Over the past 30 years, Mark has successfully handled hundreds of cases, both large and small. Here are some of the more notable ones:
LoRusso v. DeLuca
The Appellate Division, Second Department to reverse the dismissal of an action in Supreme Court, Suffolk County where the case was dismissed because the client’s attorney in the lower court failed to prosecute the case. The Appellate Division reinstated the case by Order dated April 6, 2022 because the lower court failed to properly exercise its discretion in evaluating a reasonable excuse of the attorney’s default and the merits of the case. PDF
Toporek v. Plant Health, Inc. d/b/a Highland Pharms
Mark’s client is a national manufacturer and distributor of CBD products. A class action was brought against the client alleging deceptive labeling of CBD products as “natural” or “all natural” under New York General Business Law §§ 349 and 350. Mark’s motion to dismiss was granted because the plaintiff on behalf of the putative class did not have individual or class standing, and did not suffer any cognizable injury under New York law. The case is Toporek v. Plant Health, Inc. d/b/a Highland Pharms, Index No. 605396/2021, Supreme Court, Nassau County. PDF
Galasso, Langione & Botter, LLP v. Galasso
Mark won a reversal of an order finding his client, a prominent Nassau County attorney, liable for a loss of over Five Million Dollars arising from the theft of escrow money from the attorney’s partner by the firm’s bookkeeper. The lower court improperly granted summary judgment without complying with the procedural requirements. 176 A.D.3d 1184 (2d Dep’t 2019)
Bluebanana Group v. Sargent
Mark won a dismissal of faithless employee claims against a highly compensated employee accused of stealing company resources and time for his own private enterprise. The faithless servant doctrine is limited to situations in which an employee competes against her employer or diverts corporate opportunities. 176 A.D.3d 408 (1st Dep’t 2019)
GMP Fur Trade Finance, LLC v. Brenner
Mark won a reversal of a judgment of almost two million dollars against a client for breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, fraud and conversion of plaintiff’s funds and property. Plaintiff improperly relied upon hearsay and incompetent evidence in obtaining the judgment. 169 A.D.3d 649 (2d Dep’t 2019)
Elias v. Massimillo
Mark successfully defended his client from defamation claims after demonstrating that the plaintiff had failed to alleged either defamation per se or special damages, meaning his client’s allegedly defamatory communications were not actionable. An additional malicious prosecution claim was also dismissed and abandoned on appeal. 166 A.D.3d 726 (2d Dep’t 2018)
Mohyi v. Brand
Mark successfully defended a client against malicious prosecution and other claims. Everything except the malicious prosecution was defeated by a motion to dismiss, while the malicious prosecution claim was defeated on reargument, which was affirmed by the Appellate Division. 160 A.D.3d 559 (1st Dep’t 2018), leave to appeal denied, 32 N.Y.3d 911 (2018)
Sean “P Diddy” Combs
Mark successfully defended musician Sean “P Diddy” Combs in 23 wrongful death and personal injury cases brought following a “stampede” at a concert Mr. Combs sponsored at the City College of New York. As a result of Mark’s efforts, all claims were dismissed before trial.
Jewell v. NYP Holdings, Inc
Mark represented Richard Jewell, the security guard who was falsely accused of the Centennial Olympic Park bombing during the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. Mark successfully negotiated settlements in defamation cases brought by Mr. Jewell against members of the media. (federal district court – Southern District of New York)
Ramsey v. NYP Holdings, Inc.
Mark represented the brother of Jon Benet Ramsey, the Colorado girl who was found dead in her home. Mark obtained significant settlements of defamation actions he brought against members of the media who was falsely accused Burke Ramsey of being the killer. (federal district court – Southern District of New York)
Condit v. Dunne
Mark was successful in obtaining a significant settlement in the defamation case brought by Congressman Gary Condit against the journalist Dominick Dunne, who falsely accused the Congressman of being involved in the disappearance and death of his aide, Chandra Levy. (federal district court – Southern District of New York)
Gujavarty v. County of Nassau
Mark won a jury verdict in excess of $2 million for Dr. Krishna Gujavarty on discrimination and retaliation claims brought against the Nassau University Medical Center.
Beerman v. Marten
Mark obtained a multimillion dollar settlement on behalf of investors who were defrauded by the false representations of their financial adviser. (federal district court – Eastern District of New York)
Zimmerman v. Epstein, Becker and Green, P.C., et al.
Mark won dismissal of a putative class action brought against the national law firm. The plaintiffs were seeking to impose a constructive trust over more than $256 million paid to the attorneys. The plaintiffs alleged that they were entitled to the funds under the federal Credit Repair Organizations Act. Agreeing with Mark’s position, the Court dismissed the action against Mark’s clients. (federal Court of Appeals, 1st Circuit)
International Barcode Corp. v. Procelli
Mark won dismissal of an action seeking damages of $1.8 million for breach of employment agreements.
Gajano v. Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale
Mark obtained a lucrative settlement on behalf of a discharged bank executive.
Coyle v. Coyle
Mark successfully represented a business owner who was sued by his three partners, who were also his brothers. They sought to impose a constructive trust over substantial property gifted to Mark’s client by their deceased father. Mark was able to promptly and successfully have the action dismissed. (NY Supreme Court, Suffolk County)
Burton v. Marchese
Mark represented a developer of unimproved land in Suffolk County who was sued by the family of an injured bicyclist. The bicyclist was struck and severely injured by an automobile. The driver of the automobile alleged that the bicycle was obscured by overgrown vegetation on Mark’s client’s land. Mark promptly and successfully moved to dismiss immediately after service of the complaint upon the client. (NY Supreme Court, Suffolk County)
Matter of Guardianship of Dennisha Pryce
A court issued a stay against Mark’s client, a developer of residential property, to prevent it from completing the sale of a specially constructed home. The stay was issued because the purchaser was unlawfully using the proceeds of an infant’s trust account to purchase the home. Mark successfully had the stay vacated on an expedited basis. (NY Supreme Court, Queens County)
Legurnic v. Ciccione
Mark successfully challenged a jury verdict awarding several hundred thousand dollars to a plaintiff who claimed he was defrauded by the defendant in the Agape scandal. District Judge Spatt granted Mark’s motion to vacate the verdict and dismiss the Complaint. (Eastern District of New York, 2014)
Matter of Sands
Mark won an award of several hundred thousand thousand dollars on behalf of a disbarred attorney on her claim for quantum meruit recover of fees paid to her former law firm.
DWI
Mark obtained a not guilty verdict for a client arrested for DWI in Westbury, NY. The NYS Trooper who made the arrest claimed Mark’s client was unsteady, had bloodshot eyes and slurred speech. The client contended that he was not intoxicated and had been arguing in the car with his daughter. Mark discovered that the Trooper made no contemporaneous record of his client’s performance on the standardized field sobriety tests, didn’t record his field notes for two hours afterwards and failed to adhere to the precise guidelines set forth in the NHTSA DWI Detection and Standardized Field Sobriety Testing Manual. The jury acquitted after only an hour of deliberation.
Please note that every case is unique. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
