Nicholas Caputo

Partner

Introduction

Nicholas Caputo is a Partner in the Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution Department, who concentrates on commercial litigation and business transactions for Fortune 500 companies, closely-held corporations and high net worth individuals.  Mr. Caputo also actively represents clients with regards to matters in the Labor & Employment, Corporate Transactional and Real Estate Departments, and has particular experience representing clients in the real estate, licensing, technology, healthcare transportation, and manufacturing/sales industries. 

Mr. Caputo’s litigation practice encompasses business and contract disputes, shareholder and other corporate controversies, bankruptcy, real estate, insurance coverage, municipal procurement and government contracting.  His transactional experience includes real estate, asset and corporate acquisitions and dispositions and health care matters.

Mr. Caputo works with clients on risk/reward analyses that keep their ultimate business objectives in mind and minimize risk and potential exposure.

Selected Commercial Litigation Experience

• Won a landmark procurement case concerning the award of competitively bid contracts, in which New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, ruled that the Town of Southeast, improperly rejected our client AAA Carting’s bid for a waste removal contract.  The case has significant ramifications for procurement in New York State, and benefited taxpayers by rewarding the true “lowest responsible bidder.”
• Obtained a multi-million dollar judgment (as well as a potentially greater amount in interest and attorneys’ fees) for client Rocheux International, a fast-growing New Jersey-based supplier of plastics, in a commercial contract dispute.
• Successfully represented Dell in obtaining a multi-million judgment in a real estate lease dispute involving complex surety and subrogation issues, as well as allegations that conditions in a multi-floor office space near the former World Trade Center site in downtown Manhattan were toxic.
• Represented Jamaica Public Service Co., the sole distributor of electricity in the nation of Jamaica, and Lloyd’s of London in a $100 million insurance dispute with insurer AIG following a boiler explosion and, in so doing, helped convince the New York Court of Appeals to establish a new standard governing the scope of a lawyer’s continuing duties to former clients regarding confidences and secrets gleaned during the prior relationship.
• Prevailed in litigation to successfully void the $6 million sale of a commercial office building in The Bronx, New York, due to fraud and misrepresentations by a purported agent who sought to convey title to the property.

Selected Transactional Experience

• Completed a complex lease and subsequent multi-million dollar purchase and
• sale agreement for a solid waste transfer station in Westchester County, New York that involved multi-party negotiations, eviction proceedings, and an application for a surface transport license for a federal railroad.  Our client ultimately reacquired the property on favorable terms.
• Sale of a client’s multi-million dollar, 50% interest in a corporation providing diagnostic testing to nursing homes.  The intricate transaction involved numerous regulatory issues including Medicare compliance, reimbursement, and related indemnities.

Past Employment Positions

• Robinson Brog, Partner
• Mendes & Mount, Associate Attorney

Representative Cases

• AAA Carting & Rubbish Removal, Inc. v. Town of Southeast et al, 17 N.Y.3d 136 (2011)
• Jamaica Public Service Co. v. AIU Ins. Co., 92 N.Y.2d 631 (1998)
• Benun v. Allstate Ins. Co., 225 F.3d 645 (2d Cir. 2000)
• Nowak v. Rametta, 43 A.D.3d 1120 (2d Dep’t 2007)
• Gottlieb v. Greco, 298 A.D.2d 300 (1st Dep’t 2002)
• Lido Realty LLC et al v. 67-79 LLC (Bx Co. 2010)
• Washington Title v. Sand Lane Title, (Nassau Co. 2010)
• Dell Inc. v. GJF Construction Corp., NYLJ, Jan. 3, 2008, p. 27 col 3, 2007 W.L. 4397748 (2007 Slip. Op. 339996(U) (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Co.)  )
• Kudrov v. Kudrov, 12 Misc. 3d 205, 802 N.Y.S.2d 405 (Sup Ct. Kings Co 2005)
• QMB Holdings, LLC v. Escava Bros., 11 Misc. 3d 1060(A), 815 N.Y.S.2s 496 (2006 Slip Op. 50322 (Sup. Ct. Bx. Co)  )
• Allannic v. 682 Sixth Avenue HDFC, (Sup Ct. NY Co. 2008)
• Unique Sports Generation v. LGH-III, LLC, 2005 WL 2414452 (S.D.N.Y.  )
• McMillan v. Examination Management Services, Inc., 1996 W.L. 551725, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14189 (S.D.N.Y.  )