Cases and Deals
Case

Blank Rome Secures Significant Victory for Rafael Etzion in Decade-Long Divorce Settlement

After nine years of litigation involving numerous appeals, Blank Rome’s litigation team secured a significant victory for Rafael Etzion, Metro Shipping and Warehousing, Inc., Metro K LLC, and Variety Accessories, Inc. The case has been publicized on the front page of the New York Law Journal, analyzed in CLE presentations, and is now considered a seminal case on the necessary level of disclosure in matrimonial disputes. 

The case arises out of the settlement of a divorce proceeding in which the plaintiff received approximately $13 million in cash and assets, while the defendant, Mr. Etzion, received the title to his business, including a commercial warehouse property in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Although a neutral appraiser had valued the property at $6.5 million, due to the rezoning of the Greenpoint area, Mr. Etzion sold the property a few months after the settlement for $85 million.

The plaintiff commenced an action alleging various theories of liability through which she sought approximately $40 million from the proceeds of the sale. Following the Appellate Division’s decision affirming the case’s dismissal, the plaintiff moved for leave to appeal to the Court of Appeals with the New York Woman’s Bar Association filing an amicus curiae brief in support. The Court of Appeals denied the plaintiff’s request, putting this near decade-long case to rest.