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- Global: An Introduction to Asset Tracing & Recovery (Law Firms)| Sequor Law
Sequor Law's Arnoldo Lacayo, Daniel Coyle, and Alejandro Anselmi explore how traditional asset recovery instruments can be adapted to trace and recover cryptocurrency assets globally. Global: An Introduction to Asset Tracing & Recovery (Law Firms) Open Legal Insights Open August 10, 2021 11 minutes read Sequor Law By Arnoldo B. Lacayo , Daniel M. Coyle , Alejandro Anselmi Facing the Cryptocurrency Challenge With Existing Asset Recovery Instruments: Give Us the Tools and We Will Finish the Job The coronavirus pandemic has caused extreme damage between 2020 and 2021. The human toll itself is staggering: the United States recently surpassed six hundred thousand COVID-19 deaths. In other parts of the world, 1.2 million lives lost across Europe, over 500,000 in South-East Asia, and more than 100,000 in Africa have contributed to an approximate worldwide total of over 4 million deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. Moreover, the genesis of new variants on different continents threatens the amazing progress made on the development of vaccines and the mass distribution of these scientific wonders throughout the world’s populations. Even though healthcare workers, medical practitioners, and the scientific community must be praised for facing the viral threat in several hundred million infections and engineering at least six different vaccines to combat a novel virus, the community of legal practitioners has addressed the secondary effects of the world’s shut-down: battered economies and economic sectors and increased opportunities for fraudulent practices. This article will endeavour to provide a bird’s eye view of two of the most significant challenges that have emerged from the changed landscape of the post-COVID world economy: the growing ubiquity of cryptocurrencies and corresponding opportunities for their misuse. However, considering that the impacts of the catastrophes the world experienced in 2020 and 2021 are still playing out today, the consequences of economic contraction and recovery and the role of cryptocurrencies for U.S.-based legal practitioners are anything but clear and will depend largely on the motivations of a wide array of actors, ranging from federal and state governments, the ordinary consumer, and potential fraudsters seeking opportunities from the uncertainties of a changed world. Insolvencies and Stock Market Disappointments in Early 2020 Benefitted Cryptocurrencies The economic crisis spurred by the shutdowns in 2020 abruptly ended the longest economic expansion in U.S. history, which had been ongoing since the passing of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. As a result, public company bankruptcy filings reached their highest level in the past decade, with corporations in the service and oil and gas industries leading the drive in these numbers. Moreover, given the dive in stock prices during March 2020, investors of all kinds flocked to the cryptocurrency market, while banks, money managers, and other financial entities more readily embraced digital assets like cryptocurrencies. Despite the astounding rebound in the stock market by December 2020, to say nothing about the elemental disconnect between success stories on Wall Street and the pain felt by most on Main Street, digital currencies like Bitcoin and Ether saw their value exponentially increased, 300% and 470% respectively. These sharp increases in value, albeit unstable, further incentivized the use of these virtual currencies for everything from purchasing a sandwich at Subway and for more nefarious purposes, like facilitating ransomware payments, scamming and defrauding amateur investors, money laundering, financing terrorism, or drug trafficking on the dark web. International asset recovery and insolvency practitioners must study these trends and develop effective strategies to better serve their clients and help combat fraudulent practices worldwide. However, considering that traditional cash assets were already highly mobile, the decentralized nature of many cryptocurrencies facilitating the unregulated movement of these at even larger scales will make the illegitimately achieved gains from criminal enterprises or fraudulent transfers exponentially more difficult to find and recover. Typically, the victims of fraudulent transfers or other criminal enterprises that succeed in recovering their lost assets depend on both the ability of asset recovery practitioners to analyse, identify, and attach stolen assets within existing legal frameworks in disparate jurisdictions where scammers and fraudsters decide to hold or hide their ill-gotten gains. As has become well known, the biggest challenge for insolvency and asset recovery lawyers in cases involving digital assets like cryptocurrencies involves the dual challenge of discovering where these assets may be hidden, plus the second challenge of deploying either untested or poorly adapted legal mechanisms available throughout the world to freeze these assets. The Cryptocurrency Angle: Still Relatively New, But Already Wreaking Havoc Currently, many regulations acting on the exchange and use of cryptocurrencies are found at the state level. Some states, like Wyoming, have moved to facilitate the use and transaction of digital assets. For instance, the Wyoming legislature created a new type of “bank” that will serve businesses by allowing investors to deposit their digital assets. Other states have exempted cryptocurrencies from state securities laws and accepted the payment of taxes in cryptocurrency. Other jurisdictions remain apprehensive about the use of digital currencies and have either altogether prohibited the use of cryptocurrencies when paying for government services or simply warned their citizens about the risks of investing in cryptocurrency. The federal government in the United States has yet to comprehensively address the regulation of cryptocurrency, despite apparent recognition that embracing cryptocurrencies will prove important for the nation’s future infrastructure and its role in the vanguard of the market’s development worldwide. On one hand, apprehension or unwillingness to act on cryptocurrencies is best illustrated by the Securities Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) recent announcement that it will not address virtual currency regulation in the short term despite their meteoric rise in value and transactions. On the other hand, the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (“AML Act”) made several changes to the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”), through which it modified the BSA’s definitions to encompass regulation of cryptocurrency and other digital assets. The AML Act achieved these modifications by referring to cryptocurrency and digital assets as “value that substitute for currency or funds,” perhaps to cast as wide a net as possible in recognition of the highly fungible nature of the market for digital assets and cryptocurrency. Similarly, administrative action through federal agencies, like the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), has resulted in proposed rulemaking in 2020 and 2021. For instance, FinCEN’s proposed regulation, pursuant to the aims of the BSA, seeks to establish requirements for banks and money services businesses transacting virtual currencies and other digital assets with legal tender status. New requirements under the proposed regulation would demand banks and money service businesses to submit reports, maintain records, and verify the identities of customers involved in transactions of virtual currencies and digital assets. However, FinCEN’s proposed regulation has not yet cleared the requisite administrative procedures to come into force. Meanwhile, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a bipartisan effort to legislate digital assets. If approved by the Senate and signed by the President, the Eliminate Barriers to Innovation Act of 2021 would establish a working group, composed of members of the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”), tasked with facilitating collaboration between the government and the private sector and clarifying when the SEC has jurisdiction over digital assets as securities or when the CFTC would have authority when digital assets are categorized as commodities. Nonetheless, some policymakers worry that suddenly promoting too much regulation will eliminate incentives for investors and consumers to develop the market. In the meantime, what was once a trickle of queries and consultations for asset recovery specialists relating to losses associated with digital assets (or where ill-gotten gains may have been converted into digital assets) has grown to a steady stream and portends to grow even further. To be sure, for some victims the losses are material and are causing real financial pain and damage. What Can Courts and Practitioners Do? Mechanisms to recover digital currencies are limited because of the very nature of cryptocurrencies. Digital currencies were created with the singular purpose of avoiding the influence of any central or official authority. For instance, cryptocurrencies are designed as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system. Cryptocurrency traders on decentralized exchanges benefit from the lack of an official entity that regulates all digital currency transactions because there is no need to confirm the credentials of other traders with a payment processor when conducting a transaction. On decentralized platforms, only a particular owner may access and dispose of their digital asset because no central authority exists that can exercise control over a particular cryptocurrency wallet to preserve or help recover ill-gotten proceeds. Meanwhile, cryptocurrency wallets hosted on centralized exchanges may be subject to government regulatory oversight, requiring wallet owners to provide identifying information. Public addresses, the equivalent of bank accounts in the digital currency world, can only be accessed and controlled by private keys linked to that address. As long as the owner of the cryptocurrency maintains their private key secret, no one and no governmental authority is able to access their funds, even in official proceedings. Consequently, the only way to access funds that have been converted into crypto assets is to gain access to the owner’s digital asset wallet with a private key. