportunity to present other data to the committee on its behalf.

Adv. Zohar Lande and Adv. Yaacov Gershoni from the Litigation Department at Barnea are representing Maurice Haliwa, a shareholder in Manor A.D. Construction & Investments Ltd. Mr. Haliwa filed a lawsuit against Jacky Ben-Zaken and Avraam Nanikashvili in the amount of NIS 18 million.

Barnea represents Hanan Mor Group, a public traded company, and other companies of the Hanan Mor Group, in a lawsuit filed against them by the contractor relating to a number of real-estate projects.  The contractor claimed damages and requested an order to prevent the forfeiture of bank guarantees. The court rejected the contractor 's request. The court also accepted in full the arguments raised by Barnea and criticized the conduct of the other party, pointing out that the version of the other side "raises questions". The court awarded Hanan Mor Group fees and costs in the amount of NIS 12,000.The Hanan Mor Group is represented by Adv. Zohar Lande, Adv. Itay Wigoda and Adv. Shachar Parnes from the Litigation Department at Barnea

Barnea represented East and West Stores Ltd, a leading importer of foods into Israel from the Far East,  in a dispute concerning the use of the trade name "East and West" and its trademarks.

Following an appeal to the Supreme Court filed by our litigation department,  the ruling made against the Company by the District Court ,which prohibited the Company from using the trade name "East and West" in some markets, was reversed (our firm was not involved in the District Court action).

The Supreme Court  also reversed the contempt of court ruling issued against the Company.

East and West Stores Ltd. was represented by Adv. Zohar Lande and Adv. Itai Wigoda. Adv. Ilan Blumenfeld assisted on the commercial aspects.

In an opinion article in Calcalist Magazine by Adv.  Zohar Lande, Partner and Head of the Litigation Department in our office, he  discussed the latest changes in the process of hiring interns at law firms. According to Zohar, despite shortcoming in these changes, regulatory intervention is necessary.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, has appointed Adv. Michal Halperin to be Israel's next antitrust chief. TheMarker magazine interviewed leading legal experts on antitrust Law, and asked them for their comments on this appointment. Zohar Lande commented: "One of the most significant challenges Adv. Halperin will face is maintaining the delicate balance between the continued encouragement of foreign companies that seek to enter and invest in the Israeli economy and the Israeli consumer who is grappling with the day-to-day cost of living".

Adv. Zohar Lande, head of the Litigation practice at Barnea, is representing Espresso Club Ltd., an Israeli corporation, in an IP claim filed against it by Nespresso and Nestle.

Barnea represents Espresso Club Ltd., an Israeli provider of home espresso machines using a capsule system, in a claim filed against them by Nespresso Israel, as well as the international Nestle and Nespresso corporations. The Plaintiffs’ claim that a TV commercial of Espresso Club, which features a George Clooney double, denigrates their brand's image and tarnishes Nespresso's reputation by ridiculing the Nespresso image. For the full article, Fox news, please click here

Adv. Zohar Lande and Adv. Gal Livshits represented the Har- Gil family, the defendants in a claim for NIS 13 million filed by the real estate company, Malibu. The dispute related to payments allegedly owed by the Har-Gil family with regard to a plot of land owned by the Har-Gil family, developed by Malibu. The District Court in Tel Aviv dismissed the claim with prejudice.

 

As a litigation expert, Zohar Lande was chosen to be the author of the Israeli chapter of "Lexology Navigator - Arbitral proceedings in Israel ".

In this exclusive chapter, Zohar provides a market and regulatory overview in respect of Israel.

 

The trend for Israelis to operate investment companies abroad can lead to business disputes; Adv. Zohar Lande and Adv. Gal Livshits from Barnea represent Mr. Haim Levy, known for his book "Real estate in Jeans", in a million dollar lawsuit against two of his business partners who founded a real estate company in the United States.

After nearly three years of litigation proceedings relating  to Edwin Tisch's claim against Ori Yogev, summations were submitted yesterday.  Tisch claims that Whitewater and Yogev made false representations and acted fraudulently, causing Tisch to invest millions in Whitewater Holdings. According to Tisch, Yogev intoduced the project as the "Checkpoint" of the water industry, and "it is designed to change water treatment in Israel and abroad".

A precedential ruling by the Supreme Court has held that a foreign company can be liquidated in Israel.

Adv. Zohar Lande commented on this decision as follows: "The Supreme Court has extended the existing boundaries of the application of Israeli liquidation law to foreign companies."

 

The UK real estate investment company, Tonstate Group, is suing the PBC Group and its partners for GBP 88.5 million (approximately NIS 500 million) in the UK courts.

Tonstate is represented in the UK by the law firm, Rosling King. Zohar Lande of Barneais assisting Rosling King in the action.

