KENT - Key Persons
Alex is a general commercial lawyer with over a decade of experience representing clients in commercial litigation, business divorces, employment, professional liability, real estate and transactional matters. He has served as lead counsel in a number of complex and high profile matters, and he successfully resolved claims on behalf of clients ranging from individuals, non-profit entities, and small businesses to multinational corporations. Alex has also served as outside general counsel to a wide variety of businesses and has helped guide them through critical phases of their lifecycle from formation to dissolution.
In addition to his general commercial practice, Alex has particular expertise in legal malpractice and other professional liability matters and has both defended and prosecuted dozens of such claims.
Alex has been recognized as a "Rising Star" in the area of business litigation by Super Lawyers Magazine every year since 2018.
Some of Alex's representative litigation matters while at KBG include:
Representing the sellers in the then-largest residential property transaction in the United States in a breach of contract action against The Corcoran Group relating to brokerage commissions purportedly due in connection with the sale. The clients won summary judgment after more than five years of litigation.
Representing a Czech businessman in a federal civil RICO action seeking more than $1 billion in damages in connection with an alleged conspiracy to secretly acquire a controlling share of a major luxembourg-based commercial real estate development company. The client won pre-answer dismissal in the SDNY.
Representing a Michelin-starred chef in litigation against his former partners in a restaurant venture. The client won a key summary judgment motion resulting in a favorable settlement.
Representing a manufacturer of beauty products in litigation related to a dispute over a licensing and celebrity endorsement deal with a global superstar.
Representing personal injury attorneys in connection with a high profile law firm dissolution and related litigation.
Representing a leading surgical group in connection with a AAA arbitration related to a partnership dispute with their former partners.
Alex was an associate at a major global law firm before transitioning to boutique practice. He received his law degree, magna cum laude, from Syracuse University College of Law. While in law school, Alex served as Executive Editor of the Syracuse Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif upon graduation. He also spent one year serving as a law clerk extern to the Hon. Frederick J. Scullin, Jr. of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York, and the Hon. Marian W. Payson of the U.S. District Court, Western District of New York. He is admitted to the New York Bar and the United States District Court for the Southern, Eastern, and Northern Districts of New York.
In addition to Alex's litigation practice, he also devotes substantial attention to issues in the sphere of hospitality law. For example, in September of 2022, Alex was a panelist for The New York Inn of Court's program "Wine & the Law II." The program served as both a CLE and a wine tasting, and featured a discussion of laws governing the production and marketing of wine around the world. Alex spoke about the three-tier system of alcohol distributions, emerging antitrust issues for wine and liquor distributors, and the inter-state shipment of wines.
Alex lives in Brooklyn Heights with his wife and two sons.
Job Titles:
- Bookkeeper
- Office Manager
- Support Staff Member
Andrew began his career as a letter of credit specialist and loan administrator at the Bank of Bermuda (New York) Ltd. (now HSBC Bank), handling both international and domestic transactions. Thereafter, he launched a new career as a professional opera singer, performing at major opera houses and concert halls both in the US and in Europe. Andrew recently returned to New York City and worked as a bookkeeper and Excel designer for various retail companies. Andrew holds a BA in Economics from Tufts University. He joined KB&G at the beginning of 2013.
Job Titles:
- Support Staff Member
- Paralegal and Receptionist
Clark attended Staten Island College and The Fashion Institute of Technology. He then worked in the fashion industry for 30 years, directing production for Carolina Herrera, Halston, Carmen Marc Volvo, Anna Sui and Zac Posen. Clark joined KB&G in 2014.
Job Titles:
- Attorney
- Member of the Hispanic National Bar Association
Dorichel is a member of the Hispanic National Bar Association, the Metropolitan Black Bar Association, the Dominican Bar Association, and the New York City Bar Association.
Biography
A founding partner of Kent, Beatty & Gordon thirty years ago, Harry has been practicing law for more than four decades. He began his career at a major New York-based firm and then spent eight years at Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc., ultimately as Corporate Counsel and assistant secretary. Since 2015, Harry has been named a Super Lawyer for Corporate and Commercial Law by New York Metro Super Lawyers.
At Seagram, Harry's responsibilities included legal matters affecting the consolidated Seagram group throughout the world, including structuring transactions and ventures, and handling SEC and treasury issues, employee relations and benefits, and real estate issues related to the landmarked Seagram Building and other Seagram properties.
Harry's practice today includes the structure, negotiation and closing of sophisticated transactions, including acquisitions, divestitures and ventures both international and national in scope. He has represented clients on diverse transactional matters in Central and South America, Europe and the Far East.
Harry has represented and continues to represent a number of enterprises in the beverage industry, including Davos Brands, an importer and distributor of alcohol beverage products, Clos de los Siete S.A., a Michel Rolland Argentine wine project, Royal Crown Cola, Virgin Cola (USA) and Premium Beverages (Seagram Mixers). He has extensive experience with wine and spirits companies, and for over twenty years has served as principal US counsel for Destileria Serrallés, Inc., the oldest rum producer in Puerto Rico. Harry also has extensive experience with banking and financial institutions, importers and exporters, and manufacturers and distributors, particularly in the packaging industry.
