October 2010
ARY welcomes its new associate, R. Christopher Owens, to the firm. Chris is a graduate of Columbia University School of Law and was a law clerk to a Federal District Court Judge prior to joining ARY.

August 2010
In a continuation of prior litigation following remand from the Second Circuit, the District Court awarded ARY's client, a REMIC Trust, a judgment in excess of $1.7 million on a claim involving a breach by a loan originator of representations and warranties contained in a Mortgage Loan Purchase Agreement. For more information concerning this matter, please contact Kenneth S. Yudell (kyudell@aryllp.com).

August 2010
Joseph Aronauer and John Re were panelists at a continuing legal education seminar sponsored by the National Business Institute. The panel discussion was titled Mortgage Foreclosures and Real Estate Workouts.

July 2010
ARY represented the seller of a nearly 37,000 square foot development site in Manhattan for $8.3 million. For more information concerning this matter, contact Michael Scher (mscher@aryllp.com).

May 2010
Joseph Aronauer was a panelist at a CLE seminar sponsored by the New York County Lawyers Association. The panel on which Mr. Aronauer participated was titled Ethical Obligations in Taking and Defending Depositions.

April 2010
ARY successfully defeated several challenges to a mortgagee's rights, including allegations of fraud brought in an adversary proceeding, in a Bankruptcy case pending in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The decisions obtained by ARY also allowed the mortgagee to acquire the mortgaged property in the Bankruptcy Court sale for $3,750,000 by its credit bid pursuant to Bankruptcy Code Section 363(k). For further information about this matter, please contact Kenneth S. Yudell (kyudell@aryllp.com).

March 2010
In a matter pending in a New York Bankruptcy Court involving a mortgaged property located in Wisconsin, ARY successfully defeated a plan of reorganization proposed by the mortgagor-debtor which would have permitted the mortgagor to cram down the mortgage held by ARY's client. One of the key issues in the case was the value of the mortgaged property in light of the risk of an anchor tenant moving out of the property. In a contested valuation hearing, the Bankruptcy Court adopted the valuation asserted by ARY's client thus enabling ARY's client to achieve the desired result. For more information on this matter, please contact Joseph Aronauer (jaronauer@aryllp.com).

February 2010
ARY closed several loan modifications to complete approved plans of reorganizations in the General Growth bankruptcy. The firm represented two CMBS loan servicers concerning six loans and fifteen shopping malls as collateral for the loans. The total principal amount of the loans restructured was over $500 million. For more information about this matter, contact Joseph Aronauer (jaronauer@aryllp.com), Michael Scher (mscher@aryllp.com) or Howard Sommers (hsommers@aryllp.com).

December 15, 2009
Consensual plans of reorganization were approved for numerous project level debtors in the General Growth Bankruptcy. ARY represented the secured creditors in six of the bankruptcy cases who hold commercial mortgages on malls owned by the property level debtors totaling more than $500 million in principal amount. For more information concerning this matter, please contact Joseph Aronauer (jaronauer@aryllp.com) or Ken Yudell (kyudell@aryllp.com).

December 15, 2009
In a single asset bankruptcy case, ARY represented the holder of the mortgage on the debtor's only property and successfully defeated the debtor's attempt to have a plan of reorganization approved which would have resulted in the cram-down of the secured creditor's mortgage. For more information concerning this matter, please contact Joseph Aronauer (jaronauer@aryllp.com) or Ken Yudell (kyudell@aryllp.com).

December 7, 2009
Following the entry of a default judgment in favor of ARY's client in an action pending in the Supreme Court, New York County, the defendants moved to vacate the judgment alleging that service of process was not properly effectuated. The court directed that a traverse hearing be held on the issue of service. At the hearing, ARY successfully established that service on the individual defendants was properly made. For more information, please contact John Re at jre@aryllp.com.

October 15, 2009
The New York Court of Appeals issued a decision favorable to ARY's client concerning the issue of champerty. The decision was hailed as extremely important to parties involved in the secondary loan market and the purchase of distressed debt and was featured on the front page of the New York Law Journal. ARY assisted appellate counsel with briefing the appeal. For more information concerning this matter or to obtain a copy of the decision, please contact Ken Yudell (kyudell@aryllp.com).

October 2009
Kenneth S. Yudell participated in a panel discussion concerning mortgage foreclosures at the American Bar Association's National Solo and Small Firm Conference held in Los Angeles, CA.

August 2009
ARY welcomes its new associate, Andrew MacArthur, to the firm. Andrew was formerly an associate with Latham & Watkins, LLP.

April 2009
ARY was selected by a CMBS special servicer to represent several REMIC Trusts in connection with the General Growth Bankruptcy. The special servicer is servicing more than $1 billion of mortgages made by various debtors in the bankruptcy cases. For more information concerning this matter, please contract Joseph Aronauer (jaronauer@aryllp.com) or Ken Yudell (kyudell@aryllp.com).

February 2009
ARY represented a parking operator in protracted negotiations with Metro North Railroad. The parties successfully negotiated a contract for ARY's client to operate most of Metro North's parking facilities. For any questions on this matter, please contact Mike Scher at mscher@aryllp.com.

March 30, 2008
For the second time, Judge Sterling Johnson, United States District Court, Eastern District of New York, granted ARY's motion for sanctions against counsel for the opposing party. The court found that counsel's motion for reconsideration of a prior grant of summary judgment and sanctions was without basis and simply an attempt to relitigate the prior claims. The decision is reported at Staples v. W.J.R. Associates, et al., 2008 WL 5133721 (E.D.N.Y. 2008). For more information or for a copy of the decision, please contact John Re at jre@aryllp.com.

January 15, 2008
ARY represented a client who sold two properties for approximately one hundred million dollars, and then over the next few months purchased three replacement properties in Section 1031 exchanges utilizing virtually all of the one hundred million dollars. For any questions on this matter, contact Howard Sommers (hsommers@aryllp.com).