Schulte Roth & Zabel is proud to announce the addition of John Nowak as a partner in the Litigation Group in New York.

John has a robust enforcement practice, representing private equity funds, hedge funds, broker-dealers, corporations, boards of directors, principals and executives in internal investigations, government inquiries and litigation. He also provides advice to investment advisers related to trading and compliance issues and insider trading.

John also has unique experience as a supervisor with the government, having served as the Deputy Chief of the Business and Securities Fraud Section of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and as a Branch Chief in the Enforcement Division of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

“John’s excellent reputation and success in private practice and his supervisory experience at the SEC and DOJ will provide immediate benefits to our clients considering the uptick in SEC enforcement activity and rulemaking with respect to private capital,” said Craig Warkol, co-chair of Schulte’s Litigation Group. “We continue to build a best-in-class practice that can represent and protect the interests of our clients in the full range of disputes in which they may become involved.”

“This is a significant opportunity to further strengthen our enforcement practice in support of our clients,” said David Efron, co-managing partner of Schulte. “This expansion is particularly critical in light of the government’s increasing scrutiny of the private capital industry and our clients’ need for exceptional, practical and commercial representation. John’s talent and experience are a great addition and align perfectly with those trends.”

John’s significant representations have included a vast array of issues that include insider trading, best execution, accounting fraud, PIPE financings, breaches of fiduciary duties, adviser conflicts of interest, market making and trading inquiries, and other disclosure cases. He also has significant trial and appellate experience.

“I’m thrilled to be joining Schulte’s industry-leading enforcement team,” said John. “The firm’s roster of private capital clients, its client-first mindset and its collaborative approach to representing the industry provide an optimal platform from which to expand.”

John graduated from the College of the Holy Cross with a B.A. in Mathematics and obtained his J.D. from the University of Richmond School of Law.

In addition to Julia Beskin, Tim Gilman and Chris Gerson in Schulte’s Litigation Group, John is the latest new partner to join the firm. Other recent additions include Dan Roman (Tax), Martin Schmelkin (Employment & Employee Benefits) and Allison Scher Bernbach (Investment Management).

Schulte Roth & Zabel’s pro bono team remains steadfast and determined to achieve justice for the survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre following the recent decision by a state judge to dismiss the case. Their tireless efforts have been featured in national print and broadcast media as they reinforce the message that the judicial process will move forward and the voices of the survivors will be heard.    

Schulte Partner Michael Swartz was interviewed on NBC News where he told journalist Ellison Barber that despite the setback of their case being dismissed, the survivors have “vowed to continue to fight and we are fighting for them.”   

Watch the interview here.  

Schulte Special Counsel for Pro Bono Initiatives Sara Solfanelli spoke to The Independent on next steps within the courts, she said, “we feel really confident that we are right on the law that we’ll be successful on appealing this.” 

Read more here.  

Schulte associate McKenzie Haynes discussed the familiar struggle for justice, telling Public Radio Tulsa that “any time a Black person asks for justice in America, it’s like the goal post just moves back a little bit more.”

To listen, download audio at right.

Schulte Roth & Zabel special counsel Chaim Stern recently spoke to Marie Sapirie from Tax Notes for her article on the Treasury and the IRS’s proposed regulations on direct pay and transferability of renewable energy credits, “Required Summer Reading From the IRS: Transfer and Elective Payment Rules.”

In regard to various limitations imposed by the regulations on transferred credits, Chaim noted that “From a tax logic perspective, they found the right balance, particularly in the section 6418 regulations.”

Because the regulations require taxpayers to register eligible credit property, which will apply to the underlying property rather than the unit of production, Chaim commented that it would be better to register each unit of production as it is produced, rather than adding up production tax credits sold to multiple buyers and accounting for them under a single registration number.

He said, “If a solar facility that is producing electricity has a single registration number for its production and sales to various buyers over the course of a number of years, it becomes very hard to track the total credit amount.” Chaim’s recommended approach would simplify tracking and would reduce risk of double counting.

Read the article here.

Schulte Roth & Zabel partner Michael Swartz and Special Counsel for Pro Bono Initiatives Sara Solfanelli joined Justice for Greenwood founder and civil rights attorney Damario Soloman-Simmons at a press conference in Tulsa to reaffirm their support and commitment to justice for the survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.  

They announced their intention to appeal Judge Caroline Wall’s recent dismissal of Randle v. City of Tulsa, which was a complete reversal of her prior decision to let the case proceed. Michael reiterated that despite the shock and disappointment in the decision, the team was “not losing faith” and intends to “pursue the appeal vigorously.”  

