Seth Kruglak
Partner
Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP
Related services and key industries
Biography
Seth Kruglak is a Partner in Norton Rose Fulbright's New York office, where his practice focuses on litigating significant disputes and representing clients in complex investigations. He also advises clients in connection with the impact of securities and other regulations in the ESG and climate change fields.
Seth has obtained winning jury verdicts and brought investigations and matters to successful resolution for a wide range of clients, including major corporations, banks, insurers, utilities, private equity funds, government officials and individuals. He also has experience in international and domestic arbitrations.
Seth has handled a wide variety of matters, including complex commercial and corporate disputes, securities, financial services, private equity, oil and gas, insurance, class actions, commodities, project finance, RICO, antitrust, intellectual property, products liability, civil rights and matters of national security.
Seth clerked for the Honorable Stanley Marcus, United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, and was a Senior Editor of the Columbia Law Review.
Professional experience
Collapse allJD, Columbia Law School; Senior Editor, Columbia Law Review; Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, 2003
BA, summa cum laude, University of Pennsylvania, 2000
- New York State Bar
Financial Institutions, Securities and Insurance Matters
- Tried litigation brought by Starr Indemnity & Liability Company against third party claims administrator to jury verdict in the Southern District of New York, winning multi-million dollar judgment for tort and contract claims and an award of punitive damages from the jury.
- Defended major bank in connection with inquiry and hearing by the United States Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations regarding the activities of bank holding companies in connection with physical commodities.
- Defended large issuer in enforcement action brought by the SEC in the Southern District of New York alleging violations of Regulation FD.
- Defended major reinsurer in confidential arbitration concerning product defects.
- Advised global financial institutions in connection with US securities laws arising from ESG and climate change matters.
- Represented putative class of holders of structured finance securities insured by MBIA in a Southern District of New York litigation alleging MBIA's corporate restructuring constituted a US$5+ billion fraudulent conveyance and breached the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.
- Defended certain officers of Lehman Brothers in securities fraud suit in the Southern District of New York arising from Lehman's exposure to real estate, mortgage-backed securities and mortgages.
- Defended JP Morgan, Bear Stearns and EMC Mortgage Corporation in breach of contract and fraud litigations brought in New York by monoline financial guaranty insurers in connection with securitizing residential mortgage loans.
- Defended insurance companies against claims of aiding and abetting breaches of fiduciary duty and waste in high profile dispute in Delaware Chancery Court.
- Represent private equity fund in connection with litigation arising out of foreclosure of interests in wind farm project in Alameda County, California.
- Represented "winning investor" in alleged Ponzi scheme in connection with the SEC and CFTC's opposition to the investor's settlement of potential clawback litigation in the Southern District of New York.
- Represented private equity funds seeking relief against former members and defaulting limited partners.
- Represented banks in connection with consumer finance litigation.
Energy Matters
- Represented Oil Basins Ltd (Bermuda) in successful international arbitration and rehearing against major oil and gas producers to recover substantial overriding royalty payments on oil and gas produced offshore Victoria, Australia subject to the Weeks Royalty.
- Defended former CEO of major energy company in connection with highest profile criminal Sherman Act investigation and indictment brought by the Department of Justice against an individual in decades.
- Represented New Brunswick Power (Canada) in breach of long-term fuel supply agreement dispute with Venezuelan national oil company Petróleos de Venezuela before the Southern District of New York and Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
- Defended anchor line manufacturer in US$100+ million suit in the Southern District of Texas alleging defective anchor lines caused oil drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico to break free during Hurricane Ike.
- Advised Macquarie Infrastructure Partners and Cleco Corporate Holdings LLC, a subsidiary of Macquarie, on Cleco's US$1 billion purchase of NRG South Central Generating LLC assets in Louisiana and Texas.
- Advised corporations and banks in connection with project finance transactions and regulatory matters.
- Representing solar and wind project companies in suits filed in the Court of Federal Claims seeking recovery of shortfalls in cash grant payments paid by the Department of the Treasury under Section 1603 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Additional Complex Disputes and Investigations
- Defended Princeton University in suit seeking return of Robertson Foundation endowment and other spending by Princeton exceeding US$950 million.
- Pursued federal RICO and antitrust matter arising from alleged bribery in connection with television broadcasting of prestigious South American soccer tournaments.
- Represented off-shore investor in connection with real estate dispute arising from impact of Covid-19 on multi-purpose sports arena.
- Represented foreign parties seeking recognition and enforcement of nearly $40 million in Singapore international arbitration awards in proceedings commenced in the Southern District of New York, in addition to domestic parties seeking confirmation of domestic arbitration awards.
- Represented clients in connection with Department of Justice investigations involving the False Claims Act, the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and related civil litigations.
- Conducted internal investigations in response to criminal and civil government investigations.
- Defended individual subject to civil health care fraud judgment in California in connection with post-trial motions for relief.
- Defended corporations alleged to have violated the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Governmental Entities and Officials
- Assumed defense of Governor George Pataki on the eve of a nearly month-long jury trial in the Southern District of New York brought by convicted violent sex offenders alleging due process violations and related claims against the Governor and other New York government officials; jury returned verdict finding no liability for the Governor.
- Represented federal, state and local legislators as amici curiae in the Southern District of New York and Second Circuit Court of Appeals to support the City of New York and NYPD's defense of constitutional challenges to anti-terror subway security programs
- Represented City of New York and NYPD in connection with mass arrest suits in the Southern District of New York.
