Hogan Lovells obtains appellate decision affirming dismissal of action against CPI Property Group

In its opinion, the Appellate Division affirmed an earlier ruling that the plaintiff, Kingstown Capital Management, L.P., had failed to establish personal jurisdiction under New York's long-arm statute.

The dismissal is the latest victory on behalf of our clients in a long running series of contentious cases brought by Kingstown Capital stemming from its interest in ORCO, a Luxemburg-based real estate development company. 

Kingstown Capital had alleged that Vitek obtained a minority stake in  ORCO, restructured it to form CPI, and through fraudulent transactions forced Kingstown to sell its shares at a loss. Kingstown brought its original suit against Vitek and CPI in the Southern District of New York, seeking in excess of $1 billion in damages. 

At the time the lawsuit was filed, CPI issued a press release stating that the plaintiffs had acted improperly in filing the federal action. In 2020, a team from Hogan Lovells won dismissal of that lawsuit, and the court issued an opinion characterizing Kingstown’s choice of New York for the lawsuit as forum shopping. 

However, Kingstown then brought suit against CPI and Vitek for issuing the aforementioned press release, alleging defamation, which the Supreme Court, New York County, dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction. 

The Hogan Lovells team was led by partners Seth M. Cohen and Michael C. Hefter, senior associate Andrew Harris, and law clerk Danielle Flanagan (all New York).

The decision by the Appellate Division is here. 

More information about the earlier litigation in this case is here.