Kibbutz Shefayim filed a request yesterday to the Tel Aviv District Court to declare Yehuda Doron, the former treasurer of Kibbutz Shefayim, as bankrupt, if he does not pay within one week the sum of NIS 14.6 million. This amount represents the majority of the money in respect of which Doron was convicted of theft. 

Globes has revealed an affidavit by Dror Picard which is part of the dispute between the shareholders of Whitewater Water Technologies, which is in receivership with creditors owed about NIS 19 million.
In the affidavit, Mr. Dror Picard states that Hana Gertler admitted that Uri Yogev had deceived her as well, thereby inducing her to invest in Whitewater.
The claimant in the action, Benny Tisch, is represented by Barnea Tisch is claiming that Whitewater and Yogev made false representations and acted fraudulently, causing him to invest millions in Whitewater Holdings. 

Eli Reifman, former CEO of Emblaze, and managers at MCE Systems are being sued by a Romanian company,TDT Specialist SRL, for 63 NIS million. TDT is represented by Adv. Zohar Lande and Adv. Gal Livshits. 

After seven years of litigation Advocates Zohar Lande and Gal Livshits of Barnea & Co successfully  assisted their clients to defeat a claim of NIS 10m filed by Shragai and Sons Ltd, a contractor, against their clients. The claim related to the high profile Telzstone development near Jerusalem. The claim was dismissed by the Court with costs awarded against the Plaintiff.

Milad Aviation Ltd., an Israeli company, is claiming that Royal Jordanian Airlines negotiated in bad faith for many years, delaying the conclusion of a written agreement, and then hijacked the whole venture for themselves. Milad Aviation Ltd, represented by Adv. Zohar Lande, threatens lawsuit of NIS 20 million against Royal Jordanian Airlines. For the full article, please click here

The Magistrate's Court in Tel Aviv accepted the claim of "Mika Benroy", a company  owned by Mr. Aviad Caspi, a former business development vice president of Whitewater Holdings. Caspi is also the  son in law of businessman, Edwin (Benny) Tish. Caspi submitted the claim  against  Whitewater Holdings, of which Uri Yogev is the founder and former Chairman of its Board of Directors .

The Magistrate's Court decided that Whitewater Holdings must pay an amount of approximately 127 000 NIS to "Mika Benroy" (Caspi’s company) for services given to Whitewater Holdings, for which no consideration had been paid.

The suit was filed by Adv. Zohar Lande, Adv. Shai Sharvit and Adv. Itay Wigoda from Barnea 

Adv. Zohar Lande , senior partner and the head of the Litigation department at Barnea, was chosen by the prestigious "CorporateLiveWire " guide to the legal profession as "Lawyer of the year 2014" in Litigation & Dispute resolution in Israel.

In a meeting held by the Knesset Finance Committee on the high cost of living, Antitrust Commissioner Prof. David Gilo called on consumers to organize boycotts to pressure retailers and manufacturers to reduce their prices. He said: “An occasional boycott is not enough. Consumers need to undertake a personal boycott every day, to vote with their feet and compare competing prices.” Zohar Lande senior partner at Barnea & Co, disagrees. Zohar was interviewed by Maariv newspaper where he was quoted for saying "it is both unfair and unwise to ask the consumers to fix the high cost of living".

This year’s summary of Maariv puts the spotlight on key legal developments in Israel, covering the following topics: Capital Markets (by Micky Barnea); Anti-Trust (by Zohar Lande); Constitutional Law; Criminal Law nfrastructure ; Tax and Money laudering

Further to the request of the Canadian businessman, Mr. Edwin (Benni) Tisch, businesswoman Hanna Gertler will testify in the Whitewater trial, in accordance with the decision of Justice Ruth Ronen, of the Economic Department of the District Court in Tel Aviv. Tisch claims that Whitewater and Yogev made false representations and acted fraudulently, causing Tisch to invest millions in Whitewater Holdings. Whitewater Holdings is in receivership and creditors are owed approximately NIS 19 million. To read more, please click here

Barnea’s litigation team represented a client before the Supreme Court in a precedent setting landmark appeal concerning fundamental obligations under Israel's securities law and tort law. The Supreme Court overturned the rulings of the District Court and accepted our firm’s position that a duty of care does not exist between shareholders of a company, which were found jointly guilty in violating securities laws.

Zohar Lande, Senior Partner and head of Litigation department, was interviewed by Channel 10 News re the Cadbury Anti-Trust litigation.

The publisher Israel Mizrahi  is suing his former partner Lior Sharf in an amount of about  NIS 11 million, claiming  that he has been misled through cover-up and concealment" Mizrachi, represented by adv. Zohar Lande and Daphne Klein, from Barnea, claims that Mr. Sharf covered up and concealed financial information related to Agam Publishing, their former business partnership. 

