Mr. Horowitz has experience in a broad range of areas, including civil and white collar securities law, professional liability, consumer class actions, and complex commercial arbitration. For the past ten years he has specialized primarily in bankruptcy litigation. This focus has been a natural outgrowth of Mr. Horowitz’s strength in working with expert witnesses. He has written and lectured extensively on the subject, and is particularly experienced in issues involving sophisticated valuation, economic analysis, and accounting issues – areas at the heart of most major bankruptcy cases.
Mr. Horowitz has been recognized as a Local Litigation Star in the 2010 Edition of Benchmark Litigation. He is also included in the 2010 AVENUE Legal Elite list, comprised of New York City litigators who have received an AV-Preeminent Rating from Martindale-Hubbell.
Representative Matters
- In the MCI/Worldcom bankruptcy, Mr. Horowitz led the expert witness and fact discovery efforts of subordinated MCI bondholders opposing substantive consolidation of the debtors’ estates. Working with several of the country’s foremost accounting and finance experts, he developed groundbreaking arguments that are now routinely used in substantive consolidation cases.
- In the bankruptcies of Towers Financial and Bennett Funding, each at the time the largest Ponzi scheme in U.S. history, he successfully defended white collar criminal attorneys for allegedly prolonging the schemes by failing to “blow the whistle” on their clients. Both cases resulted in important published decisions from the Second Circuit: Dinsmore v. Squadron, Ellenoff, Plesent, Sheinfeld & Sorkin, 135 F.3d 837 (2d Cir. 1998) (rejecting conspiracy theory of liability under federal securities law), and Breeden v. Kirkpatrick & Lockhart LLP et al., 268 B.R. 704 (S.D.N.Y. 2001) (addressing the scope of the in pari delicto defense).
- As lead litigator for the Secured Noteholders in the bankruptcy of WCI Steel, Mr. Horowitz successfully terminated exclusivity; defeated confirmation of an equity-sponsored debtor plan supported by all other creditor constituencies at three confirmation trials; cross-examined eight industry, valuation, and appraisal experts – including the former president of the American Institute of Appraisers, whose testimony was thereupon rejected by the Bankruptcy Court as “worthless”; and ultimately achieved confirmation of a competing plan giving the Secured Noteholders complete ownership of the business.
- As lead litigator for the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. bankruptcy, Mr. Horowitz first successfully defeated a motion to appoint an Equity Committee. At the confirmation hearing four months later, he cross-examined four prominent industry and valuation experts testifying on behalf of two ad hoc equity groups and presented direct testimony from two more experts. The case settled on favorable terms while under submission.
- Mr. Horowitz has played significant roles in litigating estimation of asbestos liabilities in several mass tort bankruptcies, including Owens-Corning (on behalf of the bank creditors) and W.R. Grace (on behalf of the Official Equity Committee).
- On behalf of the Majority Bondholders in the ASARCO bankruptcy, he successfully terminated exclusivity to allow the Majority Bondholders to file a competing plan, spearheaded arguments to prevent existing equity from retaining the company without paying creditors in full, and negotiated a settlement that resulted in the bondholders receiving full par plus accrued interest plus a significant “makewhole” payment.
- Mr. Horowitz has been involved in numerous other “makewhole” (or “prepayment penalty”) disputes as well, including favorable resolution of a dispute over makewhole compensation paid to the prepetition lender in the Jitney-Jungle bankruptcy, and negotiation of makewhole compensation to Canadian creditors in the Calpine Energy bankruptcy.