Most recently, Harry has focused his experience in establishing KB&G's Hemp Group, which offers wide-ranging commercial representation to leading hemp extract producers and purveyors of CBD oil and others in the hemp arena. Harry was a panelist at the International Cannabis Association Expo at the Javits Center in New York City in 2017. He also has visited hemp farms and laboratories in Northern Europe, and has worked on hemp product distribution agreements for Europe, Asia and South America.
Kent, Beatty & Gordon has been named the M&A Law Firm of the Year in New York since 2013 and the Contracts Law Firm of the Year in New York since 2014 by Corporate International Magazine, and the Best for Business Counseling New York for 2015 by AL Legal Awards.
Harry was chosen as the NY Business and Corporate Attorney of the Year in 2017 and 2018, and KBG was named NY M&A Law firm of the Year in 2016 - 2018 and NY Commercial and Arbitration Law Firm of the Year in 2017 and 2018 in the ACQ5 Global Awards.
Harry is a member of the Hemp Industries Association. He is a Trustee of Caldwell University in New Jersey. He also is an ordained Elder of the Presbyterian Church (USA), a former member of the permanent Judicial Commission of the Presbytery of Newark, and the former President, and a former Chairman of the Finance and the Stewardship Committees, of the First Presbyterian Church of Caldwell, in New Jersey. Harry is also a member of the Confrérie de la Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, a society devoted to excellence in all areas of the hospitality arts. At Harvard Law School, he was a member of the Board of Student Advisors, an honorary society that ran moot court and other competitions and mentored one-L students. For eight years beginning in 2008, he was an elected member of the Essex County, New Jersey, Republican Committee and Chairman of the municipal committee in his home town. He is a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and the American Bar Association, and is admitted to the New York Bar, and in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
Job Titles:
- Support Staff Member
- Paralegal and Receptionist
Harry attended the University of Florida, where he majored in Business Administration. After college, Harry moved to New York City and began a 40-plus year career on the Fixed Income side of Investment Banking, working for such companies as Salomon Brothers, what are now UBS and Wells Fargo and finally retiring from Deutsche Bank in 2012. Harry has been with the firm since 2013.
Job Titles:
- Managing Partner
- Chairman of the NY City Bar Association Hospitality Law Section
Jack is the Chairman of the NY City Bar Association Hospitality Law Section and a Fellow at The Culinary Institute of America, as well as a Board member of the Wine & Food Society of New York, where he serves as Executive Vice President and Events Chairman. He is also a Commandeur of The Commanderie de Bordeaux, a Knight of the Cavalieri del Tartufo e dei Vini di Alba, a Confrére of the Commanderie des Costes du Rhône, a board member of The Society of Wine Educators, a member of the Essex County Wine Society and the Essex Fells Area Wine Tasting Society, among others.
Jack is an avid oenophile, and his love of wine perfectly complements his hospitality practice.
Following a multi-day bench trial in the Southern District of New York, Jack Gordon and Josh Katz successfully obtained a judgment piercing the corporate veil and imposing personal liability on the controlling shareholder of a corporation that currently owes the firm's client more than $20 million.
With Jack Gordon and Alex Paradiso, Josh Katz prevailed before the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in a federal civil RICO action which sought more than $1 billion in damages arising from investments by two New York-based entities in a Luxembourg-based real estate development company. KBG, along with attorneys from several major law firms representing the other defendants, had successfully moved for dismissal before SDNY Judge Denise Cote, who granted the defendants' motions and dismissed the case in its entirety in September 2020. The Second Circuit affirmed Judge Cote's judgment. The Order can be found HERE.
Josh was lead trial counsel for firm client Greg Holland in a case against his former business partners involving claims for fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and unfair competition. Following a multi-day bench trial in the SDNY, the Honorable Kenneth M. Karas found in our client's favor on all of his claims, rejected all of the defendants' counterclaims, and awarded Mr. Holland a judgment of nearly $1 million. The judgment can be found HERE.
Biography
Landey began his career with Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison, LLP, specializing in federal securities law and mergers and acquisitions. In that capacity, he received extensive training in public and private offerings of debt and equity securities for companies engaged in a wide variety of industries.
Landey's next career stop was as General Counsel for the New York State Energy and Research Development Authority whose programs included industrial bond financing, site evaluation for nuclear power generation facilities, management of the nation's first nuclear waste storage facility, and sponsorship of a broad program of research into alternative energy sources and technologies.
Returning to the private sector, Landey joined a small general practice boutique where he subsequently became a partner and remained for over three decades. There, he continued to practice federal securities law (representing, among others, Benihana and Restaurant Associates) and acted as general counsel for many middle market companies engaged in manufacturing, distribution, consulting, publishing, and other industries handling financings, employment and vendor contracts, distributorship and partnership agreements and virtually all of the clients' day-to-day legal issues.
