International Section

Howard Fischer

Partner, Moses Singer

Howard Fischer has extensive experience in trying complex financial disputes. As a former Senior Trial Counsel at the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), he was entrusted with some of the most sophisticated and noteworthy cases that the federal government prosecuted in the last decade. During his nine year tenure at the SEC, he earned multiple awards for exemplary service and served as first chair for numerous trials. This included acting as lead counsel in the litigation against Wing Chau and Harding Advisory LLC – relating to CDO asset selection in the run-up to the financial crisis – resulting in a major conviction against one of the characters lampooned in the film “The Big Short.” Howard was also the lead trial counsel in the prosecution of Kareem Serageldin, another figure referenced in “The Big Short”, involving the mismarking of certain mortgage-backed assets, by Credit Suisse, in the wake of the financial crisis. Howard also led the SEC litigation involving the infamous London Whale, arising from JPMorgan Chase traders incurring multi-billion dollar losses in its credit derivatives book. This case involved many years of discovery on several continents, including several multi-week depositions. Howard was lead trial counsel for the successful litigation against the former management of Dewey & Leboeuf arising from the firm’s collapse, an insider trading case against the assistant to one of Disney Corporation’s highest ranking executives, and numerous multi-million dollar litigations against asset managers and investment advisers. Before leaving the SEC for his return to private practice, Howard secured a $20 million judgment against the former manager of a private equity fund who concocted a scheme to divert millions of investors’ funds through a series of fake “due diligence” expenditures, as well as multi-million dollar judgments against participants in a long-term, multi-issuer fraudulent offering. Howard has significant experience in the insurance and reinsurance spheres. Among other matters, he acted as lead co-ordinating counsel for a series of litigations involving insured and reinsured film financing, including as lead trial counsel. He represented the President and Chief Operating Officer of a major insurance company in a multi-billion dollar class action, winning a total dismissal of all counts. Howard also represented insurance executives in various SEC and DOJ investigations, and defended insurance companies in both sales practice and claims handling class actions. For several years, he served as Co-Chair of the Insurance/Reinsurance Committee of the International Section, NYSBA, and has made multiple presentations on insurance topics, both in the US and abroad at international conferences. Howard’s legal knowledge involving complex financial instruments and matters, including CDOs and other asset-backed instruments, credit derivatives and credit derivative indices, was developed and honed by handling a variety of sophisticated cases. This has included numerous types of accounting fraud, instances of compliance failures by market participants, and violations of securities laws and regulations involving banks, hedge funds, private equity funds, mutual funds, investment advisers and broker-dealers. Additionally, he has developed close relationships with a wide range of federal and state law enforcement and regulatory authorities, including the Department of Justice, various US Attorney’s Offices, state and local criminal enforcement authorities, as well as self-regulatory organizations like the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) and the New York Stock Exchange. Howard is recognized as a leading expert on securities disputes, enforcement proceedings, and securities regulations, including related to digital assets. He can be seen regularly on Bloomberg News, CNBC, Yahoo! Finance, CoinDesk News and other media outlets. He publishes frequently and his articles can be found in Barron’s, The Financial Times, Bloomberg Law, ThomsonReuters, Law360, and other sources as well. In addition to being extensively published and interviewed by various media outlets, he is seen as a trusted source by publications ranging from the New York Times, The Guardian, CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg, Grid News, Axios, and others. Among the topics on which he is frequently consulted by the media include Supreme Court decisions, securities rules and regulations, litigation trends, data security and other topics. He has lectured in the United States, Europe and Asia on subjects ranging from accounting fraud, securities enforcement actions, arbitration techniques and the lingering effects of the financial crisis. Prior to working at the SEC, Howard served as a partner at Schindler, Cohen & Hochman LLP (“SC&H”), a securities and complex litigation boutique. During his time at SC&H, Howard first-chaired a number of litigations and arbitrations involving financial products, including disputes over the reinsurance of film finance products, hedge fund litigation and numerous securities arbitrations before FINRA and the NYSE for companies such as UBS, Goldman Sachs, Lazard Asset Management, General Reinsurance Corp. and others. Among other litigation victories, he won numerous arbitrations for several financial services firms. In addition to his substantial experience in financial services, Previously, he was an associate in the litigation departments of Debevoise & Plimpton and Rosenman & Colin. He had also been a federal law clerk to Judge Constance Baker Motley, in the District Court for the Southern District of New York, and Judges Carmen Cerezo and Gilberto Gierbolini Ortiz in the District Court of Puerto Rico. He is a graduate of Columbia Law School (1992), where he was a member of the Columbia Law Review, and received his undergraduate degree, cum laude, from Yale (1988), where he majored in philosophy. Howard has written and lectured extensively on issues relating to litigation, arbitration, securities and government enforcement. He has spoken before national and international bar associations in the United States, Europe and Asia, as well as at law schools.