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) reports that the allure of increased anonymity in cryptocurrency transactions (as opposed to traditional cash deals) has led to a rise in scams since October 2020. According to the FTC, approximately 7,000 people have reported losses totalling more than $80 million, nearly twelve times the number of reported cases in 2019. Another increasingly popular tool in the repertoire of fraudsters and online criminals that have adopted cryptocurrency is the utilization of ransomware attacks against companies and institutions with weak IT systems. Cybersecurity has become more difficult to maintain during the coronavirus pandemic because many workers are working from home, using personal internet connections to access delicate institutional mainframes. Coupled with the benefits of decentralized digital currencies, cybercriminals are more easily able to attack weak security systems and evade law enforcement and other financial regulations when they demand payment in cryptocurrency, providing a blueprint for white-collar criminals seeking to hide assets including during and after judicial proceedings. The Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack during May 2021 was a wakeup call for both cybercriminals and asset recovery practitioners. After Colonial paid $4.4 million in Bitcoin, the Department of Justice was able to trace the ransom money through blockchain analysis. The FBI was able to recover approximately $2.3 million of the original payment, demonstrating to the legal community that it is possible to recover assets criminally taken, even if in cryptocurrency form. Nonetheless, while clearly a victory for law enforcement, it still presents a challenge for asset recovery specialists practising primarily through civil process. It is still unclear precisely how the FBI was able to retrieve the funds from the cryptocurrency wallet containing them because the government has not revealed how it was able to obtain the private key. In private civil proceedings, insolvency and asset recovery lawyers dealing with fraudulent transfers likely will not have the international cooperation, technical resources or subpoena power available to the FBI to quickly uncover information or to freeze the cryptocurrency, much less to access cryptocurrency wallets to obtain an injunction or once a court order or judgment against fraudulent transferors has been issued. At the pre-trial stage, asset recovery efforts face two significant challenges. First, cryptocurrency wallets on decentralized exchanges are identified only by the public address and there is no way to discover the identity of the owner of the wallet unless the exchange is required to—and does—maintain “Know Your Customer” information. Therefore, those seeking to recover stolen assets converted into digital currency and “hidden” must first conduct blockchain analysis, like the DOJ’s Ransomware and Digital Extortion Task Force efforts during the Colonial Pipeline investigation. A blockchain analysis involves reviewing the public ledger, where all cryptocurrency exchanges are recorded, to trace the transactions of the ransom payment and subsequent transactions the fraudsters use to attempt to secrete the digital assets that are the proceeds of the fraud or theft. The analysis identifies suspicious transactions that are linked with the fraudster’s attempts to disguise the flow of the cryptocurrencies. This step might prove costly for some practitioners who might not have in-house access to the necessary quality of cyber and forensics teams available to the government, forcing some practitioners dealing with a cryptocurrency hunt to outsource blockchain investigations to third-party commercial entities. Further complicating issues for international asset recovery practitioners there is a stark absence of internationally recognized rules governing the collection and handling of digital evidence. This greatly benefits cyber-criminals and fraudsters because the speed with which private asset recovery specialists and law enforcement are able to trace and gather required evidence to litigate or prosecute (as opposed to simply recovering ransom pay, like in the Colonial Pipeline situation) is likely to be slower than criminals and debtors can move and hide their assets. This is especially true given that cryptocurrency is truly global in nature, and cross-border asset recovery is dependent upon principles of comity where domestication/recognition of non-final orders may be non-existent and domestication/recognition of final orders is time-consuming and expensive. However, as with other asset recovery efforts, not all hope is lost when confronted with a sophisticated fraudster or criminal. The key thing is to identify the institutions and entities that can be compelled to produce evidence, which will allow for the trace or forensic review. This is where knowledgeable professionals and courts can assist victims seeking to uncover and recover digital assets. Second, ensuring that a court preserves its jurisdiction over a defendant (i.e., preventing flight or further transfer and secreting of assets) and avoiding judgment-proofing tactics through unmonitored transactions presents a wholly different set of challenges for practitioners. Luckily, insolvency and asset recovery specialists can seek preliminary injunctive relief to prevent debtors from judgment-proofing tactics by inhibiting the movement of assets or can seek equitable remedies such as the naming of a trustee, receiver, or other disinterested third-party office holder to take control of a vehicle used to hold an asset or perpetuate a fraud. Additionally, courts can issue different kinds of orders, like various injunctions, worldwide freezing orders, and Spartacus orders, which can help prevent wrongdoers from further transacting ill-gotten gains. Furthermore, the availability of these judicial tools largely depends on applicable law, which is an issue further complicated by the nature of digital assets, which makes it so that victims of cyber-criminals have a more limited ability to prevent an absconding defendant from secreting the digital assets beyond the jurisdiction with the most effective legal tools. Perhaps this area most strongly requires an international effort to recognize cross-border asset recovery operations involving cryptocurrencies. A legislative approach like the Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency (UNCITRAL), which has promoted a coordinated legal regime that facilitates cooperation between nations in international insolvency cases, may be what is required to afford victims and asset recovery practitioners an effective way to tackle the novel practicalities of dealing with digital currency recoveries. At the post-judgment stage, some of the instruments to recover stolen cryptocurrency assets (or those converted into digital currencies) are writs of execution, replevin, and levy as well as in personam orders compelling individuals to act with certain assets under pain of contempt However, while these tools may be powerful to recover properties and enforce money judgments, these mechanisms are difficult to use where judgment creditors are not in possession of private keys necessary to access cryptocurrency wallets or where the debtor has absconded the court’s jurisdiction with digital assets and the private keys to access them. Even where judgment debtors are threatened with contempt of court for failure to comply with judicial orders, judgment debtors fleeing U.S. jurisdictions with large amounts of digital assets may not be sufficiently motivated to comply given the ease with which they can easily move, transfer, and otherwise hide their digital wealth abroad. Amendment of statutory provisions and tools for post-judgment recovery to better address crypto-assets must be considered in the immediate future. The Uncertainties of the Mission Require Even More Preparation While it appears that cryptocurrencies are here to stay, providing bona fide investment opportunities to professional and amateur traders alike, as well as a regulation and law enforcement evasion tool for cybercriminals, their stability and value in the long run remains uncertain. In late May 2021, a widespread cryptocurrency crash eliminated approximately $1 trillion in market value, with Bitcoin losing close to 30% of its value. The causes of the crash, statements from Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk and crackdowns in China over use of digital currencies, strongly suggest that the market remains exceedingly sensitive to pop-culture and regulatory influences. While cryptocurrencies have increasingly become more mainstream, they are still relegated to the edges of financial systems because they are still not widely accepted as legal tender and are limited to private transactions between individuals online. However, more and more nation-states and municipalities are voicing openness to potentially accepting these digital currencies for official business. Whether cryptocurrencies will become the main form of payment for all transactions in the future is an altogether different question that remains to be comprehensively answered and may also depend on the environmental impact of the mining of cryptocurrency, which is notoriously energy-intensive. However, that does not mean that insolvency and asset recovery practitioners can afford to wait for the question to be settled. Given the current trends seen regarding the prevalence of cybercrime and its preferred method of payment, lawyers at the vanguard of fraud and cross-border asset recovery must contribute to the development of judicial tools and legislative frameworks that promote international cooperation and facilitate digital asset recovery. Developing these tools will allow the law and the courts to modernize with the times, placing cyber-crime victims, creditors, and practitioners on equal footing with online criminals, debtors, and the Internet. To see the original article, click here . Open Back to all Entries Share this article Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Copy link Latest News & Insights Open Open Attorney Spotlight May 19, 2026 1 minute read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Noah Rosenblum 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was drawn to law because I've always enjoyed solving complicated problems and thinking.. Attorney Spotlight May 9, 2026 2 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Michael Hanlon 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was less drawn to law in the abstract and more.. Firm News Apr 11, 2026 2 minutes read Sequor Law Celebrates National Pet Day with Continued Support of Paws4You Rescue In recognition of National Pet Day, Sequor Law is proud to continue its support of Paws4You Rescue, a Miami-based nonprofit... Attorney Spotlight Jan 29, 2026 2 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Alain M. Acanda 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was inspired to pursue a career in the law after having negative experiences with the law as.
