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July 23, 2024
Outright Dismissal of Lawsuit
Our firm represented a CFO who previously served at one of the largest construction companies in the country in a lawsuit filed with the Tel Aviv District Court (Economics Department). The lawsuit was initiated by the trustee appointed to the company as part of an insolvency proceeding.
The CFO, who served for only a few months at the company, was one of dozens of defendants, including board members, members of management, controlling owners, and auditors, all of whom were held jointly and severally liable for damages allegedly amounting to approximately ILS 500 million due to the company’s collapse and subsequent insolvency proceedings.
Despite the lawsuit raising several factual and legal claims against the CFO, we took the unusual step of filing a motion to dismiss the lawsuit outright on behalf of the CFO, before even submitting a statement of defense. The grounds for this motion included lack of cause and lack of standing. Following discussions with the trustee, an agreement was reached to remove the CFO from the lawsuit. As a result, the CFO was not held personally responsible for any of the alleged damages, with collective responsibility being attributed to all remaining defendants.
July 18, 2024
Representing U.S. Investment Fund in Vesttoo’s International Insolvency Proceedings
Our firm represents the investment fund Mouro Capital, a shareholder with an appointed director, in the insolvency proceedings of the international Israeli fintech company Vesttoo.
This is a parallel insolvency process taking place in both the U.S. and Israel, with the company’s debts estimated at approximately $3 billion. We represent the fund as Vesttoo (and 48 affiliated entities) undergoes Chapter 11 proceedings in the U.S., while in Israel, enforcement proceedings for debt restructuring and recognition of the foreign insolvency proceedings are underway.
As part of this, declaratory relief actions have been filed in Israel to establish jurisdiction over issues related to the directors’ activities in the company.
July 4, 2024
Insolvency: Idan Miller Lectures to Israel Builders Association Course
Idan Miller, the head of our firm's insolvency practice, lectured to attendees of an Israel Builders Association financial management course. The focus of the lecture was how to handle and prepare for insolvency events.
July 10, 2024
Barnea: Participating in ACC Israel Annual Conference
Zohar Lande, the head of our firm's Litigation Department, participated today in the annual conference hosted by the Association of Corporate Counsel in Israel (ACC Israel). Zohar took part in a panel on crisis management in companies.
June 26, 2024
New Precedent: Commissioner for Insolvency Proceedings Accepts Military Reserve Duty as Justification for Relief
Idan Miller, the head of our firm's insolvency practice, was appointed as the insolvency trustee for White Dress Marketing Ltd. (formerly Riki Dalal Group). Together with Hadar Eilon, Idan submitted an economic rehabilitation plan on behalf of the company and its shareholders for the Tel Aviv District Court's approval. In his request, Idan asked that the controlling shareholder's military reserve service be recognized as a contributing factor for the purpose of granting relief and avoiding a full insolvency procedure. When asked by the court for his response, the Commissioner for Insolvency Proceedings accepted this position.
May 9, 2024
Supreme Court: Metpro Tender Win for M1 Metro Line Stands
Zohar Lande and Shai Avnieli represented Metpro in an administrative appeal submitted to the Supreme Court, in which another bidder attempted to disqualify Metpro’s win in the tender for the management and planning of the M1 metro line. The Supreme Court accepted the district court’s position, recommending that the appellant withdraw its appeal and reach an agreement with Metpro regarding legal expenses.
April 21, 2024
New Class Action Bill: Eyal Nachshon Interview with Globes
A new bill seeks to oblige would-be plaintiffs to send letters of complaint to potential defendants before filing a class action motion. Eyal Nachshon, a partner in our firm’s Litigation Department and an expert on class action lawsuits, was interviewed by Globes about his position on the bill. Eyal believes the proposed model “will only strengthen the institution of class actions.”
March 12, 2024
Supreme Court Issues Important Ruling on Shareholder Disputes
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.
March 7, 2024
Barnea: Representing Gencell in NIS 16 Million Lawsuit
Gal Livshits, Yatir Madar, and Liron Dahan from our firm’s Litigation Department are representing Gencell in a NIS 16 million lawsuit against the car importer EV Motors as well as Holon Motors. The suit alleges the defendants owe Gencell NIS 4.5 million for systems and equipment they purchased but did not pay for.
