Resolute representation for plaintiffs in complex civil, commercial and financial disputes — asserting client rights, establishing liability, and pursuing the full measure of available remedies.
Most civil cases are decided long before anyone walks into a courtroom. They are decided in the discovery record — in what was demanded, what was produced, what was withheld, and what a deposition transcript will look like when it is read aloud to a judge.
This practice builds every matter as though it will be tried. Not because every matter should be, but because a case constructed to withstand trial is the only kind that negotiates from strength. A defendant who can see the evidentiary record taking shape against them, and who understands that the plaintiff is prepared to go the distance, evaluates settlement very differently from one who suspects the file will fold under pressure.
That posture is not rhetorical. One matter handled by this office was litigated for seven years against institutional adversaries represented by large firms, before resolving in a seven-figure settlement. Staying power is a key component of a legal strategy with the intent of obtaining a fair outcome.
Exhaustive forensic discovery and management of extended expert-witness phases — used to surface the pivotal document, expose the gap in the other side's theory, and turn the direction of a case. Complex financial structures are read, not accepted at face value.
Thorough preparation from pre-trial motion practice through hearing and trial, building an evidentiary record that advances the client's position in state and federal court — and that holds up on review.
Representation of individuals, property owners and businesses in breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, business torts and contested financial claims.
Disciplined case positioning and candid risk analysis, directed at the best available outcome — whether that is a structured settlement, mediation, or a verdict.
Argued before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the New York Appellate Division, Second Department. A trial record is built with the appeal in mind from the first motion.
Three decades of Chapter 11 practice inform civil strategy. Where an adversary's finances are part of the dispute, the bankruptcy code is a tool, and knowing how a claim survives a filing changes what a case is worth.
Financial structures are read first-hand. Many commercial disputes turn on the underlying numbers — layered financing, intercompany transfers, capital accounts, valuation assumptions. Alongside the law degree, this office brings a master's degree in real estate development and investment from New York University and more than twenty years as a principal in real property, so those structures are analyzed directly.
Unsettled questions. Several matters handled by this office have resulted in published, precedent-setting decisions.
Caseload. Engagements are taken selectively, a few at a time, so that each receives the attention complex litigation requires.
Plaintiffs with a genuine claim. That includes businesses facing breach of contract or breach of fiduciary duty; property owners and developers in disputes with lenders, partners or contractors; and individuals with substantial financial claims that a larger institution has been slow to take seriously.
If your matter involves a complicated financial record, a well-resourced opponent, and a timeline commensurate with the measured result, that is the work this practice is built for.
An initial conversation is about the facts, the record, and a candid assessment of what a claim is realistically worth — including when the honest answer is that it should not be brought.
Call (212) 639-9000 or email brucehkaplan@gmail.com. See also notable cases and representative matters.