- German filmmaker’s estate files Florida Chapter 15| Sequor Law
Sequor Law represents the estate of late German filmmaker Gideon Bachmann in a Chapter 15 petition in Florida, seeking to recover $495,000 in US bank accounts to settle debts owed to creditors. German filmmaker’s estate files Florida Chapter 15 Open In the News Open March 22, 2019 2 minutes read Sequor Law Funds in a Florida bank account belonging to the late German filmmaker and Federico Fellini collaborator Gideon Bachmann are at the centre of a new Chapter 15 application, two years after he died seemingly bankrupt in Germany. Peter Jost, a partner at Jost Rechtsanwälte in Stuttgart, applied to the Tampa division of the US Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida for recognition as foreign representative of Bachmann’s estate on 13 March. Represented by Sequor Law, Jost is seeking US$495,000 held in two Bank of America accounts in Bachmann’s name to pay off debts Bachmann owed to eight creditors at his death. In the Chapter 15 application, under which Bachmann is referred to by his birth name of Hans Werner Bachmann, Jost says the filmmaker’s creditors have US$12,617 in claims against him, an amount easily exceeded by the amount in the Bank of America account. Bachmann, who died in Karlsruhe, a city in the south west German region of Baden-Württemberg, on 24 November 2016 at the age of 89, was born to a Jewish family in Germany in 1927 before emigrating to Tel Aviv in 1936 after the rise of the Nazi party. He initially worked as a journalist for Haaretz , returning to Germany in 1947 to document concentration camps left by the Nazi regime. The following year he began to study under the celebrated Dadaist film director Hans Richter in New York, moving in the 1960s to Italy, where he was a close friend of Federico Fellini, even creating a documentary film about the Italian director, Ciao, Federico! , in 1970. He also performed in a number of Fellini’s films. His film output also included Underground New York , a 1967 portrait of the underground film movement in which he was a player, which featured rare films of Andy Warhol, Shirley Clarke and Allen Ginsberg. That moved him to direct A Camera Is Not a Molotov Cocktail in 1977, in which he explained his belief that film’s purpose was not to “convince the unconvinced” but to provide solidarity for people of shared views. He also performed in films, including for Fellini and his own 1983 film Peppermint Peace . He returned to Germany in 1996, and in his latter years worked as a film critic for a US radio programme, also establishing and editing periodical magazine Cinemages . The District Court of Karlsruhe appointed Jost as liquidator over Bachmann’s estate in November 2018, two years after his death. In the US Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida Chief Judge Michael Williamson Counsel to Jost Sequor Law Partner Gregory Grossman and attorney Amanda Finley in Miami Open Article here Open Back to all Entries Share this article Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Copy link Latest News & Insights Open Open Attorney Spotlight May 19, 2026 1 minute read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Noah Rosenblum 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was drawn to law because I've always enjoyed solving complicated problems and thinking.. Attorney Spotlight May 9, 2026 2 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Michael Hanlon 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was less drawn to law in the abstract and more.. Firm News Apr 11, 2026 2 minutes read Sequor Law Celebrates National Pet Day with Continued Support of Paws4You Rescue In recognition of National Pet Day, Sequor Law is proud to continue its support of Paws4You Rescue, a Miami-based nonprofit... Attorney Spotlight Jan 29, 2026 2 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Alain M. Acanda 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was inspired to pursue a career in the law after having negative experiences with the law as.
- The UN’s latest attempt to assist international insolvency practitioners| Sequor Law
Sequor Law's Leyza B. Florin and Carolina Goncalves summarize UNCITRAL's Model Law on Recognition and Enforcement of Insolvency-Related Judgments and its role in cross-border cases. The UN’s latest attempt to assist international insolvency practitioners Open Legal Insights Open July 13, 2020 5 minutes read Sequor Law Miami-based Sequor Law shareholder Leyza B. Florin and attorney Carolina Goncalves summarise the UNCITRAL Working Group’s Model Law on the Recognition and Enforcement of Insolvency-Related Judgments. As the world’s economy becomes increasingly transnational, and debtors, their assets, and creditors are scattered across multiple jurisdictions, the need for consistency and efficiency in the cross-border administration of insolvency proceedings has become more pressing. Variations among legal systems have resulted in inconsistent, duplicative, time-consuming and costly efforts to recognise and enforce insolvency-related judgments in different jurisdictions, creating legal uncertainty and other complications in the administration of cross-border insolvency proceedings. The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) attempted to foster international cooperation in the administration of cross-border insolvencies through its Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency (MLCBI), but there remained an ambiguity in the recognition and enforcement of judgments related to insolvency proceedings, especially where enforcement of the foreign judgment was inconsistent with local law. The Model Law As a result, in 2014, UNCITRAL gave a mandate to its Working Group V on Insolvency Law to develop a model law that specifically provides for the recognition and enforcement of insolvency-related judgments. The Working Group collaborated with UNCITRAL’s 60 member states and the representatives of 31 observer states and 34 inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations to develop the Model Law on Recognition and Enforcement of Insolvency-Related Judgments . On 2 July 2018, UNCITRAL adopted the Model Law, which is designed to address both the gap in international law regarding the cross-border recognition and enforcement of judgments that arise as a consequence of, or are materially associated with, insolvency proceedings; and the uncertainty in interpreting certain provisions of the MLCBI “in terms of providing the necessary authority for such recognition and enforcement as a form of relief available on recognition of a foreign insolvency proceeding.” How the Model Law works The Model Law seeks to address these issues through its primary characteristics: harmonisation and flexibility. It offers enacting states a “simple, straightforward and harmonised procedure for recognition and enforcement of insolvency-related judgments” while remaining flexible in its integration into each enacting state’s legal system. Importantly, the Model Law is intended to supplement the MLCBI, and in fact mirrors its provisions and definitions in many respects, as well as the existing legal frameworks of the enacting states. For example, as international insolvency practitioners, we know the terminology used in insolvency proceedings can vary by jurisdiction. Where a term or expression is likely to vary among enacting states, the Model Law offers more inclusive defined terms, such as “insolvency proceeding” (as opposed to liquidation, reorganisation or bankruptcy) and “insolvency representative” (rather than trustee, foreign representative, liquidator, judicial administrator etc). It also describes terms or expressions in brackets as placeholders for jurisdiction-specific information – like the name of the court, body, or authority designated to perform the specified function – allowing the enacting state’s legislators to use the term specific to that jurisdiction. Additionally, the Model Law offers optional provisions, such as one allowing the enacting state to refuse the recognition of an insolvency-related judgment when it originates from a state whose “insolvency proceeding” would not be subject to recognition under the MLCBI. The Model Law also contains two noteworthy exceptions to recognising and enforcing insolvency-related judgments. Enacting states may refrain from taking any action that would be “manifestly contrary” to their public policy. Further, the Model Law enumerates the following specific grounds for the refusal of recognition and enforcement: improper notice to the defendant in the proceeding that gave rise to the insolvency-related judgment; the judgment was obtained by fraud; the judgment is inconsistent with a judgment entered in the enacting state involving the same parties; the judgment is consistent with an earlier judgment entered in another state involving the same parties and subject matter; recognition and enforcement would interfere with the administration of the debtor’s insolvency proceeding; the judgment materially affects the rights of creditors generally and their interests were not adequately protected in the proceeding that led to the judgment; and the court issuing the judgment did not have jurisdiction. Defining an “insolvency-related judgment” As its name suggests, the Model Law’s distinguishing feature is that it applies to “insolvency-related judgments”, which previously had not been fully addressed by other UNCITRAL insolvency texts. The Model Law provides a broad definition of “judgment” to include any decision, such as a decree, order, or determination of costs and expenses, “issued by a court or administrative authority”. To fall within the Model Law’s scope, an insolvency-related judgment must “arise… as a consequence of or [be] materially associated with an insolvency proceeding”, and be “issued on or after the commencement of that insolvency proceeding”. Importantly, the judgment must have been rendered in a proceeding in a state other than the enacting state in which recognition and enforcement are sought; the location of the insolvency proceedings to which the judgment relates is immaterial. The Model Law’s Guide to Enactment provides a non-exhaustive list of judgments that fall within the definition of “insolvency-related judgment”, including judgments dealing with the constitution and disposal of assets in the insolvency estate; judgments determining whether a transaction involving the debtors or assets of its insolvency estate should be avoided because it was a preferential transaction or a transaction at an undervalue; judgments involving a director or representative liability for the debtor’s actions while insolvent or in the period approaching insolvency; judgments determining that sums are owed to or by the debtor or the insolvency estate; judgments confirming or varying a plan of reorganization or liquidation or approving a voluntary or out-of-court restructuring agreement; and judgments for the examination of a director of the debtor, where that director is located in a third jurisdiction. Decisions or orders commencing insolvency proceedings and interim measures of protection are explicitly excluded from the Model Law’s scope. Further, it is unclear whether insolvency-related arbitral decisions are considered “insolvency-related judgments” under the Model Law, as they may not come from an “administrative authority.” The Model Law’s impact and success While it is still too early to evaluate the Model Law’s impact and success, its design as a supplement to the MLCBI and the enacting state’s existing legal structure, rather than an overhaul of existing insolvency frameworks, suggests that it will succeed (at least partially) in making the recognition and enforcement of insolvency-related judgments more consistent and efficient. Moreover, though the Model Law intends to respect the insolvency schemes of the respective enacting states, UNCITRAL cautions against excessively modifying the Model Law and frequently invoking its exceptions. That said, enacting states are still free to make the necessary modifications to protect their own legal processes and domestic creditors, which could result in the very complications the Model Law was intended to eliminate. The Model Law’s success also depends on the number of states that enact it. By way of comparison, over 45 jurisdictions have adopted the MLCBI, including Australia, Canada, Colombia, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, South Africa, the UK, BVI, Gibraltar, and the US; however, several European nations have not adopted it and are governed by the separate EU regulation (EC No. 1346/2000) on insolvency proceedings. This same EU regulation provides for the recognition and enforcement of judgments that “derive directly from and are closely linked to… insolvency proceedings”. Because this EU regulation seems to address the recognition and enforcement of insolvency-related judgments, and several European nations have opted to implement its framework and rejected the MLCBI, it is unlikely that these same nations will adopt the Model Law. Finally, as mentioned above, it is unclear whether insolvency-related arbitral decisions fall within the scope of the Model Law. As the law develops and the Working Group continues to issue guidance on its enactment, practitioners should expect to see developments on this issue. The Model Law and its accompanying Guide to Enactment are available here . Click here to read the original article . Open Back to all Entries Share this article Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Copy link Latest News & Insights Open Open Attorney Spotlight May 19, 2026 1 minute read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Noah Rosenblum 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was drawn to law because I've always enjoyed solving complicated problems and thinking.. Attorney Spotlight May 9, 2026 2 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Michael Hanlon 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was less drawn to law in the abstract and more.. Firm News Apr 11, 2026 2 minutes read Sequor Law Celebrates National Pet Day with Continued Support of Paws4You Rescue In recognition of National Pet Day, Sequor Law is proud to continue its support of Paws4You Rescue, a Miami-based nonprofit... Attorney Spotlight Jan 29, 2026 2 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Alain M. Acanda 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was inspired to pursue a career in the law after having negative experiences with the law as.
