Kramer Levin is being hit with sanctions for deceiving adversaries and the court, as described by Law360 in this article. Kramer Levin Partners Ronald Greenberg and Philip Kaufman have been sanctioned multiple times and multiple venues in a series fraudulent misrepresentations. Greenberg and Kaufman are cohorts in a coordinated scheme to enrich themselves and exiting TransPerfect co-CEO Liz Elting, by attempting to bring about dissolution of the highly profitable and successful company.

1. Kramer Levin Hit With Sanctions For Misrepresentations - Law360
http://www.law360.com/articles/610126/print?section=commercialcontracts
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Kramer Levin Hit With Sanctions For
Misrepresentations
By Michael Lipkin
Law360, San Diego (January 12, 2015, 6:46 PM ET) -- A New York state judge has sanctioned
Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP for not acting quickly enough to correct a complaint it should
have known was wrong in a battle between two co-CEOs of a translation services company
fighting for control of the company’s payroll system.
Judge Melvin L. Schweitzer hit plaintiff Elizabeth Elting and her counsel at Kramer Levin with
sanctions on Dec. 22, ruling her complaint incorrectly said she and defendant Philip Shawe were
co-owners of TransPerfect Translations International Inc., which is actually owned by parent
company TransPerfect Global Inc. Elting and Shawe are co-CEOs and directors of both companies,
but only hold shares in Global after a 2008 restructuring.
Elting sued Shawe in May, seeking to remove him from TPI and dissolve the subsidiary. Elting
based her standing on claims she was a shareholder of TPI, according to the opinion. Ronald
Greenberg of Kramer Levin later admitted that was a mistake made on deadline as Elting and her
attorneys rushed to prepare their case and avoid a potential payroll crisis.
“That much the court is prepared to excuse. Mistakes happen,” Judge Schweitzer wrote, adding
the case genuinely involved a 50-50 ownership relationship “gone awry.”
But Judge Schweitzer said he would not excuse Elting or her lawyers for not immediately telling
him or Shawe’s lawyers once they discovered the error.
“Rather, they were content to set about preparing an amended complaint that would both correct
the facts and to change their legal theory of standing to add a derivative claim to accomplish their
purpose,” Judge Schweitzer wrote.
Shawe’s lawyers eventually spotted the mistake and filed a motion to dismiss, which never would
have been needed if Kramer Levin informed all the parties, according to the opinion. Elting and
the firm are both liable for paying Shawe back for the portion of his motion tied to TPI ownership
and for his motion seeking sanctions.
“The upshot here, at a minimum, was a waste of defendant’s time and resources for which
defendant deserves to be fully compensated for his costs,” Judge Schweitzer wrote.
The firm said on Monday the decision incorrectly assumed they knew about the error before the
motion to dismiss was filed, which it did not. Kramer Levin said it learned about the mistake from
the motion, responded to the court the next business day and quickly filed a superseding pleading

2. Kramer Levin Hit With Sanctions For Misrepresentations - Law360
http://www.law360.com/articles/610126/print?section=commercialcontracts
to fix the error.
“We believe strongly that the decision is incorrect both in its factual premise and as a matter of
law, and we have filed a motion to have the decision stayed and vacated,” Kramer Levin said in a
statement.
Attorneys for Shawe declined to comment.
Elting filed the suit in May, claiming Shawe secretly implemented raises and bonuses unilaterally
instead of consulting her as required, and ordered the company’s CIO to lock the employee
handling payroll out of the system and to “kill her phones,” according to court documents. Shawe’s
actions allegedly caused TPI to nearly miss payroll and blocked emails from the company’s bank
and accountants.
Elting got a temporary restraining order barring Shawe from interfering with the payroll system,
but she claims he still delayed crucial approval for the payroll company to restore ordinary
procedures. The restraining order was later vacated.
Shawe has countered Elting became hostile in early 2013, demanded excessive distributions and
tried to seize control of the bank and accounting systems herself, according to court documents.
Shawe claims Elting made a $21 million distribution to pay for her personal taxes and blocked
raises for employees loyal to Shawe, forcing him to have finance staffers push through his
requests.
Shawe’s motion for sanctions came in October, arguing Elting’s error in her complaint was not an
innocent mistake. Elting, Shawe and Shawe’s mother, who owned one percent of TPI, all
transferred their shares to TPG in 2008. Elting actively signed over her shares and was reminded
of the deal again last December when she asked for a copy of the agreement, according to
Shawe.
Elting later claimed that while her complaint said she had an ownership stake in TPI, it did not
specify that it was a beneficial ownership, based on her TPG shares. Her attorney told the court
that while they had all the documents and stock certificates that showed the correct ownership,
Elting and her legal team were pressed for time and did not focus on the 2008 transaction when
drafting the suit.
Elting is represented by Gerald E. Harper and Robert N. Kravitz of Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton &
Garrison LLP and Philip S. Kaufman and Ronald S. Greenberg of Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel
LLP.
Shawe is represented by Ronald C. Minkoff, Richard M. Maltz and Andrew J. Ungberg of Frankfurt
Kurnit Klein & Selz LLP; Philip J. Graham Jr. and Penny Shane of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP; and
Howard J. Kaplan, Joseph A. Matteo and Joshua MacLeod of Kaplan Rice LLP.
The case is Elizabeth Elting v. Philip Shawe et al., case number 651423/14, in the Supreme Court
of the State of New York.
--Editing by Kelly Duncan.
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