Providing high quality, innovative, practical solutions

Complex Commercial Litigation

  • Shareholder dispute litigation
  • Directors and officers liability
  • Partnership rights
  • Cross-border litigation
  • Antitrust litigation
  • Commercial disputes
  • Commercial Class actions

The law firm of Sinay Elias & Co. is one of Israel’s leading boutique law firms managing complex commercial litigation. The firm’s attorneys hold unique knowledge and significant experience in representing clients before a wide variety of legal instances, both in Israel and overseas.

In this framework, the firm provides its clients with comprehensive representation in large-scoped, complex commercial litigation cases, supplying an array of solutions to all issues arising from these matters, requiring experience, expertise and special skills from the representing firm. These situations include:

  • High-risk disputes
  • Multiple parties
  • Large-scoped financial cases
  • Lengthy legal proceedings
  • Precedential legal questions
  • Cross-border litigation cases managed in several different jurisdictions

Throughout its years of activity, the law firm of Sinay Elias & Co. has gained copious proven legal accomplishments in complex, large-scale cases of high profile, in which it has reached optimal outcomes, as well as being involved in the creation of precedential rulings and ground-breaking decisions. The experience accumulated over the years by the firm in these cases, have equipped it with a high level of expertise and proficiency, which alongside a high level of professionalism and precision in management of every legal case, allow the firm to lead its clients to significant accomplishments.

The firm’s litigation practice is led by Adv. Sinay Elias, head of the firm, which holds 20 years of rich experience in managing commercial litigation cases, and is involved personally in each and every case.