- Cookie Policy | Sequor Law
1. Introduction This Cookie Policy explains how Sequor Law ("Sequor Law," "we," "us," or "our") uses cookies and similar tracking technologies on our website located at https://www.sequorlaw.com (the "Website"). This Cookie Policy should be read in conjunction with our Privacy Policy, which provides further information about how we collect and use personal data. By using our Website and consenting to the placement of cookies through our cookie consent banner, you agree to the use of cookies as described in this policy. 2. What Are Cookies? Cookies are small text files that are placed on your device (computer, tablet, or mobile phone) when you visit a website. Cookies are widely used to make websites work more efficiently, to provide information to website owners, and to enable certain features and functionalities. Cookies can be "first-party" (set by the website you are visiting) or "third-party" (set by a domain other than the one you are visiting). 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Google’s use of this data is governed by Google’s Privacy Policy (https://policies.google.com/privacy). For visitors in the European Economic Area (EEA), the United Kingdom (UK), or Switzerland, Google relies on Standard Contractual Clauses and other approved transfer mechanisms to ensure an adequate level of data protection when transferring data outside the EEA/UK. 10. Changes to This Cookie Policy We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our use of cookies or applicable legal requirements. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last Modified" date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this Cookie Policy periodically. 11. Contact Us If you have any questions about this Cookie Policy or our use of cookies, please contact us at: Sequor Law 1111 Brickell Avenue, Suite 1250 Miami, Florida 33131 United States Phone: (+1) 305-372-8282 Fax: (+1) 305-372-8202 Email: info@sequorlaw.com Cookie Policy Latest Update: April 10, 2026
- Evidence Gathering Tools | Sequor Law
Pioneering 28 U.S.C. Section 1782 and cross-border discovery for foreign litigants seeking U.S.-based evidence in international proceedings Complementary Resources Section 1782 & Evidence Gathering Tools Strategic U.S. Evidence-Gathering for Cross-Border Litigation and International Proceedings A Precedent-Setting Leader in U.S. Federal Discovery for Foreign Litigants Sequor Law is frequently called upon to strengthen cross-border investigations and represent foreign litigants and interested parties that need evidence connected to the United States. Drawing on years of experience with a wide range of evidence-gathering tools, few firms can match Sequor Law’s ability to deploy the right tool for the matter. Sequor Law is a leader in the use of 28 U.S.C. § 1782, including precedent-setting victories in multiple federal circuit courts of appeal, such as Consorcio Ecuatoriano de Telecomunicaciones S.A. v. JAS Forwarding (USA), Inc., 747 F.3d 1262 (11th Cir. 2014), and Novalpina Capital Partners I GP S.A.R.L. v. Read, 149 F.4th 1092 (9th Cir. 2025). Known colloquially as “Section 1782,” the statute allows foreign litigants and interested persons to seek judicial assistance from U.S. federal courts to obtain evidence for use in proceedings before foreign or international tribunals. Federal courts have confirmed that evidence obtained under Section 1782 may be used in civil, criminal, probate, bankruptcy, marital, administrative, and regulatory matters, among others. Unlike other cross-border discovery mechanisms such as letters rogatory or Norwich Pharmacal orders, Section 1782 can often be pursued directly by the applicant, without the involvement of the foreign court or government authorities. A successful applicant gains access to U.S.-style discovery, including site inspections, document production, and deposition testimony under oath. Typical subpoena targets include businesses, affiliates, subsidiaries, financial institutions, former employees, lawyers, accountants, brokers, escrow agents, galleries, and auction houses. Section 1782 can often be pursued on an ex parte basis and does not require the applicant to show that domestic evidence-gathering mechanisms in the foreign case have been exhausted or that the evidence will be admissible abroad. Sequor Law’s professionals also have substantial experience with treaty-based evidence-gathering tools, including MLAT requests, Hague Evidence Convention requests, letters rogatory, and letters of request. Comprehensive Evidence-Gathering Mechanisms For Global Disputes Open Alain M. Acanda Attorney aacanda@sequorlaw.com (+1) 305-372-8282 Open Giovanni Angles Counsel gangles@sequorlaw.com (+1) 305-372-8282, Ext. 213 Open Maria Jose Cortesi Attorney mcortesi@sequorlaw.com (+1) 305-372-8282, Ext. 265 Open Open Key contacts Key Contacts
- Thought Leaders 4 Fire: FIRE International Vilamoura, Portugal May 19, 2022| Sequor Law
Sequor Law's Edward H. Davis Jr. joined ICC FraudNet leaders at the ThoughtLeaders4 FIRE International conference in Vilamoura, Portugal on May 19, 2022. Thought Leaders 4 Fire: FIRE International Vilamoura, Portugal May 19, 2022 Open Events & Speaking Open May 19, 2022 1 minute read Sequor Law Incoming ICC FraudNet Co-Executive Director Rodrigo Callejas with Strategic Partner James Pomeroy and former Executive Director Edward H. Davis in Cyprus for the FraudNet Spring meeting. Open Back to all Entries Share this article Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Copy link Latest News & Insights Open Open Attorney Spotlight May 19, 2026 1 minute read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Noah Rosenblum 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was drawn to law because I've always enjoyed solving complicated problems and thinking.. Attorney Spotlight May 9, 2026 2 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Michael Hanlon 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was less drawn to law in the abstract and more.. Firm News Apr 11, 2026 2 minutes read Sequor Law Celebrates National Pet Day with Continued Support of Paws4You Rescue In recognition of National Pet Day, Sequor Law is proud to continue its support of Paws4You Rescue, a Miami-based nonprofit... Attorney Spotlight Jan 29, 2026 2 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Alain M. Acanda 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was inspired to pursue a career in the law after having negative experiences with the law as.
