September 9, 2020

AmLaw Names Milbank Litigation Partners Thomas Arena, Sean Murphy, & Robert Hora “Litigators of the Week”

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Milbank Litigation partners Thomas Arena, Sean Murphy, and Robert Hora were named “Litigators of the Week” by The American Lawyer for achieving a major victory for their client The Putnam Advisory Company LLC (“Putnam”).

On August 27, 2020, Milbank secured what The American Lawyer described as “a knockout win” for Putnam in a three-and-a-half-week virtual trial before the Honorable Lewis J. Liman in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. Judge Liman’s 221-page decision and order brings to an end an eight-year litigation arising out of a $1.5 billion collateralized debt obligation known as the Pyxis CDO.

Trial was originally scheduled for April 27, 2020 but was adjourned due to the COVID-19 pandemic and rescheduled for a virtual bench trial that began on July 6, 2020. In the interview with The American Lawyer, the partners discuss pivoting their trial preparation from an in-person format to Zoom without much prior precedent. Additionally, the team discusses why the stakes were particularly high for their client and how they built a case so strong that Judge Liman said, “The evidence was not close.”

The Milbank team representing Putnam was led by Litigation & Arbitration partners Thomas Arena, Sean Murphy, and Robert Hora and included Litigation associates Samantha Lovin, Allison Markowitz, Kingdar Prussien, Lacey Reimer and Brendan Walden.

To read the full article “Litigators of the Week: The Milbank Team That Made a Bench Trial Nearly a Decade in the Making a ‘Not Close’ Call for the Judge,” please click here.