Ajamie LLP

Firm Details:

Managing Partner: Thomas R. Ajamie

Number of partners: 5

Number of lawyers: 11

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Firm Overview:

Ajamie LLP is a leading international litigation boutique with offices in Houston and New York. It has won over $1 billion in awards and settlements, one of a small number of elite law firms to have done so. The firm's cases and client base span the globe, ranging across the United States to countries as diverse as Argentina, England, Ecuador, Mexico, Indonesia, Switzerland, Thailand, Italy and others. Ajamie's litigators regularly handle a broad range of plaintiff-side and defense-side work.

Main Areas of Practice:

Complex Business Litigation & Arbitration:

Settled for $79 million a federal court class action lawsuit against Wells Fargo on behalf of its former financial advisors who were wrongfully forced to forfeit their deferred compensation when they left the company. This is the largest deferred executive compensation recovery in US history. First to uncover and report on convicted Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein’s crimes. Ajamie’s role has been featured in numerous news articles, as well as the joint PBS Frontline/BBC Panorama documentary “Weinstein: The Inside Story,” and in the New York Times bestseller She Said, by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey. Legal counsel to the Super Bowl LI Houston Host Committee providing a wide range of legal services for this multi-billion dollar event, including preventive litigation counseling, risk management, contract negotiation and liability prevention advice for the tens of thousands of workers involved in events leading up to and including the big game. Won a record $112 million jury award on a civil RICO Act claim on behalf of a Fortune 100 company against defendants who conspired to extort money from the company and tamper with trial witnesses. The jury’s verdict was the largest RICO verdict in Texas history, and the third largest in US history. Won a $12.2 million judgment, including full damages and all attorneys’ fees, on behalf of a multinational technology company against its former employees who conspired with others to engage in a false-invoice and bid-rigging scheme to defraud the company. Negotiated and drafted a structured multimillion dollar Mexico/USA cross-border settlement resolving over 40 civil proceedings including federal and state court proceedings in the United States, federal and state court proceedings in Mexico, and civil arbitration proceedings before CANACO in Mexico. Member of the legal team that recovered over $173.8 million for investors in the Cobalt International Energy, Inc. securities class action litigation. Clients alleged that the defendants violated the federal securities laws by, among other things, misstating and concealing facts on Cobalt’s partnership with Angolan government officials and the productivity of Cobalt’s Angolan oil and gas wells. Won a $429.5 million arbitration award, the largest NYSE award in history, against a former PaineWebber broker. The WSJ noted that the award was “roughly 10 times that of the next largest award.” Successfully sued Wells Fargo and won a seven-figure settlement in a case where some of its employees secretly diverted money from client accounts in California over two and one-half years. Member of the legal team that recovered a $70 million settlement from Securities America, Inc., the broker-dealer subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial, Inc., for investors who lost money in the Medical Capital Ponzi scheme. Won a $14.5 million arbitration award on behalf of a New York family against Prudential Equity Group over the course of 84 hearing sessions occurring at the New York Stock Exchange. According to The Wall Street Journal, the award is the third largest award to be handed out by an arbitration panel at the NYSE.

International Work:

Ajamie has a recognized national and international practice and a reputation for winning transnational commercial disputes for national and international clients. The firm’s litigation and arbitration practice frequently involves asserting claims on behalf of, or against, parties outside the United States. This international focus has given Ajamie’s lawyers valuable experience in communicating and applying legal concepts from multiple legal systems, locating documents and conducting transnational discovery and determining how best to translate, authenticate and introduce foreign corporate and government records in a way that is understandable and persuasive to the judge, jury, or arbitration panel.

Practice Areas and Offices:

Complex Commercial Litigation, Securities Litigation, Financial Services Litigation, Business Contract Litigation, Civil Antitrust Litigation, ERISA Class Actions, Civil RICO Litigation, Commercial Arbitration and International Arbitration.

Offices:

Houston, TX: Pennzoil Place - South Tower, 711 Louisiana, Suite 2150, 77002

New York, NY: 110 East 59th Street, Suite 3200, 10022

Tel: 713-860-1600

Fax: 713-860-1699

Email: [email protected]