- Your Recovery Is Mine: Enforcement of Judgments via a Judgment Debtor’s Claims Against Third Parties| Sequor Law
Sequor Law's Daniel Coyle explains how judgment creditors can recover assets by seizing a judgment debtor's own claims (choses in action) when other enforcement methods are unavailable. Your Recovery Is Mine: Enforcement of Judgments via a Judgment Debtor’s Claims Against Third Parties Open Legal Insights Open December 1, 2020 5 minutes read Sequor Law Authored By: Daniel M. Coyle – Sequor Law Introduction Asset Recovery and Judgment Satisfaction demands access to broad remedies and creative thinking. A Judgment Creditors’ efforts to enforce a judgment may be stymied by property exemptions, wage-garnishment exemptions, trusts, multi-member LLCs, and/or because the Judgment Debtor’s property is held by a tenancy-by-the-entireties (if this manner of holding property is recognized in the state). Judgment Creditors and their counsel should look to other assets that are available, such as claims (also called choses in action) held by Judgment Debtors against others. Black’s Law Dictionary (rev. 4th Ed. 1968) defines a chose in action as: A personal right not reduced into possession, but recoverable by a suit at law . . . A right to receive or recover a debt, demand, or damages on a cause of action ex contract or for a tort or omission of a duty. Seizure of Claims. In Florida, for instance, a Judgment Creditor may reach such property via Florida’s Proceedings Supplementary statute, Fla. Stat. §56.29. Subsection (6) of that statute provides that “a court may order any property of the judgment debtor, not exempt from execution, or any property, debt, or other obligation due to the judgment debtor, in the hands of or under the control of any person subject to the Notice to Appear, to be levied upon and applied toward the satisfaction of the judgment debt.” Thus, if a Judgment Debtor has sued a third party, the Judgment Creditor may seize the claim under Fla. Stat. § 56.29. Myd Marine Distrib., Inc. v. Int’l Paint Ltd., 201 So. 3d 843, 845 (Fla. 4th DCA 2016). See also Gen. Guar. Ins. Co. of Fla. v. DaCosta, 190 So. 2d 211, 213–14 (Fla. 3d DCA 1966) (decided under predecessor statute). Other states also permit Judgment Creditors to execute and levy upon these types of assets. See, e.g., Holt v. Stollenwerck, 56 So. 912, 913 (Ala. 1911); Wittenauer v. Kaelin, 15 S.W.2d 461, 462-63 (Ky. Ct. App. 1929); Rucks-Brandt Const. Corp. v. Silver, 151 P.2d 399, 400 (Okla. 1944); Lynn v. Int’l Bhd. of Firemen & Oilers, 90 S.E.2d 204, 206 (S.C. 1955); Maranatha Faith Ctr., Inc. v. Colonial Tr. Co., 904 So. 2d 1004, 1010 (Miss. 2004); Reynolds v. Tufenkjian, 136 Nev. Adv. Op. 19 (2020). Once the Judgment Creditor seizes or attaches the claim, the Judgment Creditor now becomes the plaintiff, or potential plaintiff, as if the claim had been voluntarily assigned to it. The Judgment Creditor thus has full discretion in how to manage litigation of the claim, including full settlement discretion, but also must fund litigation of the claim. Seeking an Equitable Lien on Claims for Personal Torts. However, in Florida, a Judgment Creditor may not levy and execute on a claim under section 56.29 if the claim is one for a “personal” tort or the claim is not assignable. Shaughnessy v. Klein, 687 So. 2d 43 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997). Personal torts are those claims that are personal to the plaintiff and that the plaintiff cannot assign, due to the personal relationship of the claim to the victim. Such torts include, but are not limited to, assault and battery, fraud, medical malpractice, (most) legal malpractice, intentional infliction of emotional distress, slander, and malicious prosecution. Forgione v. Dennis Pirtle Agency, Inc., 93 F.3d 758, 760 (11th Cir. 1996), certified question accepted, 689 So. 2d 1069 (Fla. 1997), and certified question answered, 701 So. 2d 557 (Fla. 1997); 21 C.J.S. Creditors’ Suits s 29. YOUR RECOVERY IS MINE: ENFORCEMENT OF JUDGMENTS VIA A JUDGMENT DEBTOR’S CLAIMS AGAINST THIRD PARTIES. ThoughtLeaders4 Fire Magazine • ISSUE 3 44 Other courts also recognize the same limitation. See, e.g., Certified Grocers of California, Ltd v. San Gabriel Valley Bank, 197 Cal. Rptr. 710, 715 (Ct. App. 1983); Blackmore v. Dunster, 274 P.3d 748, 752 (Mont. 2012); Reynolds v. Tufenkjian, 136 Nev. Adv. Op. 19 (2020). While a Judgment Creditor may not levy and execute upon these types of claims, a Judgment Creditor may use proceedings supplementary to request the Court to craft alternative relief: awarding the Judgment Creditor an equitable lien on the Judgment Debtor’s potential recovery. Although section 56.29 does not contain a specific provision addressing a Judgment Creditor’s right to an equitable lien on a Judgment Debtor’s claim, 56.29(6) states: The court may enter any orders, judgments, or writs required to carry out the purpose of this section, …”. Cases in Florida have already determined that a judgment creditor may obtain an equitable lien on a Judgment Debtor’s homestead property. Zureikat v. Shaibani, 944 So. 2d 1019, 1022 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006); Whigham v. Muehl, 511 So. 2d 717, 718 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987). Moreover, the case law interpreting section 56.29 states that Proceedings Supplementary “are equitable in nature and should be liberally construed” to provide the broadest relief to the creditor. Ferguson v. State Exchange Bank, 264 So.2d 867, 868 (Fla. 1st DCA 1972); Regent Bank v. Woodcox, 636 So.2d 885, 886 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994). Trial courts also have discretion in crafting appropriate relief for the benefit of the creditor. Myd Marine Distrib., Inc. v. Int’l Paint Ltd., 201 So. 3d 843, 844 (Fla. 4th DCA 2016). Thus a Judgment Creditor’s argument for an equitable lien on the proceeds of a lawsuit for a personal tort stands on solid ground. Other states have recognized similar concepts. See, e.g., Blackmore v. Dunster, 274 P.3d 748, 752 (Mont. 2012) (“Blackmore could petition the court to assign to Blackmore any proceeds from Dunster’s tort action in satisfaction of the judgment debt.”). Once the Court awards the equitable lien, similarly to an attorney’s charging lien, the Judgment Creditor must file the lien in the docket of the Judgment Debtor’s lawsuit to provide notice to the Court presiding over the Judgment Debtor’s lawsuit as well as the third party of the Judgment Creditor’s interest in the potential recovery. In contrast to the Judgment Creditor’s seizure of the claim, the filing of an equitable lien leaves the management of the claim, including the discretion on settlement decisions, with the Judgment Debtor. The Judgment Debtor also retains the obligation to fund the litigation. A potential drawback is that these factors, combined with the fact that some, most or all of the recovery will flow to the Judgment Creditor may result in the Judgment Debtor losing interest in pursuing the claim, and/or abandoning it entirely. A potential alternative to the equitable lien would be to monitor the lawsuit, and to timely serve a writ of garnishment upon the third party after the verdict. However, this has the drawback of increased administrative costs due to the need to constantly monitor proceedings, the need to coordinate with a potentially a third party who has nothing to gain by such cooperation and whose interests are still adverse to the Judgment Creditor and the need to time the writ of garnishment (with potential service requirement issues as the writ must be served on the third party, not its attorney in the case). Click here to read the original PDF Open Back to all Entries Share this article Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Copy link Latest News & Insights Open Open Attorney Spotlight May 19, 2026 1 minute read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Noah Rosenblum 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was drawn to law because I've always enjoyed solving complicated problems and thinking.. Attorney Spotlight May 9, 2026 2 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Michael Hanlon 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was less drawn to law in the abstract and more.. Firm News Apr 11, 2026 2 minutes read Sequor Law Celebrates National Pet Day with Continued Support of Paws4You Rescue In recognition of National Pet Day, Sequor Law is proud to continue its support of Paws4You Rescue, a Miami-based nonprofit... Attorney Spotlight Jan 29, 2026 2 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Alain M. Acanda 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was inspired to pursue a career in the law after having negative experiences with the law as.