Sara expressed the firm’s confidence in the appeal with the “law on our side,” imploring people to keep watching and paying attention to the case. 

Watch the press conference here. 

Schulte Roth & Zabel today joins local civil rights lawyer and Justice for Greenwood founder Damario Solomon-Simmons in reaffirming its commitment to achieve justice for the survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. On the evening of Friday, July 7, Judge Caroline Wall dismissed Randle v. City of Tulsa, backpedaling on her prior orders that permitted the last three survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre to proceed with their public nuisance litigation to seek justice for the continued harm caused by the Massacre.

Schulte Roth & Zabel and a legal team of civil and human rights attorneys sued local governments, the Oklahoma National Guard, and other officials on behalf of survivors of the Massacre, seeking to abate the ongoing nuisance caused by the white mob attack that attacked and decimated the 40-square-block prosperous, all-Black Greenwood community in Tulsa, leaving hundreds of Black residents dead and burning and looting thousands of homes and businesses.

“Judge Wall’s ruling is truly stunning,” said Michael Swartz, co-chair of Schulte’s Litigation Group and chair of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee. “After announcing over a year ago to a full courtroom, including the three living survivors of the Massacre, that the case could proceed—which she followed with a written order, Judge Wall reversed herself and dismissed the case with no explanation. That is a travesty of justice and undermines faith in the judicial system. At a minimum, the survivors, as well as the Greenwood community and other concerned citizens, deserved an explanation for the Court’s inexplicable about face but got none. We vow to persist and will continue our fight for justice.”

The lawsuit demanded that the City of Tulsa and other defendants fix the public nuisance of racial disparities, economic inequalities, insecurity and trauma that they caused by their destruction of the Black community of Greenwood in 1921, their continuing failure to rebuild the community and their audacity in seeking to reap benefits from their violent acts. Building on admissions from defendants and the City of Tulsa Mayor, as well as the testimony of living survivors of the Massacre, the complaint set forth the reality that the racial and economic disparities that exist in Tulsa’s Black community today can be traced to the 1921 race massacre.

“There is no semblance of justice or access to justice here,” said Mr. Solomon-Simmons. “Judge Wall joined a long line of judges who for over a century have quietly thrown can after can of gasoline on the fire that is still burning in Greenwood. And now, Judge Wall has condemned our clients – who are 109, 108 and 102 years old – to effectively languish to death on Oklahoma’s appellate docket. We will continue to fight on behalf of and alongside our Survivors and we will not rest until there is justice for Greenwood. This is not over.”

“Judge Wall’s order will not stop us from appealing or from continuing to tell the story of the Tulsa Race Massacre,” said McKenzie Haynes, Associate at Schulte Roth & Zabel. “The judge’s order was issued the same week that Oklahoma Superintendent Walters stated that the Tulsa Race Massacre was not about race – which is astoundingly false. Despite Tulsa’s and America’s attempt to silence, change, and gaslight the facts and truths of our collective racial history and trauma, we, the Survivors, and all those who believe in racial justice, will not sit quietly or passively to allow mistruths and injustice to persist.”

The Schulte team is led by Michael Swartz, partner Randall Adams, special counsel for pro bono initiatives Sara Solfanelli and McKenzie Haynes. The team also includes associates Ekenedilichukwu (Keni) Ukabiala, Erika Simonson, Victoria Harris and Melanie Collins.

The Washington Post quotes Schulte Roth & Zabel Special Counsel for Pro Bono Initiatives Sara Solfanelli in its coverage of Judge Caroline Wall’s decision to dismiss Randle v. City of Tulsa et. al., the groundbreaking lawsuit Schulte filed on behalf of the last living survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre to seek justice for the public nuisance caused by the Massacre.

Sara shared the legal team’s reaction that “Black Americans, especially Black Tulsans, carry the weight of intergenerational racial trauma day in and day out — a weight they cannot relinquish or cavalierly dismiss. The dismissal of this case is just one more example of how America’s, including Tulsa’s, legacy is disproportionately and unjustly borne by the Black community.”

Judge Wall’s decision to dismiss the case comes after a previous decision in 2022 to allow the case to continue. “Inexplicably, nearly one year after defendants filed another round of duplicative motions to dismiss the lawsuit and more than 2.5 years after the case was filed, Judge Wall threw the entire case out.”

Read the article here.

Schulte Roth & Zabel was named “Best Tax Provider” at the Hedgeweek European Digital Assets Awards 2023.

The annual awards recognize excellence among fund managers and service providers in the digital assets space. “Best Tax Provider” and other service provider categories are based on a widespread survey of more than 100 digital assets fund managers.

View the list of winners here.