In 2016, Landey joined Tarter Krinsky & Drogin, LLP. While he continued to pursue a general practice, he began to focus on the hospitality industry, representing some of the more prominent chefs and restaurateurs operating in the greater New York area, including Will Guidara, Daniel Humm, Dan Kluger, Jeff Katz, James Kent, Gabriel Stulman and others.
In 2023, convinced that his hospitality practice was compatible with that of KBG's and that each would enhance the other's, he joined KBG. Landey is admitted in New York and is a member of The American Bar Association, The NY State Bar Association and The NY City Bar Association.
Maggie has extensive hands-on experience in diverse types of litigation, and in her practice at KBG she primarily focuses on commercial litigation. Maggie previously worked at two well-regarded law firms in New York, where she addressed many issues of first impression.
After graduating from the University of North Carolina School of Law, Maggie clerked for the Honorable J. Douglas McCullough of the North Carolina Court of Appeals. Prior to law school, she earned a Master of Education from Arizona State University and taught eighth grade science in Glendale, Arizona as a Teach for America corps member. Maggie also holds B.A.s in both Philosophy and Political Science from Duke University, where she served as Vice President of Duke Student Government.
Biography
A founding partner of Kent, Beatty & Gordon, Michael brings a rich, diverse background to his practice that includes real estate, commercial litigation and arbitration, business counseling and advice, as well as entertainment law.
Michael began his career almost forty years ago at a small, politically influential New York law firm. In 1981, he opened his own practice, which subsequently evolved into Kent, Beatty & Gordon, LLP. Over the years, Michael has served as litigation counsel in several high profile matters ranging from the Iran-United States Claim Tribunal to the first major sports agency scandal. More recently, Michael headed the internal investigation of a shooting incident involving a New York-based National Football League player.
Like the other partners of Kent, Beatty & Gordon, Michael's expertise lies in assisting clients in making difficult decisions - often outside of mainstream practice - and implementing the solutions. He is adept at identifying legal issues and practical considerations that often help his clients defuse controversial matters before they reach the courthouse - and the media.
Michael heads the firm's real estate practice, handling commercial and residential real estate matters, including conveyances, leasing, zoning and land use, financing and construction. He is a frequent lecturer and writer on real estate law, most recently authoring "Negotiating and Drafting Restaurant Leases," published in March of 2022 in the Lexis Practice Advisor Journal and through Law360. The article condenses Michael's decades of experience in this area and commercial leasing generally and can be found here: Restaurant Lease Agreements (MBK) Lexis Nexis March 2022.pdf. He is also the author of the Lexis Practice Advisor Journal Note entitled "Negotiating and Drafting Restaurant Leases" (2018).
Michael's entertainment practice is extensive, with a client list that includes prominent musicians, composers, managers and producers, among them several Grammy Award® and Academy Award® recipients.
He recently was appointed to the Advisory Board of Directors of Customers Bancorp whose subsidiary, Customer Bank, is an $11 billion state-chartered full service bank with branches and offices throughout the northeast.
Michael served as the Village Justice of Thomaston in Great Neck, New York for more than a decade, and as an adjunct professor of litigation studies at Long Island University and Mercy College.
Although proud of the many long-standing relationships he has maintained with the firm's clients, both individual and corporate, Michael remains dedicated to nurturing new client relationships.
He is a member of the New York State Magistrates Association, the American Judges Association, the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the Nassau County Bar Association and The American Bar Association. He is admitted to practice in New York and the District of Columbia, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, and in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Job Titles:
- of Counsel
- Firm As of Counsel
Biography
Michael Pepin joined the Firm as Of Counsel on April 1, 2019. Before joining KB&G, Michael spent over six years in the financial services industry as a regulatory compliance attorney at shops such as Natixis, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley, serving in key leadership and advisory roles. Michael has developed and managed the compliance programs of several multinational investment banks, with a focus on mitigating risks and adhering to regulatory standards. Prior to his career in compliance, Michael acquired valuable litigation experience as a contract attorney for some of the nation's largest law firms. Michael has also handled a vast array of real estate transactions and landlord-tenant matters.
For many years, his family has owned and operated well-known restaurants throughout New York City and New Jersey. While attending college and law school, Michael managed his family's restaurants and learned firsthand about the myriad legal issues faced by restaurateurs.
Michael is admitted to the New York and New Jersey Bars and the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York. He is an active member of the New York State Bar Association and New York City Bar Association, where he is also a member of the Hospitality Law Committee.
Job Titles:
- Paralegal and Receptionist
Tom holds a BA from Belmont Abbey College. He spent 25 years with Swiss Bank Corporation as an operations officer in the corporate lending department and 10 years with The Mizuho Corporate Bank as head of the Data Control Department. Tom has been with the firm since July of 2013.