Shareholder dispute litigation
A shareholder’s dispute is a legal dispute between shareholders in corporation with regard to thier rights and obligations. While the nature of the dispute varies from case to case, it is always crucial that such disputes are solved quickly and efficiently, in order to avoid causing any damage to the business and its operation.
The law firm of Sinay Elias & Co. provides legal counsel in all sorts of shareholders disputes, including: Breach of fiduciary duties, duty of fairness and good faith which apply to the controlling and minority shareholders in the company, enforcement of shareholders' rights according to the articles of association, shareholder discrimination claims, corporate deadlock, maintaining the stockholder’s right to inspect corporate books and records, matters regarding the issuance and transference of shares, maintaining proper corporate governance etc.
The professional counsel and dedicated service granted by the firm, enables its clients to reach the best solution for them, as well as the company.
Directors and officers liability
By the nature of their position, Officers and Directors (Board Members) in private and public corporations are held legally accountable for the company’s operation. This responsibility, defined by the Israeli Companies Law and Securities Law, as the Fiduciary Duty and Duty of Care require them to act in good faith towards the company, in reasonable judgment and to avoid negligence in their supervisory capacity.
Over the years, the law firm of Sinay Elias & Co. has acquired vast experience in managing these types of claims, including through Adv. Elias’s involvement in the matter of “the Bank of North America”, which is widely considered as the turning point in this field in Israel.
The firm’s level of expertise in this area of practice, which requires a high standard of legal knowledge, is manifested in its ability to represent every party of the dispute - board members, officers, creditors, controlling shareholders and other shareholders and the company itself.
Partnership rights
A partnership is a unique business association, outside of the framework of a company, which allows its members extensive rights in comparison to those granted within the framework of a company, imposes more obligations on the partners. The unique nature of the partnership requires all parties to maintain a delicate balance in the decision-making process and management of the partnership. Often, the parties of a partnership encounter disagreements, requiring legal intervention.
The law firm of Sinay Elias & Co. has extensive experience in the field of Partnerships, reared by a deep-seeded acquaintance with the legal aspects involved in partnership disputes, along with the ability to analyze the ramifications and consequences of these disputes.
The firm’s special expertise in this field, allows it to represent its clients in all proceedings pertaining to the Partnerships Ordinance, including partner disputes in registered and unregistered partnerships, and in maintaining the legal rights of one or more partners in such disputes.
Cross-border litigation
Cross border disputes, often involving multiple parties from various countries, are considered to be highly complex disputes, mostly due to the deep understanding and comprehensive knowledge required, regarding local regulation, legal stipulations and legal culture in a wide range of jurisdictions worldwide.
The law firm of Sinay Elias & Co. is vastly experienced in representing clients in complex international disputes, involving legal proceedings before various legal instances in many jurisdictions. The firm’s clients, both Israeli and foreign, receive comprehensive, holistic legal representation throughout the entire legal process, with all local and international aspects of the case addressed carefully.
The firm’s widespread professional network of leading law firms around the world assists it in providing its clients with top-of-the-line representation and counsel in every location across the globe. In addition, the law firm of Sinay Elias & Co. has significant experience in representing clients in international commercial mediation and arbitration proceedings, in Israel and abroad.
Antitrust litigation
The field of Antitrust Law is currently one of the most important and complex in the corporate world, requiring an in-depth understanding of the Israeli Antitrust law, as well as the business environment in which the client operates. This complex area of expertise lies in the overlap between the legal and financial spheres, thus demanding special knowledge and understanding of both realms.
The attorneys at Sinay Elias & Co. possess special expertise, knowledge and experience in this field, allowing them to represent their clients successfully in complex Antitrust claims, which require unique knowledge, legal and business analytic skills and experience in a wide range of proceedings and business sectors.
This expertise, paired with the firm’s close work relations with leading economists and Antitrust experts, enables the firm to lead its clients to significant legal accomplishments, and to maintain freedom of action within their business.
Commercial disputes
The law firm of Sinay Elias & Co. specializes in providing legal representation in a broad spectrum of complex commercial disputes. Among others, the firm’s attorneys represent clients in disputes in the following fields:
● Banking and Finance
● Capital Markets Investments
● Real Estate and Planning and Construction
● Insurance
● Intellectual Property
● Professional Liability
● Libel and Defamation
● Other commercial disputes
Throughout the years, the firm has acquired vast experience in representing clients before all Israeli legal instances, including commercial arbitration and mediation proceedings. The widespread knowledge and experience accumulated allow the firm to represent its clients in high-profile, large-scale, complex litigation cases.
Commercial Class actions
The Israeli Class Actions Act allows the filing of class actions in a wide range of instances in which a large number of people have been wronged. Nonetheless, unlike other civil claims, class actions are set apart by a series of prerequisites, such as the requirement to receive the court’s permission to manage the claim as a class action, examination of the representative filing and managing the class action and his lawyer, the court's approval for the incentive award to the lead plaintiff and for expenses and fees for the plaintiff's lawyer and the need to receive the court’s permission in case that the plaintiff chooses to settle the case or to withdraw the claim.
The law firm of Sinay Elias & Co. specializes in management of commercial class actions, and has vast experience and a high success rate in the complex process of approval and management of the class action. The firm specializes in managing class actions in a wide array of sectors, especially in the fields of banking, insurance and energy.
Management of a class action proceeding requires performance of intense research, in order to substantiate the factual foundation required to prove the cause of action and the damage incurred on the members of the group. The law firm of Sinay Elias & Co. is highly proficient in management of this process, carried out with the assistance of experts in the relevant fields and conducting complex inquiries to confirm the cause of action and the damages claimed.
The substantial knowledge and experience amassed by the firm in management of these complex claims allow the firm’s attorneys to achieve excellent outcomes in favor of the members of the group, a testament to which can be found in the generous settlements and large-summed compensations that the firm has achieved in favor of its clients over the years.
In addition, the professional legal counsel provided by the firm to the group representative dramatically decreases the representative’s potential exposure in such proceeding, allowing them to receive appropriate compensation for the effort invested in initiating and leading the claim.

Securities Class and Derivative Actions

A derivative action is a singular legal proceeding, allowing a shareholder and director in a company to file a claim in the name of the company against third parties and against the company’s own controlling shareholder. The uniqueness of the derivative action stems from the fact that in contrast with the widespread rule that a legal entity (corporate or private) stands for itself, whereas in the derivative claim the shareholder or the director stands in the place of the company. Due to the singularity of these claims, the filing and management of derivative or class actions are more complex compared with regular claims, and require a high level of expertise and proficiency in relevant legislation and rulings.