December 27, 2023
Barnea: Representing Eshkolot in Lawsuit against Screen iL
After filing a lawsuit against Netflix, Eshkolot, the Company for the Performing Rights of Israeli Artists continues to fight companies that use protected performances for commercial purposes without obtaining the artists’ consent and without paying them royalties. Last week, with our counsel, Eshkolot filed another lawsuit on the same issue against Stream IL Communication Ltd and the American company Stream IL Inc., which operate the website Screen iL.
Eyal Nachshon, Avinadav Preuss, and Naama Ben Arosh Moshe prepared the statement of claim.
September 21, 2023
Derivative Claims and Independent Committees: Eyal Nachshon Lecture on Israeli Association of Publicly Traded Companies Webinar
Following the publication of draft regulations on derivative claims, Eyal Nachshon, a partner in our firm's litigation department, was invited to participate in a webinar hosted by the Israeli Association of Publicly Traded Companies on the issue. In his lecture, Eyal referred to the draft regulations with an eye toward litigation.
September 6, 2023
Successful and Proactive Institutional Activism in Israel
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.
August 28, 2023
Insolvency: Debt Settlements on the Rise
Idan Miller, the coordinator of our firm’s insolvency and corporate recovery practice, was interviewed by Globes about the wave of companies in financial distress. Idan noted that “what we’re seeing in the newspapers is only the tip of the iceberg.” According to Idan, a large number of unpublicized debt settlements are currently underway in contracting, high-tech, and security procurement companies.
August 13, 2023
Barnea: Representing Bareket in NIS 20 Million Lawsuit
Shai Avnieli and Omer Ungar are representing Bareket in a lawsuit the construction company Longshine has filed against it. Longshine, which served as the main contractor in a project initiated by Bareket, was nine months late in delivery of the project. As a result, Bareket deducted approximately NIS 10 million from the construction account.
August 7, 2023
Barnea: Advising Anise on Corporate Recovery Plan
Idan Miller and Liron Dahan are advising Anise on a corporate recovery plan, after the natural products chain fell into an approximately ILS 22.9 million debt. As part of this process, our firm submitted a request to the district court to appoint a trustee and approve a debt arrangement. Anise’s debts accumulated due to branch expansion and an increase in interest rates. The chain is now working to implement its all-encompassing corporate recovery plan, which includes closing unprofitable branches, closing a packaging plant in Kiryat Anavim, improving efficiency, and further reductions.
August 8, 2023
Barnea: Representing Client in NIS 11 Million Lawsuit
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.
July 17, 2023
Barnea: Representing 120 Apartment Owners in Pinui-Binui Project against Three Recalcitrant Owners
Lawyers from our firm’s Real Estate Department, are advising apartment owners in a residential complex designated for pinui-binui in Herzliya. They represented a group of about 120 apartment owners in court against three recalcitrant owners who are objecting to the project due to their demand for higher recompense from the contractor. The court made the extraordinary decision to order the recalcitrant owners to pay NIS 7.8 million in compensation (NIS 2.6 million apiece). In addition, each recalcitrant owner was ordered to pay NIS 20,000 for legal expenses.
July 9, 2023
New Limitations on the Rehabilitation of an Insolvent Company
In a recent ruling in the Bachar Real Estate case, the court prioritized the rights of tenants over insolvent urban renewal companies and created a significant obstacle to the rehabilitation of such companies.Idan Miller the manager of our firm’s insolvency and corporate recovery practice, presents the challenges of the new ruling in an op-ed for Globes.
July 5, 2023
Barnea: Representing RGE in Hot’s Appeal to the Supreme Court over FREETV
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.
July 3, 2023
Avishay Klein and Eyal Nachshon in TheMarker
TheMarker’s Ahad Ha’am magazine published an op-ed by Dr. Avishay Klein on the Israel Securities Authority’s latest guidelines on cyber risks (page 4). The magazine also conducted an interview with Eyal Nachshon on the increase in scope of class action lawsuits against public companies in Israel (page 11). Eyal addressed, among other things, his representation of several companies in a recent series of digital accessibility class action lawsuits.