Asset Recovery and Judgment Enforcement: A Focus on 2024 Trends in the US and UK

Steve's success in worldwide enforcement of court judgments and arbitral awards, including provisional and pre-judgment remedies, has been heralded in several prestigious publications. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Steve Coll described Steve in his New York Times bestselling book Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power as "one of the world’s leading specialists in the art of seizing and liquidating assets on behalf of large, aggrieved companies." In connection with his work on behalf of ExxonMobil against Venezuela, Mr. Coll wrote: "For the Steptoe attorneys the late-December Friday afternoon seizure of $300 million belonging to Hugo Chavez's government was like hitting a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth before a full house at Yankee Stadium."

Michael Baratz focuses on all aspects of commercial litigation, arbitration, and mediation, as well as judgment enforcement, including many matters with a cross-border emphasis. Michael represents clients in connection with their efforts to obtain recognition and enforcement of judgments and arbitral awards in courts around the world, and in seeking pre-judgment remedies in these matters.

Michael was a key member of the Steptoe team that represented ExxonMobil in connection with its worldwide effort to obtain compensation from PDVSA, the state-owned oil company of Venezuela, and its subsidiaries following Venezuela’s expropriation without compensation of an ExxonMobil subsidiary’s rights and interests in joint venture. The Steptoe team obtained a series of pre-award, attachment and freezing orders world-wide, including attaching over $300 million in cash in a proceeding in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Molly Bruder Fox partners with clients to successfully manage high-stakes litigation, arbitration and regulatory matters in a number of industries including railroad, financial services, telecommunications, and oil and gas. She has particular experience navigating the intersection of business disputes with regulatory obligations.

Molly often represents companies before arbitration tribunals, including the American Arbitration Association (AAA), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), and several ad hoc arbitrations.

Molly also advises clients regarding strategies for taking advantage of available legal protections when conducting business with foreign sovereigns and their agencies. She has experience obtaining provisional remedies in aid of arbitration and in the course of post-judgment enforcement, as well as seeking judicial recognition and enforcement of judgments and arbitral awards in courts in the US and around the world.