- Omani businessman appeals US recognition of English bankruptcy| Sequor Law
Sequor Law's Leyza B. Florin and Cristina Beard advise Grant Thornton trustees as an Omani businessman appeals a Florida court's recognition of his English bankruptcy proceedings. Omani businessman appeals US recognition of English bankruptcy Open In the News Open June 1, 2021 2 minutes read Sequor Law An Omani citizen is seeking to overturn a Florida court’s recognition of his English bankruptcy, which he describes as “a divorce case being played out on the international stage”. On 19 May in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida, Talal Al Zawawi filed a notice of appeal against a recognition order granted to Grant Thornton’s Michael Leeds, Colin Diss and Hannah Davie as his bankruptcy trustees. Al Zawawi initially opted to have the appeal heard by a bankruptcy appellate panel, but it has since been transferred to the local district court. The grounds of appeal have yet to be published. Herron Hill Law Group shareholder Kenneth Herron is counsel to Al Zawawi on the appeal, while Sequor Law shareholder Leyza B. Florin and attorney Cristina Beard are advising the trustees. The bankruptcy court recognised the trustees on 6 May, six weeks after granting them interim recognition. The trustees sought recognition to block any party from transferring property owned by Al Zawawi, including any ownership interest he may hold in four Florida companies and a Texan company that does business in Florida, as well Omani businessman appeals US recognition of English bankruptcy as to obtain discovery powers to investigate his finances. Judge Lori Vaughan issued the recognition order despite an objection from Al Zawawi, who argued that he did not have any ownership interests in the five companies. “This case does not involve an international business entity or any other form of international intrigue,” Al Zawawi said in his objection. “It merely involves a divorce case being played out on the international stage.” Al Zawawi, a UK resident with Omani citizenship, has been subject to bankruptcy proceedings in England since June last year. His ex-wife had filed a bankruptcy petition against him over failure to pay a 2019 divorce decree, which required him to pay her £24 million (US$34.1 million). The businessman received a prison sentence a month after the decree was issued, due to his failure to comply with an order to disclose financial information to his ex-wife’s lawyers. His assets are currently subject to a worldwide freezing order. The trustees responded to Al Zawawi’s objection by claiming that he was a director of the Florida companies, that the companies owed US$94 million of assets between them and that he indirectly owned them through a Curaçao holding company, Qapa Investing Corporation. They have obtained a Curaçao attachment order against Qapa, which is coowned by the businessman and his six siblings. Since securing the recognition order, the trustees have filed notices of examination on the US branches of several banks, including Barclays, Citibank and Deutsche Bank, seeking documents relating to Al Zawawi’s financial affairs. Judge Gregory Presnell has been assigned to the appeal proceedings in the district court. He has yet to schedule a hearing. To read the original article, click here. Open Back to all Entries Share this article Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Copy link Latest News & Insights Open Open Attorney Spotlight May 19, 2026 1 minute read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Noah Rosenblum 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was drawn to law because I've always enjoyed solving complicated problems and thinking.. Attorney Spotlight May 9, 2026 2 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Michael Hanlon 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was less drawn to law in the abstract and more.. Firm News Apr 11, 2026 2 minutes read Sequor Law Celebrates National Pet Day with Continued Support of Paws4You Rescue In recognition of National Pet Day, Sequor Law is proud to continue its support of Paws4You Rescue, a Miami-based nonprofit... Attorney Spotlight Jan 29, 2026 2 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Alain M. Acanda 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was inspired to pursue a career in the law after having negative experiences with the law as.
- Various Attorneys Recognized by SuperLawyers 2023| Sequor Law
Six Sequor Law attorneys are recognized in the 2023 SuperLawyers guide. Christopher A. Noel is named a Rising Star, honoring the top up-and-coming lawyers in the United States. Various Attorneys Recognized by SuperLawyers 2023 Open Awards & Recognition Open June 26, 2023 1 minute read Sequor Law Sequor Law is proud to announce that six attorneys have been recognized in the 2023 edition of SuperLawyers, a guide to the top lawyers in the United States. Congratulations to Christopher A. Noel Noel for being named a Rising Star, an honor given to the top up-and-coming lawyers in the country. Open Back to all Entries Share this article Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Copy link Latest News & Insights Open Open Attorney Spotlight May 19, 2026 1 minute read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Noah Rosenblum 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was drawn to law because I've always enjoyed solving complicated problems and thinking.. Attorney Spotlight May 9, 2026 2 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Michael Hanlon 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was less drawn to law in the abstract and more.. Firm News Apr 11, 2026 2 minutes read Sequor Law Celebrates National Pet Day with Continued Support of Paws4You Rescue In recognition of National Pet Day, Sequor Law is proud to continue its support of Paws4You Rescue, a Miami-based nonprofit... Attorney Spotlight Jan 29, 2026 2 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Alain M. Acanda 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was inspired to pursue a career in the law after having negative experiences with the law as.
- Meet the Leader of Sequor Law’s New DC Office| Sequor Law
Sequor Law opens its Washington, D.C. office led by Tara Plochocki, strengthening asset recovery and cross-border dispute capabilities. Meet the Leader of Sequor Law’s New DC Office Open In the News Open June 7, 2024 2 minutes read Sequor Law Sequor Law has expanded its national footprint with the launch of its Washington, D.C. office, marking a strategic move that strengthens the firm’s position in complex Asset Recovery and cross-border disputes. The new office is led by Tara Plochocki , a seasoned practitioner in international financial litigation who joins the firm to further develop its presence in high-stakes, global matters. The expansion reflects a deliberate evolution. For more than two decades, Sequor Law has built a reputation as a premier boutique focused on International Litigation , financial fraud, and global enforcement strategy. Establishing a D.C. presence signals to the market that the firm operates on a fully national platform, positioned at the center of regulatory, diplomatic, and investor-state dispute activity. Plochocki brings significant experience in cross-border financial disputes, commercial litigation, and sovereign-related matters. Her longstanding involvement with ICC FraudNet, a global network of asset recovery practitioners, aligns directly with Sequor’s international reach. She has worked extensively on matters involving misappropriated funds, transnational enforcement, and complex recovery efforts across jurisdictions. Washington, D.C. offers strategic advantages. The district is a hub for investor-state disputes and international arbitration, areas that intersect naturally with International Arbitration and sovereign asset tracing. Sequor’s growth in this arena reflects increasing demand for coordinated litigation strategies that combine U.S. court proceedings with parallel actions abroad. The firm’s focus remains disciplined. Asset Recovery , financial fraud litigation, Creditors’ Rights , and cross-border commercial disputes continue to define its core practice. At the same time, Sequor is deepening its work in anti-corruption matters and recovery actions involving sovereign assets. These cases often require navigating U.S. enforcement actions while ensuring restitution reaches victims rather than being absorbed into general government recovery pools. Plochocki’s leadership in D.C. reinforces Sequor’s collaborative model. The firm emphasizes integrated teamwork across offices, ensuring consistency in strategy whether a matter is filed in Miami, Washington, or overseas. For clients facing fraud, cross-border disputes, or enforcement challenges tied to sovereign actors, the D.C. launch expands Sequor’s ability to act quickly and strategically at the national level. Read the full Law360 Pulse interview to learn more about the firm’s expansion and the strategic direction of the new Washington office here . Open Back to all Entries Share this article Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Copy link Latest News & Insights Open Open Attorney Spotlight May 19, 2026 1 minute read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Noah Rosenblum 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was drawn to law because I've always enjoyed solving complicated problems and thinking.. Attorney Spotlight May 9, 2026 2 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Michael Hanlon 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was less drawn to law in the abstract and more.. Firm News Apr 11, 2026 2 minutes read Sequor Law Celebrates National Pet Day with Continued Support of Paws4You Rescue In recognition of National Pet Day, Sequor Law is proud to continue its support of Paws4You Rescue, a Miami-based nonprofit... Attorney Spotlight Jan 29, 2026 2 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Alain M. Acanda 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was inspired to pursue a career in the law after having negative experiences with the law as.