The firm of Sinay Elias & Co. specializes in representing plaintiffs in class actions and in derivative suits successfully in a wide array of practices, including:

  • Securities fraud
  • Accounting fraud
  • Publication of misleading information in a prospectus
  • Delinquency of accountability
  • Related and interested party transactions
  • Insider trading
  • Breaches of fiduciary duties and duty of care by officers, board members and controlling shareholders
  • Discrimination of minority shareholders and shareholders oppression
  • Unlawful distribution of dividends
  • Other violations and breaches

The firm’s incomparability in this practice field derives from the profound knowledge and understanding possessed by the firm’s attorneys in the field of corporate governance and capital markets, and from their proficiency in the economic, financial and accounting aspects required in order to facilitate these complex, intricate and often lengthy proceedings, usually held against Israel’s largest law firms.

Insolvency and Creditors’ Rights

Insolvency law is the set of statutes regulating the situation in which an individual’s or corporation’s obligations surpass their assets or in any other financial conditions that prevents the payoff of debt to creditors. Since the 2008 financial crisis, there has been vast progression in this field, in legislation and rulings, which have added to the complication of insolvency proceedings and thus require a deep and thorough understanding of the regulations regarding to this matter.

The law firm of Sinay Elias & Co. specializes in managing insolvency proceedings, bankruptcy, liquidations and debt restructuring agreements, both on behalf of the debtor and on behalf of various creditors.

Throughout the years the firm has accumulated extensive experience in representation of shareholders, creditors and debtors in complex insolvency cases, and has often been appointed by the court as a functionary in the framework of insolvency and receivership proceedings, including appointment as special manager, trustee, liquidator and receiver – serving as substantial evidence to the firm’s high professional standard and vast reputation in this field.

In addition, the firm has developed unique expertise in management of litigation proceedings resulting from liquidation and winding up of companies, specializing in a variety of claims, such as fraudulent business management and offences revealed during the liquidation process (pursuant to sections 373 and 374 of the Companies Ordinance), managed against officers and shareholders in the company.

The firm’s vast experience in representation in insolvency and liquidation proceedings, as well as in collection proceedings overseas and in negotiations to debt restructuring agreements, allows the firm’s team to lead their clients – debtors and creditors alike, to an optimal conclusion of the proceedings.

Crisis Management

Business crises are an inseparable part of business management. Preventative measures may assist in avoiding crisis outbreak, but from the point that a critical event has occurred, that may potentially damage the company or its shareholders – a measured, serious and responsible course of action must be taken in order to overcome the business crisis.

The specialization of Sinay Elias & Co. in complex commercial litigation allows the firm to accompany its clients throughout the legal proceedings often necessary in such crises from one hand, and to use its vast experience for evaluating the risks and chances of the various strategies, in order to provide the best legal advice possible, on the other.

The firm’s attorneys’ proficiency in commercial litigation proceedings allows them to successfully handle the various legal proceedings which are inevitable in the case of a crisis, and to provide holistic legal counsel until the full conclusion of all legal ramifications stemming thereof.

Corporate and Commercial Law

The day-to-day activity of companies and corporations is often disrupted by complex legal challenges, which requires close legal counsel. These legal issues require profound familiarity with corporate and commercial statutes, as well as a deep understanding of the business environment in the modern market.

The proficiency and specialization of the law firm of Sinay Elias & Co. in all aspects of commercial law, allows it to provide its clients with comprehensive, holistic legal counsel, thus fulfilling any and all of the company’s legal needs.

Moreover, the firm’s vast experience in the field of commercial litigation allows it to provide preventive consulting in order to reduce litigation risks and minimize legal exposure.

Among others, the firm provides legal advice regarding the following matters:

  • Legal risk assessment with regards to investment, financing and mergers and acquisitions transactions
  • Partnership and founders’ agreements
  • Agreements with distributors and agents
  • License agreements
  • Intellectual property
  • Incorporation and liquidation of companies
  • Trusts and charitable trusts
  • Providing ongoing commercial legal counsel

Over the years, in its capacity as a leading complex commercial litigation firm, the firm has amassed unprecedented experience in handling complex legal issues, business crises and complex disputes, and has acquired a deep-seeded understanding of the work methods suitable for the corporation’s needs. The firm litigation perspective also brings a unique insight to complex commercial matters. These qualities allow the firm to accompany its clients closely and uncompromisingly in order to traverse any legal challenge arising from their regular activity, paving their way towards success.