Leonard S. Baum is Counsel in the Litigation Department and is resident in the New York office.
Len has been engaged, on trial and appellate levels and in international and domestic arbitrations, in a broad array of complex commercial litigations for over 40 years. In addition to recovering hundreds of millions in verdicts and settlements, Len has successfully counseled many clients on how to avoid, prepare for or resolve disputes before they become significant problems. He has extensive experience in the real estate field; in uncovering diverse fraudulent practices; in intra-partnership (including law firms) and corporate disputes; trust and estate-related disputes, including accountings and contested probate proceedings; entertainment, publishing, copyright and trademark litigation; insurance coverage; securities, bankruptcy, antitrust and many other areas of business activities. Len is well known for his solid analysis of difficult situations and his imaginative solutions.
Len recovered over $46,500,000 from the Victim Compensation Fund following hearings on behalf of 11 families who lost spouses and children in the September 11, 2001 attacks. He also recently implemented a strategy through federal and state proceedings that enabled a New York real estate holding family to end decades of litigation and dispose of numerous properties, thereby generating over $75 million from money-losing operations. Len has represented a number of institutional and private real estate developers for many years, involving residential and commercial properties. In one case he enabled an institutional client to secure a $230 million judgment and to take title to a major shopping mall. A recent settlement resulted in the successful defense of an estate accounting case implicating valuable commercial property in New York.
In the alternative dispute resolution arena, Len successfully obtained a multi-million dollar settlement for a withdrawing founding partner in a $1.5 billion hedge fund via a mediated settlement, that dealt with difficult and complex issues concerning the scope of a non-compete and non-solicitation agreement and various compensation issues. Immediately thereafter, Len commenced an arbitration in which he was able to promptly enforce the terms of that settlement when the other side sought to evade the provisions favorable to his client. Thereafter, he successfully resolved in arbitration an $80 million claim against another hedge fund involving conflicting interpretations of an LLC agreement. In a prior matter, following complex discovery proceedings in New York and hearings abroad, Len recovered a $21 million award for a prominent Saudi businessman in an ICC arbitration in London based on claims for breach of contract and fiduciary duty and fraud. For another client he secured a multimillion dollar, exclusive 10-year distribution agreement for important generic drugs in the Gulf region through an international arbitration in Toronto. In another matter, Len prepared the damages phase in a $400 million arbitration in the Middle East against a major multinational manufacturer. Those matters followed the successful recovery of a $9.6 million investment by a Central African businessman who had been defrauded by his New York associate. A sample of other representations include the successful defense of a $13 million breach of contract claim arising from the sale of a radio property; the prosecution of copyright, trademark and contract claims for a leading author and publisher in protracted federal and state proceedings leading to a confidential settlement; and the successful settlement of a breach of employment agreement claim for a high profile record industry executive.
In the trusts and estates area, Len has handled a wide variety of cases over the past 30 years. He has represented institutions and individuals and recently litigated through appeals and settled high-profile will contests as well as disputes within guardianship proceedings.
Len also has successfully defended several white-collar criminal cases in Federal Court including matters dealing with perjury, customs violations, bribery and tax fraud.
In the entertainment industry Len has represented United Artists in a wide variety of matters, UA Television, ITC Films, and Orion Pictures. Among the institutional clients Len has served are Occidental Petroleum, J.P. Morgan Investment Management, J.P. Morgan Trust Company, N.A. and Merrill Lynch Interfunding. Len has handled many other diverse matters for clients in the United States and abroad and has consistently delivered outstanding results.
After successfully protecting a major estate gift for public television, Len was asked to serve as Chairman of Thirteen/WNET Professional Advisors’ Board for Gift Planning. Len has also engaged in pro bono work, including most recently providing assistance to relatives of World Trade Center victims.