Ronald Perelman, multi-billionaire and Revlon chairman is entangled in a complex and high stakes suit with his former brother-in-law, Robert Cohen.

1. Feature
Frivolous Suits
By Todd Schultz
Ronald Perelman, multi-billionaire and Revlon chairman is entangled in a complex and high stakes suit with his former brother-in-law,
Robert Cohen. Cohen is the brother of Samantha Cohen, a former New York gossip columnist whom Perelman divorced in 1993 and
died due to ovarian cancer in 2007.
The original law suit was put forth by Perelman’s law firms, These potentially damaging words from the judge did not
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Whatron & Garrison and Lownestein sit well with heads at Paul Weiss. Chairman at Paul Weiss,
Sandler. The suit claims that Perelman and his ex-wife’s Brad Karp, said, ‘’We believe the lower court’s decision
daughter, Samantha Perelman, is entitled to half of Robert and monetary award are unjustified. We firmly believe that
Cohen’s fortune, which looms somewhere in the neighborhood the representation we provided our client was proper and
of a billion dollars. That claim might seem a bit off, seeing as appropriate.’’
how Robert Cohen has six grandchildren. Perelman claims,
however, that his former father-in-law promised that money to The managing director at Perelman’s other firm, Lowenstein
Claudia, and as the executor of her estate, it was his duty to Sandler, also gave a statement, saying, ‘’Lowenstein Sandler
sue. acted properly at all times in representing its client in this
matter. We believe that this decision is contrary to established
Perelman’s suit was dismissed and now a New Jersey state law and may have the unfortunate consequence of chilling
court judge, Ellen Koblitz, has ordered Perelman’s two firms effective advocacy in this jurisdiction.’’
to pay nearly $2 million to pay the legal fees of Robert
Cohen and his son, James. She dismissed Perelman’s case Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is headquartered
as frivolous, on the record, stating, ‘’Without remorse, or on Sixth Avenue in New York City. With over 500 attorneys
an acknowledgement of wrongdoing, how can they reassure worldwide, they were ranked the third most profitable law
the court that this behavior will not reoccur? How will they firm per partner in the U.S. in 2006. In addition to their office
recognize frivolous litigation and avoid it the next time?’’ in New York City, the firm holds offices in Washington D.C.,
Koblitz further addressed Paul Weiss, who claimed to have Wilmington, London, Tokyo, Beijing and China.
never engaged in frivolous suits.
Lowenstein Sandler is a New Jersey-based firm focusing on
‘’Paul Weiss offers no demonstrable reason why they corporate transactions, litigation, bankruptcy, and intellectual
might not engage in this type of offensive litigation again. property. The National Law Journal ranked them the 157th
They claim never to have been found to have engaged in largest law firm in the United States and the AmLaw 200
frivolous litigation in the one hundred year history of the placed them at 84 in terms of profit per attorney. In 2007 they
firm. They argue that it will not happen again because it posted a revenue of $172 million.
did not happen before. Of course, firms change lawyers
and practices. Without recognizing and addressing a
problem, it is hard to be sure that it will not resurface,’’
Koblitz said.
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