Law

Madsen Law P.C. is proud to announce that Bertrand Madsen was named a “Super Lawyer” in 2022 for the seventh consecutive year by Thomson Reuters’ attorney rating service Super Lawyers. Mr. Madsen was selected “Top Rated Business Litigation Attorney in New York” in recognition for his experience, expertise, and exceptional representation of the firm’s clients in business litigation.

Super Lawyers provides an annual rating of attorneys from over 70 practice areas. Super Lawyers uses a patented process to select attorneys who achieve excellence in their areas of practice, including independent research, peer nominations, and evaluations. In all, only 5% of nominated attorneys are ultimately designated “Super Lawyers.”

Madsen Law P.C. recently scored a victory on behalf of its client Banque de l’Union Haïtienne (BUH) – a bank located in the Republic of Haiti – and defeated a plaintiff’s attempt to have the New York Supreme Court recognize a foreign judgment.  In the case Dominique Richard v. BUH et al., No. 157915/2020 (Hagler, J.S.C.), the plaintiff sought the confirmation of a judgment exceeding $7 million that had been rendered in her favor by the Cour d’Appel de Port-au-Prince in litigation over a series of land purchases in Haiti.  On behalf of BUH, Madsen Law P.C. argued that the foreign judgment was not “final, conclusive and enforceable where rendered” as contemplated by the Uniform Foreign Country Money-Judgments Recognition Act (CPLR Article 53), and thus not subject to recognition in New York.  Through expert witness testimony and documentary evidence, Madsen Law P.C. demonstrated that the plaintiff had not complied with Haitian law relating to judgment enforcement procedures in Haiti, and that the judgment was not final in Haiti because it was still being challenged before the country’s highest court, the Cour de Cassation.  On April 11, 2022, Justice Hagler agreed, finding that BUH’s challenges to the foreign judgment put the burden on the plaintiff to establish that the New York court had personal jurisdiction over BUH, which she failed to do.  The court therefore dismissed the case in its entirety.

Madsen Law P.C. worked with co-counsel, Heidi Wendel of the Law Office of Heidi A. Wendel PLLC, on this matter.

Madsen Law P.C. won a commercial litigation in New York federal court, in which we represented an investment firm in a dispute with a publicly-traded company. The case stemmed from a breach of a convertible promissory note issued in favor of our client.  The note was “convertible” because it allowed our client to convert, at a discount, any portion of the money owed on the note to shares of the issuer’s common stock.  When our client exercised the right of conversion, the issuer failed to deliver its stock.  The case raised complex issues under New York law.  The issuer maintained that the note was void ab initio because specific features of the note allegedly caused its effective annual interest rate to exceed 25%, in violation of New York’s criminal usury laws.  Madsen Law P.C. successfully defeated the issuer’s motion to dismiss, conducted targeted discovery, and swiftly moved for summary judgment.  On August 23, 2019, Colleen McMahon, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, ruled in our client’s favor and awarded it full damages, including fees and costs of litigation.