- Attorney Spotlight: Nyana A. Miller| Sequor Law
Sequor Law Counsel Nyana Abreu Miller shares insights on being a trilingual woman in international law, her promotion, IWIRC leadership, and her commitment to empowering women in the legal profession. Attorney Spotlight: Nyana A. Miller Open Attorney Spotlight Open March 22, 2022 5 minutes read Sequor Law Nyana Abreu Miller , recently appointed Counsel at Sequor Law, shares insights on the benefits of being a trilingual woman in the international law industry and her efforts to empower women in law. In 2021, you were promoted to Counsel. How did the promotion change your role as an attorney? The promotion grew my responsibilities both within and outside of Sequor, changing the way I am perceived and providing me with new opportunities for professional growth, such as increased public speaking engagements. Within the firm, my position as Counsel entails significant managerial duties, such as supervising the Junior Associates. How has your role as New Network and Regional Development Co-Director of IWIRC benefitted you as a Sequor Law Counsel? The role provides a great opportunity to network and get to know other women in the insolvency space. Our committee works to launch International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC) networks in places that do not have a professional development group for women in insolvency. This has provided a platform for me to learn about the insolvency industry in different countries and to bring something new to the table. Working together with other motivated professionals on a project that we are passionate about helps to grow deeper professional relationships. When business opportunities arise within those relationships, we are not mere acquaintances who met at a conference, we are colleagues who have been collaborating on a passion project for years. How does IWIRC help to empower women in law? For me, personally, it has been transformational to connect with other women who are succeeding and striving to grow in the same industry. At each IWIRC event, I am inspired by the many different role models that I encounter, and I find them to be very approachable and candid about what it has taken for them to succeed. These experiences have been essential in my ability to shape my own path. You’re regularly invited to speak on topics related to international asset recovery. How have the opportunities impacted your role as a trilingual attorney? I was born in Brazil and raised in the U.S., with English being my second language after Portuguese. I learned to speak Spanish in the U.S. as a third language. Since I work in Latin America a great deal, my language skills have opened many doors for me. Early in my career, I was invited to speak at events where there was no budget for translators or translations, so my multilingual capabilities gained me invaluable exposure. For example, I was a guest lecturer at the Federal Judicial College in Mexico City. It was an excellent opportunity to discuss the use of insolvency as an asset recovery tool with students of the Judicial College, and it would not have been possible to do in English. Of course, I also participate in larger conferences that do have simultaneous translation, such as the OffshoreAlert Conference, but where English is not the common language for all panelists and most of the audience, sometimes it is more convenient to conduct the panel in the local language. Given your tenure as an asset recovery attorney, what is the most important thing you have learned? The most important thing I learned is to follow my instincts and study the fact patterns as they relate to people in the cases. Our cases ultimately come down to people. It’s important to develop a sense of who the target is, their character, preferences and habits. An asset recovery case is only half legal strategy and the rest is about being able to anticipate and catch up to the target. Does speaking three languages facilitate your work on cases? Absolutely! For cases that are document-intensive, being able to read the primary document myself is a game-changer. Translation takes time, costs money and is imperfect. When an important document is discovered or a decision is entered by the foreign court, I can immediately review the document myself and engage in a meaningful discussion about it. I still lean on the local council to assist in interpreting legal documents in Portuguese and Spanish, but at least I can participate in the brainstorming that takes place as events develop and significant documents are discovered. What advice would you give to young female attorneys? I advise young women to look not only for a variety of mentors and role models but also for sponsors within their organization. A sponsor is someone who will help channel good work and opportunities to you, and it is a person who will support you even when you make a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes but it is how they are perceived by leadership that is critical. When people in management feel that the mistake is relatable or perhaps reminds them of something that happened to them, the employee who made the mistake will simply get another chance. And when you are a working mom or the only woman in an organization, you don’t want a simple mistake to be interpreted as a lack of commitment or some deeper problem. It’s important to have someone in the management room to vouch for you and help everyone else to put things into the proper perspective. How does Sequor Law distinguish itself from competitors in the market? Because of the size and strength of our team, we are very nimble. We are not a shop of generalists that tries to be all things to all people. Each of our professionals has deep knowledge of asset recovery and significant practical experience. We vigilantly monitor developments in our area of practice and we are able to draw on our depth of knowledge when we advise clients and help them craft the best recovery strategy for their case. The focus of an asset recovery case may change very quickly, and we need to be able to deploy investigative, analytical and legal resources wherever the target may pop up. We have capabilities in-house to be able to steer the ship. However, one very important aspect of our identity as a boutique firm is that we maintain a strong network of asset recovery professionals that we can rely on throughout the globe. So if the target buys an asset in a new offshore jurisdiction, we can phone a friend who will spring to action as part of our team. What inspired you to study law? As a child, I read all the Nancy Drew books. Although my heroine was a girl detective, when I actually got old enough to think about a career, I realized that I enjoyed the reading a bit more than I would enjoy driving around and chasing criminals. I realized that after a case was solved it had to be tried. My grandfather was a state court judge in Kansas, so he was a great role model and ambassador for the law. When I was in high school, he took me to the courthouse for a motion calendar and I decided that law was the path for me! Open Back to all Entries Share this article Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Copy link Latest News & Insights Open Open Attorney Spotlight May 19, 2026 1 minute read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Noah Rosenblum 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was drawn to law because I've always enjoyed solving complicated problems and thinking.. Attorney Spotlight May 9, 2026 2 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Michael Hanlon 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was less drawn to law in the abstract and more.. Firm News Apr 11, 2026 2 minutes read Sequor Law Celebrates National Pet Day with Continued Support of Paws4You Rescue In recognition of National Pet Day, Sequor Law is proud to continue its support of Paws4You Rescue, a Miami-based nonprofit... Attorney Spotlight Jan 29, 2026 2 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Alain M. Acanda 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was inspired to pursue a career in the law after having negative experiences with the law as.
- The BLS Celebrating Women’s History Month: An Interview with Judge Walsh| Sequor Law
Sequor Law's Amanda Finley interviews Judge Walsh for the Business Law Section's Women's History Month series, exploring her journey from public defender to appellate judge. The BLS Celebrating Women’s History Month: An Interview with Judge Walsh Open In the News Open April 5, 2021 10 minutes read Sequor Law By: Amanda Finley In honor of Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, the Business Law Section is interviewing a series of women judges to learn about their experiences, trials, tribulations, and advice for other women lawyers. I had the honor of interviewing Judge Walsh. Rise to the Bench Judge Walsh explained her journey as an attorney and career path to becoming a judge. She worked in the public interest as a public defender. She tried about 30 jury trial cases and in private practice, she owned her firm focusing almost exclusively on appellate work. Her appellate practice consisted of a variety of subject matters, so that gave her flexibility. She put that to use after she became a judge because she was able to adapt and transition from dependency, to criminal, to civil, back to criminal, and again to civil. This flexibility also assists her now in her position as the administrative judge in the Appellate Division. Judge Walsh’s experience and career is nothing short of remarkable. Obstacles and Silver Linings Judge Walsh expressed constant gratitude that her experience in the law has been a positive one. While not unruffled, she said, “there are always challenges in getting business or in handling a particularly difficult case or just in handling the burdens of the profession or running a business. But I’ve been relatively fortunate in always having work, finding success in the law, developing my craft and skills, and building a business.” When asked about an example of a hurdle, she explained that she experienced a challenge in bringing in criminal appellate work when she was particularly qualified, knowledgeable, and experienced in that practice area. By the time she went into private practice, she had handled over 300 appeals – one all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court as well as arguing cases at the Eleventh Circuit, and a number of cases before the Supreme Court of Florida. Given her background, it would seem logical that she would be able to easily bring in criminal appellate work. However, it was not easy and the difficulty was sadly rooted in discrimination. She stated, “I would be told to my face, we’re going to take your male partner to visit the client. We’re not going to take you. The clients just think that you’re not going to fight for them. I was judged on my appearance. That’s tied to my gender. There’s no way around that.” However, where there is an obstacle, there is also a solution and typically a silver lining. Despite having no experience at that time handling civil appeals or marital appeals, she was able to bring in those cases with ease and was able to build her practice and develop a substantial book of business fairly easily within a year and a half. She ended up confronting this hurdle and ultimately making it work to her advantage. National Association of Women Judges Next, we discussed Judge Walsh’s experience with bar associations. Before she was appointed to the bench, she got involved with the Florida Association for Women Lawyers and was its president in 2007-2008. In 2015-2016, Judge Walsh became the President of the National Association of Women Judges (“NAWJ”). She stated that she valued the platform, which provided “unbelievable opportunities for growth and development as a speaker, as a lawyer, as a judge, and as a leader. Without a doubt, that was the most extraordinary experience professionally of my life to become the president of the National Association