Co-Founder Archives - Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton

John W. Kozyak

November 12, 2018/in Co-Founder, Of Counsel Bankruptcy, Insolvency & Receiverships, Litigation /by kttlawdev

John Kozyak is a Fellow in both the American College of Bankruptcy and the American College of Trial Lawyers, and recognized as a “Bet The Company” litigator. He has played a major role in bankruptcy cases across the nation, representing business owners, lenders, creditors’ committees, trustees and major creditors. He has also been appointed a trustee and receiver. John has frequently written and lectured on bankruptcy and workout issues in many states. He enjoys strategizing about all aspects of bankruptcies and litigation. He is eager to help clients and younger lawyers achieve the best possible outcome.

John was lead bankruptcy lawyer representing the Asbestos Property Damage Claimants Committee in Celotex for the past 20 years. He and the firm have considerable experience in other product liability bankruptcy cases.

John has a particular expertise in real estate. He has represented special servicers of mortgage-backed securitizations in bankruptcies across the country. He has represented Marriott International and Ritz-Carlton, as well as other franchisors, owners, and lenders in hospitality-related bankruptcies.

John served as Trustee and Criminal Restitution Receiver in a viatical-based Ponzi scheme case, which was one of South Florida’s biggest frauds, Financial Federated and has experience in several criminal forfeitures and bankruptcy issues.

John is very active in the community and has received numerous awards for his work on diversity, inclusion and mentoring. He co-founded the Kozyak Minority Mentoring Foundation and helped thousands of minority students with judges and lawyers. He is the Immediate Past Chair of the Parkinson’s Foundation, and has been a active member of its board for 15 years. He recently joined the board of the Fresco Parkinson Institute in Florence, Italy.

Results

John was appointed Receiver for the Signature Entities, in a matter where one 50% equity holder killed his partner and then himself. He sold the operating business and successfully managed several highly contentious litigation matters.

Financial Federated Title & Trust, Inc., was a large Ponzi scheme and John was Chapter 11 Trustee and criminal restitution receiver. There were more then 3500 creditors, the losses exceeded $130 million and the recovery was in excess of 30%.

Charles Bray was the majority equity holder in Bray & Gillespie Holdings, which owned and 26 operating hotels and more than 50 other development sites in the Daytona Beach area. John had a major role in developing a plan which was approved by all secured creditors and provided broad releases for Mr. Bray.

John represented the Flight Attendants Medical Research Institute (“FAMRI”), a non-profit foundation formed as part of class action settlement between former, non-smoking, flight attendants and tobacco companies, when a few flight attendants and a large number of lawyers sought to dissolve FAMRI. The petitioning lawyers were all disqualified due to conflicts and the petition and subsequent class action were dismissed with prejudice.

Harley S. Tropin

November 12, 2018/in Co-Founder, Partner Class Actions & Contingency, Litigation /by kttlawdev

Harley Tropin is Founding Partner of Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton and concentrates his practice on high stakes business litigation.

Harley is co-chair of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in the matter of In Re: Champlain Towers South Collapse Litigation, where he directed a team of lawyers responsible for recovering over $1 billion dollars in settlements arising from the tragic collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium project. He has been at the forefront of most complex financial fraud matters in the Southern District of Florida for the last three decades.

He was recognized by the University of Miami Law School as their most outstanding alumnus, and is a three time winner of the “Most Effective Lawyer” award given by the Daily Business Review. The American Jewish Committee recognized Harley for his outstanding legal work and community contributions with the 2016 Learned Hand award. Best Lawyers in America has selected Harley for the top-tier litigation category, “Bet-the-Company Litigators.” He has been awarded “Lawyer of the Year” for Miami Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions (2014-2020); and “Lawyer of the Year” for Miami Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions for Plaintiffs and Defendants (2023). Chambers USA has ranked him one of two Florida lawyers to receive its “Star” rating. Prior to that, it placed him in its top “Tier 1” ranking and describes Harley as “one of the deans of the Florida Bar” and “a tremendous oral advocate – he’s a very savvy and smart lawyer who knows which buttons to push and when.” He is also listed in Florida Super Lawyers, Florida Trend’s “Legal Elite,” and one of fifty Florida Lawyers named to the Legal Elite Hall of Fame. He is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, and a member of its Board of Directors. Harley has also served as a member of the Federal and State Judicial Nominating Commission.

While the majority of Harley’s practice now focuses on representing plaintiffs, he regularly represents businesses and law firms in their most serious and challenging cases.

Harley lectures on a variety of issues in commercial litigation, including the management of complex litigation, the presentation of damages in commercial litigation, trial advocacy techniques, and fraud prosecution. He has chaired the NITA/Federal Court Program on trial advocacy, and lectures at the annual University of Miami Class Action Forum which he co-chairs.

