McKool Smith principal Kyle Lonergan commented for the Law360's article, "Morgan Stanley Tells Court It Sold A Solvent Tops Markets." McKool Smith represents plaintiff Alan Halperin, litigation trustee of the Tops Holding Litigation Trust, which filed a complaint against Morgan Stanley and other defendants seeking to recover over $375 million in illegal dividends. The complaint alleges that the dividends made Tops, a regional grocery chain, insolvent and caused it to file for bankruptcy. At the hearing on defendants’ motion to dismiss before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain, Kyle argued against defendants’ contention that Tops was solvent when it paid the dividends. Kyle said, "There's no basis for defendants to quibble over the inclusion of the Teamster pension liability" in the solvency analysis of the company. In addition, he stated that Morgan Stanley was withholding information on the pension liabilities from the solvency experts used by Tops.
Along with Kyle Lonergan, Halperin is represented by Mike McKool, Lew LeClair, Joshua Newcomer, and James Smith. For more details, read the full article here.