- New York Metro Rising Star, Business litigation and Securities litigation, Thomson Reuters, 2013 - 2018
- Under 40 Hot List, Benchmark Litigation, Euromoney PLC, 2018 - 2019
- Senior Editor, Columbia Law Review; Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, Columbia Law School
- Co-author, "Terror Funding Suit Could Affect Inherited Jurisdiction In NY", Law360, August 2023
- Co-author, "US Supreme Court rules litigation is automatically stayed pending appeal of denial of motion to compel arbitration", Client Alert, June 2023
- Co-author, "'Baby Shark' Case May Clarify Foreign Party Service Via Email," Law360, March 29, 2023
- Co-author, "2nd Circ. Ruling May Affect NY Personal Jurisdiction Defenses," Law360, December 7, 2022
- Co-author, "SEC and CFTC considerations regarding carbon credits and ESG disclosures," Norton Rose Fulbright Legal Update, November 2021
- Co-author, "SEC targets climate change disclosures," Norton Rose Fulbright's Financial Services: Regulation Tomorrow Blog, September 29, 2021
- Co-author, "Climate Change and Sustainability Disputes: Securities Litigation," Norton Rose Fulbright Legal Update, July 2021
- Co-author, "House Passes Bill Directing Disclosure of ESG Metrics," Norton Rose Fulbright's Financial Services: Regulation Tomorrow Blog, June 17, 2021
- "NY Contract Litigation Indicates Limits Of COVID-19 Defenses," Law360, November 25, 2020
- "2 Key NY Law Considerations For COVID-19 Contract Disputes," Law360, May 13, 2020
- "Mitigating the risk of coronavirus securities litigation in the US: Steps to take now," Norton Rose Fulbright Legal Update, March 18, 2020
- "Directors and officers face increased liability risk due to climate change," Law360, March 16, 2020
- "US federal court holds unsponsored ADRs may be subject to US securities laws," Norton Rose Fulbright Securities litigation and enforcement, February 24, 2020
- "The Delaware Supreme Court clarifies the standards for director oversight liability under Caremark," Norton Rose Fulbright Legal Update, June 26, 2020
- "US Supreme Court expands potential liability for securities fraud," Norton Rose Fulbright Securities litigation and enforcement, April 2, 2019
- "US reporting companies must disclose Brexit risks," Norton Rose Fulbright Financial services and regulation, April 1, 2019
- "Brexit Risk-Disclosure Considerations For US Reporting Cos.," Law360, March 28, 2019
- "Tenth Circuit Holds SEC Can Apply Antifraud Provisions Extraterritorially in Certain Situations," Norton Rose Fulbright Securities litigation and enforcement, March 1, 2019
- "US courts retreat from applying major federal statutes to extraterritorial activity," Norton Rose Fulbright Corporate and commercial disputes review, Issue 7, December 2018
- "Copy and paste securities fraud? The US Supreme Court to decide," Norton Rose Fulbright Legal Update, July 18, 2018
- "Supreme Court Limits Disgorgement in SEC Enforcement Actions With a Five-Year Statute Of Limitations," Client Alert, June 13, 2017
- "Supreme Court Confirms that Tips to Trading Relatives or Friends Violate Insider Trading Laws," Client Alert, December 15, 2016
- "Supreme Court Limits Section 11 Liability for Statements of Opinion," Capital Markets NewsWire, Summer 2015
- "Supreme Court Limits—But Does Not Foreclose—Section 11 Liability for Statements of Opinion, Leaving Investors With a Steep Climb," Client Alert, March 30, 2015
- "Notes from the Bench," Capital Markets NewsWire, Winter 2014
- "Supreme Court Reaffirms Basic's Fraud-on-the-Market Presumption, but Holds Defendants Can Challenge Price Impact of Misrepresentations Prior to Certifying a Securities Fraud Class Action," Client Alert, July 8, 2014
- "Keeping Current: Supreme Court Holds Proof of Materiality Not Required to Certify a Securities Fraud Class Action," Business Law Today, April 2013
- "Supreme Court Holds Proof of Materiality Not Required to Certify a Securities Fraud Class Action," Client Alert, March 11, 2013
- "ESG Regulation: Global Themes and What's On the Horizon," Global webinar presentation, November 17, 2021
- "Top Business Cases, Including COVID-19 Litigation," Business Litigation Trends Regional Summit, June 10, 2021
- "Mitigating Risk of Securities Litigations," Webinar presentation: A twofold challenge to the energy industry: COVID-19 and low commodity prices, March 19, 2020
- "Top Business Cases of 2019," Norton Rose Fulbright Business Litigation Summit, January 29, 2020
- "Global perspectives: Four key cases for financial institutions for 2019," Norton Rose Fulbright Webinar, November 21, 2019
- "Top Business Cases of 2018: New York State and Federal Courts," Norton Rose Fulbright Business Litigation Summit, November 14, 2018
- Judicial Clerk, Honorable Stanley Marcus, US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, 2003-2004
- Member, Second Circuit Courts Committee, Federal Bar Council
Insights
SCOTUS: Litigation stayed pending appeal of denial of motion to compel arbitration
Publication | June 27, 2023
US Second Circuit limits jurisdictional reach over foreign banks
Publication | August 16, 2022
US SEC prevented from expanding fraudulent scheme liability
Publication | August 12, 2022