Harley authored Florida Business Torts, a Lexis Nexis book published in March 2006, and the injunction chapter for Florida Civil Practice Before Trial, a standard Florida litigation text. He teaches trial advocacy and negotiation techniques at the University of Miami School of Law, and has served on the boards of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, Temple Beth Am and the American Jewish Committee.

Harley is a passionate advocate for greater access to mental health services. He chaired the University of Miami Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Advisory Board from 2014-2018, has helped raise funds for a Day Treatment Medical Center for mental health patients, and represents the department on a pro bono basis on legal issues involving mental health concerns.

Harley also has served on the Florida Supreme Court Committee on Gender Bias and Diversity and is an integral part of the KTT commitment to diversity in the workplace and community.

RESULTS

Fraud and Ponzi Schemes

Harley represented more than seventy investors, who collectively lost $190 million investing with Ft. Lauderdale lawyer Scott Rothstein, who ran a Ponzi scheme, based on selling fictitious structured settlements. Typical recoveries in these cases range from 10 -30%. Harley and his team recovered over 95% of losses, and their attorney’s fees.

Corporate Disputes

Harley successfully represented a New York investor, and his closely held corporation, in a $2.5 billion dispute with his CEO (and nephew) over entitlement to the proceeds of the sale of his oil and gas venture. After the sale, the CEO sued in multiple courts, arguing entitlement to half the proceeds, on the theory that he was a general partner of the venture. Harley and his team defeated the claims entirely, while obtaining sanctions against the CEO for discovery abuses, and recovering a favorable monetary settlement of the counterclaim.

Legal Malpractice Defense

Harley successfully represented a large Florida law firm, which was sued for malpractice relating to a resort development. He successfully argued that the claim was legally defective, resulting in a resolution of the claim, which included a public statement by the plaintiff admitting the law firm had done nothing wrong and affirming that the legal services rendered by the law firm were excellent.

Class Actions

On behalf of 700,000 physicians, and their medical societies, including Texas Medical Association, the California Medical Association and others, Harley acted as co-lead counsel in a national class action against the major HMOs including Aetna, Cigna, Humana and others for systematically denying doctors reimbursement for services provided to patients by down coding medical services through the use of their computerized reimbursement procedure. The case resulted in the recovery of billions of dollars both in actual cash payments to the doctors, and improved reimbursement procedures and dispute resolution methods.

Charles W. Throckmorton

November 12, 2018/in Co-Founder, Of Counsel Bankruptcy, Insolvency & Receiverships, Litigation /by kttlawdev

Chuck Throckmorton is a founding member of Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton, and is now of counsel to the firm. Chuck’s practice has focused on bankruptcy, creditors’ rights and complex commercial litigation matters. He has successfully represented numerous companies in Chapter 11 reorganizations. He also has substantial experience representing lenders, secured and unsecured creditors, creditors’ committees, and trustees in bankruptcy matters.

Chuck is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, which is “an honorary public service association of bankruptcy and insolvency professionals who are invited to join as Fellows based on a proven record of the highest standards of professionalism plus service to the profession and their communities.”

In both 2014 and 2017, Chuck was named Miami’s “Lawyer of the Year” in the field of Bankruptcy Law by Best Lawyers in America. The Miami Daily Business Review named him Miami’s “Most Effective Lawyer” in the field of bankruptcy in 2013. Chuck has been rated “AV” by Martindale-Hubbell since 1985, and is now rated “AV Preeminent” by that publication. Out of more than 72,000 Florida lawyers, Chuck is one of 119 members of Florida Trend Magazine’s Legal Elite Hall of Fame.

Chuck has extensive experience in debt restructurings and workouts, bankruptcy sales, pre-bankruptcy planning, fraudulent conveyance and preferential transfer litigation, and all forms of commercial disputes that arise from secured transactions, lending agreements, and business contracts.

Chuck is also an experienced trial and appellate attorney who has litigated many jury and non-jury matters in federal and state trial and appellate courts in Florida and elsewhere around the country. He handles many of the firm’s appellate cases for both bankruptcy and litigation matters. He regularly lectures and writes on bankruptcy and commercial law.

Chuck is a music enthusiast and plays both the electric and acoustic guitar. He is an avid reader and traveler. Chuck and his wife, Karen, are active in various children’s advocacy groups. They have two sons, Charles, an attorney with the Miami firm of Carlton Fields, and Michael, who works at a private hedge fund in Dallas.

PERSONAL STATEMENT

Two of my favorite things about being a lawyer are (i) the gratifying feeling of seeing a weight lifted from a client’s shoulders after I’ve been able to solve a problem for them; and (ii) the intellectual and creative challenge of analyzing a legal problem and crafting a persuasive legal brief. After more than forty years of practice, I now enjoy focusing my efforts on pro bono representation and on working with my wonderful KTT colleagues as a “utility player” on their cases.