Daniel L. (D.L.) Morris

Partner, Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

Chicago, IL & New York, NY

D.L. Morriss concentrates his practice on the representation and defense of regional and Fortune 500 financial institutions in commercial litigation claims involving tort, contract and statutory violations involving complex commercial foreclosure, guaranty and loan liability actions, as well as post-judgment collections. He also has handled matters involving UCC litigation, contract disputes and bankruptcy and creditors’ rights. D.L. also regularly represents companies in general litigation matters, such as commercial landlords and tenants in property management disputes; and national loan servicers in workout matters. His professional liability practice includes the defense of accountants and accounting firms, and also lawyers and law firms in their professional liability matters. He also handles director and officer liability claims. In addition to his practice, D.L. serves as the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Partner of Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP. He is also a member of the firm’s Executive Committee, Associate Hiring Committee, and Hinshaw University’s Planning Committee. In 2015, D.L. was selected as a participant for the Leadership Greater Chicago Class of 2016 Fellowship. In 2013, he was selected as a participant for the Chicago Committee’s inaugural “Rate My Pitch” program. Professional Background D.L. joined Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP as an associate in September 2008. Previously he was a summer associate with the firm during the summer of 2007 and a law clerk since September 2007. In addition to clerking at Hinshaw, D.L. was a law clerk for one year with the Office of the General Counsel at DePaul University. Among his law school achievements, D.L. was a member of the Black Law Student Association and a recipient of a CALI Award for Judicial & Scholarly Writing. During his undergraduate studies, he was a teaching assistant in the areas of social and cross-cultural psychology. He was also the President of the William Osborne Society of Wheaton College from 2002 to 2003.

Mariana Eguiarte-Morret Esq.

J&A Garrigues, S.L.P.

Mariana has more than 15 years of experience and is licensed to practice law in both Mexico and the state of New York, USA. Her practice is focused primarily on national and international corporate tax. She has expertise in a variety of tax areas such as M&A, corporate restructuring, transfer pricing and legal audits. Her experience includes handling audits by the tax inspectors and implementing legal defense strategies in proceedings before the tax authorities and the courts. She has advised national and multinational clients from different sectors, including real estate, energy, hospitality, automotive, retail and air transportation.

Mohamed F. Sweify

Counsel, Whiteford Law

New York City, New York

Mr. Sweify is an international arbitration practitioner and New York litigator, with more than a decade and a half of experience representing clients in international arbitration, complex litigation and alternative dispute resolution involving complex domestic, cross-border and international transactions. A bilingual, dual-qualified attorney in both common and civil law jurisdictions, his international arbitration practice is global in scope, with particular emphasis on disputes connected to the Middle East and Africa.

Mr. Sweify has represented and advised several corporations and individuals in commercial arbitrations before tribunals seated in different jurisdictions in arbitration proceedings administered under the auspices of the AAA/ICDR (USA), the ICC (France), JAMS (USA), the LCIA (UK), the SCCA (Saudi), DIAC (Dubai/UAE), CRCICA (Egypt), the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, and subject to different governing laws in the U.S., Europe, and the Arab Middle East. He has also advised and represented clients in investor-state disputes before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), including advising on third-party funding arrangements for ICSID claims. His arbitration-related court work encompasses parallel proceedings, anti-suit injunctions, international discovery, attachment of assets, and the annulment and enforcement of arbitral awards.

Beyond his role as counsel, Mr. Sweify serves as a sole, party-appointed, and presiding arbitrator in complex commercial disputes under major arbitral rules, applying a diverse array of governing laws, including the laws of Delaware, New York, California, England and Wales, Egypt, Saudi, UAE, Kuwait, U.S. federal laws and others.

Mr. Sweify’ s practice spans a wide range of sectors and practices, including commercial, financial and investment disputes; construction, engineering and infrastructure; banking and finance; creditor-debtor relationships; oil and gas; energy and mining; environment; private equity and private funds; telecommunications and technology, including interconnection and access agreements, and fair competition; hospitality and hotel management; exclusivity, non-compete and confidentiality covenants; intellectual property; securities; shareholder and partnership; joint ventures; lenders-related disputes; mortgage-servicing relations; Islamic financial laws; data privacy and AI; foreign direct investments; state instrumentalities; cybersecurity; fintech and e-commerce platforms; cryptocurrency and digital assets; mergers & acquisitions; real estate and property development projects; and insurance and reinsurance. He regularly appears before U.S. federal and state courts, including New York appellate courts. Early in his career, Mr. Sweify served as a judicial extern at the New York Court of Appeals, the highest court in the State of New York.

Mr. Sweify lectures on law at Fordham Law School and other U.S. universities. He has an extensive list of publication in international arbitration, including an internationally acclaimed book on “Third Party Funding in International Arbitration,” which has become a seminal reference in the international arbitration field. He previously served as a public prosecutor in Egypt, where he handled high-profile governmental corruption and white-collar crime investigations.

Mr. Sweify is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb). He has been appointed as a Delegate of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and is considered one of the youngest arbitrators in the history of the AAA/ICDR to be listed on the AAA/ICDR National Roster of Arbitrators. Currently, Mr. Sweify serves as the Secretary General of the International Section of the New York State Bar Association.