Jennifer McDougall’s practice primarily focuses on commercial real estate, securities, and complex financial products litigation, where she represents both plaintiffs and defendants in state and federal courts at the trial and appellate levels, as well as in arbitrations. She also has experience in matters involving creditors’ rights and bankruptcy. Jennifer has a successful track record of recovering or defending against claims for hundreds of millions of dollars for the firm’s clients.
Jennifer’s clients include some of the largest real estate developers, hotel owners and developers, and real estate and hospitality companies in the country, including JDS Development, Aman Resorts, OKO Group, and Hudson Realty Capital. Jennifer also works with Kasowitz’s Real Estate Transactions group to counsel clients concerning the litigation implications of their agreements.
Jennifer has been recognized as a Rising Star by Legal Media Group: Expert Guides in the areas of Litigation and Real Estate, and as a Rising Star by Crain’s New York Business, a list that celebrates real estate professionals for their professional achievements and their involvement in community and industry organizations. She has also been named a Leading Lady by Real Estate Weekly and a 2021 Woman Worth Watching by Diversity Journal.
Jennifer also devotes her time to pro bono work. She leads Kasowitz’s efforts in providing pro bono representation to marginalized and vulnerable Westchester residents through a partnership with the Legal Services of the Hudson Valley. Jennifer has represented a number of Westchester’s most vulnerable families in eviction and foreclosure cases, preventing them from losing their homes.
Work Highlights
- 111 West 57th Property Owner LLC in prevailing at the trial court and on appeal at the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, which unanimously dismissed claims of breaches of fiduciary duty and constructive trust involving the 90-story luxury condominium located at 111 West 57th Street in Manhattan, brought by AmBase, a former indirect equity investor in the project. The panel also affirmed the cancellation of a lis pendens filed against the property.
- TPG, one of the world’s largest private equity firms, in a variety of matters, including in litigation related to a Greek telecommunications company.
- Hudson Realty Capital in a case involving misconduct in a planned 1,000-acre real estate development in Apex, North Carolina. After filing a complaint against C. Thomas Hendrickson, and numerous entities under his control, seeking redress for their misconduct, we successfully defeated defendants’ motion to move the case to North Carolina. We also defeated defendants’ motion to dismiss in its entirety.
- JDS Development in the dismissal of state and federal RICO claims against the developer related to a large residential project in Manhattan, upheld by the Second Circuit.
- JDS Development in a series of lawsuits filed against it by joint venture partners alleging breach of contract, fraud and breach of fiduciary duty arising from alleged financial wrongdoing and self-dealing in JDS’s acquisition and development of a luxury residential property in Brooklyn, New York, alleging damages in excess of $50 million.
- Robert Rosania, head of Maximus Real Estate Partners, in successfully obtaining the dismissal of claims against Mr. Rosania in a long-running dispute between partners in a large, multi-billion commercial real estate portfolio.
- Parkmerced Investors in a $150 million lawsuit against WeWork for breach of contract relating to a planned investment in Parkmerced’s San Francisco apartment complex, one of the largest privately owned developments in the United States.
- Majority owner of Aman Resorts, a luxury hotel group with locations in 15 countries, in a dispute relating to the acquisition of the company.
- OKO Group, an international real estate development firm created by Vladislay Doronin, owner and chairman of Aman Resorts, in various disputes related to the conversion of the historic Crown Building on 5th Avenue in Manhattan into private residences and an Aman Resort-branded hotel.
- Aman Resorts in various disputes, including in a California Federal ADA-related class action.
- A leading Russian industrial conglomerate pursuing securities fraud claims for insider trading and market manipulation against Morgan Stanley stemming from the liquidation of a more than $1 billion dollar stake in a Canadian auto parts manufacturer.
- International financial institutions seeking to recover more than $3.5 billion procured in breach of lending agreements involving variable funding notes.
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