of Women Judges. It is an incredible organization. There are judges in every state, federal, state, military, tribal, and administrative.” She explained that “NAWJ is the U.S. chapter for the International Association of Women Judges. The year that I became president was also the year that the United States was hosting the Bi-Annual Conference of the International Association of Women Judges. I got to stand in front of a room of 1,000 women judges from all over the world, as the President of the host chapter of the U.S. chapter in Washington, DC, and welcome the world of women judiciary to the United States for a four-day conference while participating in those events.” Judge Walsh described how amazing it was to meet and get acquainted with judges from so many other jurisdictions. The U.S. judges would describe how they practice law, manage a civil system and our business courts, while learning how judges from other jurisdictions practice law and manage their court systems. Learning from other judges “broadens your mind to the things that you can do to improve your practice here, improve your judging here.” She expressed that she is “so incredibly lucky to have had that role for that year to be their president.” Judge Walsh explained that “our Supreme Court Justices, not only the women justices, but also Chief Justice Roberts are all members” of NAWJ. She had the opportunity to meet the late Justice Ginsburg, one of the most incredible women jurists of our time. Judge Walsh was also able to meet Justice Sotomayor, who was so “generous with her time and stood at a conference for three hours so that every person could shake her hand or take a picture with her.” Judge Walsh most wishes that she could have met the late Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. She admired her for her philosophy, deliberateness on the Court, and fun-loving down-to-Earth nature outside of court. At the NAWJ conferences, she would lead a conga line. Justice O’Connor would wear a t-shirt that says, “I’m not Ruth,” and Justice Ginsburg would wear a t-shirt that says, “I’m not Sandra.” Words of Wisdom and the Unforgiving Concept of “Balance” When asked what advice she would give to her 21-year-old-self, Judge Walsh said “time passes very quickly. Try to notice each important moment. There is a tendency when you are young to script the important moments in your life and think about the details … to master every part of every equation” (the birth of your first child, setting up your home, first day of school, family vacations). Her advice to her younger self would be to “manage my professional life, while having a fulfilling personal life as well a fulfilling family life” and “to not be so sure that I understand my path that I’m not open to walking in a different direction. Looking back, I may have spent too much time in one place without being open to move or change. Because every time you take a step forward, that is a step on your path, whether that is ultimately the right direction or not, it will move you ultimately in the right direction, but standing still rarely gets you there.” This circles back to the universal issue for every woman in law or business – how to achieve the coveted goal of work/life balance. Judge Walsh takes a unique and refreshing stance on this issue. She said “I don’t believe that there is such a thing as balance. There’s an amalgam of life, all of which is important. It’s a matter of which part of your life you are … prioritizing in a particular moment.” She explained that “oftentimes, when you’re young, you don’t get to pick your priorities. When you are a young person, you are beholden to your boss, your partner, your manager, to the concept of establishing yourself and building your business to the networking that you need to ensure … the quality of your product, which is going to take longer when you’re less experienced. This is the paradox of youth in business and family. I would personally scrap the idea of balance because I think it places additional, unneeded pressure on the shoulders of young people especially young women. This idea of balance is another opportunity to tell yourself that you’re failing at something.” Another overarching issue is mindfulness and learning to focus on the present. Judge Walsh expressed, “I look back and wonder if I was present enough. I was so proud of myself for always physically being where I needed to be. I made professional decisions about where I worked and how I worked in order to ensure that I could always be physically present where I needed to be. I could bill frankly, as much as my husband did. I could get everything done on time. I could serve my clients. I could be available to my clients, and manage my business, and also be at every assembly, take my kids … to every pediatrician or dental appointment, every parent teacher conference, every soccer meet, every piano recital, every concert, every chess match, I could do all of that.” Being meaningfully present everywhere was understandably the difficulty. Judge Walsh encourages everyone to “absolutely relinquish the idea of perfection. I think that in work, as well as in your home life, that perfect is the enemy of the good. Because the most important thing is that if your child wants you [to] read a book to them that you have the time and the space and the presence of mind to be able to do it and be completely meaningfully present for them. I would let go of a concept of ‘balance’ and let go of the concept of ‘perfection,’ or of really caring that other people who don’t matter to you perceive you as perfect. At the end of the day, the end of your life, what other people think right now is irrelevant. The only thing that matters to me is the quality of the childhood and the upbringing that I gave to my kids.” The Effect of the Pandemic Judge Walsh remarked on the effect of the pandemic – both personally and professionally. On one hand, the pandemic has successfully integrated technology into the everyday practice of law by allowing Zoom hearings, which are more efficient and cost-effective. Judge Walsh would like to see mass calendars continue virtually even after the effects of the pandemic subside. On the other hand, since most lawyers are working from home, there is less of a clearly defined boundary for personal or family time. Judge Walsh stated that she is “very concerned about the effect that the pandemic is currently having on the profession, specifically on women – whether it’s going to send women backward. There is an existing problem in the practice of law that women in their 40s and 50s are leaving in disproportionate numbers than their male counterparts. That phenomenon has been explained in the past as some work/life balance or family issue. I don’t think that’s what drives it. I think it’s financial equality in the practice of law. That is the driving force in that issue. What’s happening right now is that children are at home virtual schooling, while women are working at home virtually. There are no demarcations right now between work and home. Work is 24 hours a day; childcare is 24 hours a day; there is no help; and you’re 100% in the house.” She continued, “women are leaving the profession or they’re leaving other professions, which means that their financial stability is going to slip. Their power is going to slip. How do you develop business under these circumstances? It depends how quickly we recover from this. I know that the practice of law generally is not suffering very much, but I do … think that women practitioners are experiencing a unique phenomenon. I just hope that it doesn’t have a semi-permanent effect on the push for equal opportunity in the practice of law.” Mentorship Judge Walsh had many mentors, who came to her very naturally. Her boss at the public defender’s office, Beth Weitzner, was the best boss she ever had and truly helped her develop as a writer. She gave her that “eureka moment to understand written persuasion – how to capture the attention of a judge; how to maintain, develop, and never lose your credibility; how to take your reader on a journey from point A to point Z, which is the conclusion you want them to reach; and how to deal with difficult people and difficult facts.” Judge Walsh’s other mentors were Lauri Waldman Ross and Pamela Perry, who were exceptional appellate lawyers that helped her immensely when she was starting out. Judge Walsh emphasized that peers can be mentors too. Younger lawyers do not necessarily have to seek out lawyers that are a generation older to be their mentor. Finding peers with different strengths, weaknesses, and experiences is important. Judge Walsh stated, “I’m a big proponent for relying on your backup. You need your true friends – really close professional colleagues and friends where you nurture each other along the way and everyone succeeds.” The Next Generation of Women Leaders When asked about the next generation of women leaders, Judge Walsh stated that she is “impressed with the next generation and the current generation of women leaders because they do not wring their hands. They don’t ask for permission. When I was 25 just starting out and my superior would say to me, argue x do x, my first impulse would be – can I do that? Whether it is … okay or am I allowed never enters the minds of the women in the profession now. Now, the question in their mind is not whether, but how.” She remarked that “there’s a core strength, a self confidence that is incredibly healthy and refreshing and combined with a work ethic and a fearlessness that make for a formidable combination.” Last Words of Advice Judge Walsh’s last words of advice were encouragement and offering assistance. “My colleagues and my peers, we’re here for you. We want to be helpful to you. We really want to see you shine. I can’t tell you how good it makes me feel when it’s no longer an issue as to who comes to court to argue. I have really big cases where there are millions of dollars in controversy or large developments of lands. When I see that there is a young woman lawyer, who is arguing the position of their client, just as well as anyone else who’s in the case, it just gives me an extra charge. It doesn’t mean that they’re going to win their position, of course, but that just shouldn’t be an issue. It shouldn’t be an issue as to who gets to argue a point. I can’t tell you how many times in the past I’ve seen that the person who actually wrote the pleadings and signed the pleadings sitting quietly at counsel table, while their partners were arguing and didn’t know the nuance, the details, or the elements in the record to be able to argue as effectively as I know that his associate could have done the job.” “It doesn’t matter if they’re women or men or lawyers of color or lawyers of a different ethnic background. None of it should matter. Everyone should have the same opportunity for success depending upon their qualifications, their experience, their skill, and their ability to develop business.” She reiterated “we’re here for you – if anyone wants to pick up the phone and talk or thinks that you have an issue of professional development or wants advice. Don’t cocoon. Get out there and talk to the people that care, so that you can do the best for yourself because you only have one shot at your career. You only have one shot at your life. All of us want to make sure that you take that shot and give it your best shot.” Read the original article here. Open Back to all Entries Share this article Facebook X (Twitter) WhatsApp LinkedIn Copy link Latest News & Insights Open Open Attorney Spotlight May 19, 2026 1 minute read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Noah Rosenblum 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was drawn to law because I've always enjoyed solving complicated problems and thinking.. Attorney Spotlight May 9, 2026 2 minutes read Attorney Spotlight – Get to Know Michael Hanlon 1. What inspired you to pursue a law career? I was less drawn to law in the abstract and more.. 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