Ivan Blejec

Mr. Blejec is a Member of the Firm and will also act as the Administrative Partner, supervising and assisting with the Firm's administrative functions.

Mr. Blejec has a national and international transactional litigation practice including proceedings before numerous US federal and state courts and arbitral panels, mediation and alternative dispute entities, and administrative agencies. During his career, Ivan has worked on various commercial and business disputes, including several "save the company cases". These disputes have occurred throughout the US and involved proceedings in or arising under the laws of such foreign nations as the United Kingdom, the Russian Federation, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Sweden. These matters required close cooperation with domestic and foreign counsel and, in many cases, actual direction and supervision of counsel. Ivan's experience encompasses a broad range of commercial matters and business disputes, including extensive contract and general commercial litigation, intellectual property, libel defense and first amendment law, bankruptcy litigation and workouts, employment issues arising under various civil rights laws and trusts and estates.

Mr. Blejec has frequently been asked by his clients to supply transactional advice and counsel, and to suggest approaches concerning various aspects of their respective businesses, including issues such as optimal corporate structure, risk management, and various transactions involving licenses, employment contracts and compensation, securing trade secrets, defamation review, conflicts of interest and business settlements.

Mr. Blejec has been involved in a wide variety of matters during his career and his body of work includes:

Successful resolution of a litigation in the Southern District of New York relating to the key patents concerning digital logging and computer systems worldwide, on behalf of Mercom Systems, Inc. in its dispute with Dictaphone Corporation and its successors.
Securing a settlement against a Russian Federation domestic oil corporation pursuant to enforcement of several Swedish Arbitral Awards sought in the courts of London, and Federal courts in Houston, Texas, and New York City.
Successful defense at trial of a $25 million tortious interference lawsuit trial in the Southern District of New York, affirmed by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, in connection with the purchase of a UK company by one of the subsidiaries of Ultralife Batteries Inc.
Successful negotiation and settlement of various insurance coverage claims brought by Ultralife Batteries Inc. against insurance companies and brokers both in the US and the UK, concerning the partial destruction of one of Ultralife's facilities in the UK.
Obtained a dismissal in the Southern District of New York of a $20 million law suit against one of its long standing UK corporate clients in connection with termination of operations and contracts and sale of its US operations.
Successful disposition of various Title VII matters on behalf of several corporate clients and their employees.
Resolutions of various matters concerning alleged breaches of fiduciary duty, lenders liability, legal malpractice of law firms, as well as corporate dissolutions arising under State and Federal laws.
Working with Texas lead counsel, participated in the successful invocation and application of Islamic Sharia Law in Texas State Supreme Court in connection with the court's dismissal of a $15 billion tortious interference lawsuit concerning the rights to build a $2 billion natural gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to Pakistan.
Working with Texas lead counsel, participated in the successful representation of the Union Pacific Railroad in an Lanham Act action preventing the use of Union Pacific trademarks and trade dress in a rock video.

During his career, Ivan has successfully argued three appeals before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Mr. Blejec began his practice at the law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore between 1985 and 1989, where he was involved in a wide variety of matters for such clients as IBM, PepsiCo, PaineWebber and BAT in such varied areas as contracts, intellectual property, securities, mergers and acquisitions, antitrust and insurance coverage. He was in private practice in New York between 1989 - 2009.

Admissions and Qualifications:
New York State Bar
State Bar of Texas
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas

Education:
Harpur College, State University of New York at Binghamton (B.A., 1981)
New York University School of Law (J. D., 1985)

Professional Affiliations:
Federal Bar Council
Libel Defense Resource Center, Defense Counsel Section
New York State Bar Association, Commercial and Federal Litigation Section