The Tel Aviv District Court rejected yesterday (Tuesday) a claim of NIS 67 million that was filed by the Canadian businessman David Geller, against the LR Group and start-up "IN SPI AIR".

IN SPI AIR  was represented by adv. Zohar Lande and adv. Gal Lifshitz

Adv. Zohar Lande and adv. Moran Bickel, filed a monetary claim for NIS 4.8 million with the Tel-Aviv District Court concerning the alleged fraudulent actions of a trustee relating to real estate investments in Thailand.

Zohar Lande was quoted in an article by the Kingsley Napley law firm. The article records recent quotes of leading commercial litigators from around the world. The experts discuss the recent trends in their respective countries. Zohar Lande is the only commercial litigation lawyer from Israel to be approached for his comments.  

 

Lenny Sackstein, the chairman at Carmit Candy Industries Ltd.  which is represented by Barnea, described in court yesterday the difficulties in bringing witnesses to testify against Elite – Strauss  Cadbury case. To read more, please click here

The Canadian businessman, Benny Tisch, has filed a claim against Ori Yogev, currently Director of the Government Companies Authority, in the amount of NIS 15 million.  Tisch claims that Yogev made false representations and acted fraudulently, causing Tisch to invest millions in Whitewater Holdings. Whitewater Holdings is in liquidation and creditors are owed NIS 19 million.

Carmit's civil suit is partly based on records and documents collected by the Antitrust Authority in during its investigations.  The following was submitted  by Adv. Zohar Lande, Adv. Shai Sharvit and Adv. Moran Bickel, from Barnea, to the Tel Aviv District Court.

Important information is currently being unveiled at the Central District Court regarding the ways in which the Strauss Group was allegedly attempting to block Cadbury from entering the Israeli Market in 2002. To read more, please click here

The article below addresses the privatization chapter of the newly enacted law for the encouragement of competition and reduction of concentration in the Israeli market. The chapter inter alia restricts the State from granting rights to and engaging with entities, which already have received rights from the state and thus deemed to be "concentrational". Adv. Lande argues that the chapter is far reaching, leads to uncertainty in the market and may prevent the effective allocation of rights in the future, all of which will have a detrimental effect on the market. To read more, please click here

The Tel Aviv court has overturned and a court order allowing service of the claim against a former shareholder in a company called "Vita" outside of the Israeli jurisdiction.

The former treasurer of kibbutz Shefayim and his wife were convicted of stealing 16.5 million NIS from the kibbutz and sentenced to  8.5 years in jail. The kibbutz members are still hoping that Adv. Zohar Lande will recover the money that the family is still hiding.

Attorney Zohar Lande, head of the litigation department at Barnea & Co, made a short statement on behalf of the Kibbutz: "We respectfully acknowledge the Court's verdict. Sadly, this sordid affair has had a major impact on the social fabric of the Kibbutz in the last decade. Since Doron's embezzlement was exposed, we have acted within the Kibbutz community, as well as within the judicial system, in an effort to retrieve the money that has been stolen from the Kibbutz. The Kibbutz shall keep cultivating the values of solidarity between its members. We are hopeful that today's verdict shall enable the members of the Kibbutz to return with much enthusiasm to their normal routine of productiveness and creativity".

Barnea represents Mr. Menny Benish, Player 2 Player LTD. and R.I.I.G Limited, in a claim for over 12 M NIS against Moshe Tisona and Yalciner Enterprises Ltd.

Claim in the amount of NIS 15,000,000 against Uri Yoggev: "He has provided false representations and has acted fraudulently". The claim was filed through Advocates Zohar Lande, Shay Sharvit and Itay Wigoda of Barnea Law Offices. To read more, please click here

Advocates Zohar Lande and Itay Wigoda of Barnea filed an urgent request for provisional foreclosure and a prohibition of disposition order against Gad Zeevi. The purpose of the request is to guarantee that Gad Zeevi will pay to Zeev Rom the amount awarded to Zeev Rom in recent litigation.

The ICC Group was sued by the Administrator General for 150 million NIS, who argued that the trustees acted in severe negligence while cancelling the loss of profits insurance. The group is represented by Advocates Zohar Lande, Shai Sharvit, Itay Wigoda and Levi Metchnik of Barnea 

The leading coffee company, Espresso Club, is claiming for NIS 7 million from Strauss for withdrawing from purchasing the company. Espresso Club officials claim, through Adv. Zohar Landa and Shay Sharvit of Barnea Law Offices that during 4 months Strauss carried out a strict and extensive due diligence procedure of Espresso club and its business. During the due diligence, according to the claim, secret and confidential information was passed on to Strauss and such was exposed to Espresso Club’s main supplier.

The Israel Chapter - Litigation & Dispute Resolution 2012 - on International Comparative Legal Guides. B