July 9, 2025
A Willkie team led by partners Michael Gottlieb, Robert Meyer and Samuel Hall, and co-counsel from Eimer Stahl LLP, was recently recognized as a “Runner Up” by The AmLaw Litigation Daily for securing a complete summary judgment win for PDV Holding, Inc. (“PDVH”), against Plaintiffs Girard Street Investment Holdings LLC and G&A Strategic Investments I–VII LLC. This major victory for PDVH fended off alter ego and turnover claims that sought to hold PDVH liable for nearly $2 billion in damages. The win is also notable in that it rejects Plaintiffs’ legal theory that PDVH can be held directly liable for the debts of its shareholder, Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (“PDVSA”), which would potentially have subjected PDVH to creditor claims well in excess of PDVH’s totally worth.
On May 20, 2025, Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the Southern District of New York granted summary judgment in favor of PDVH, rejecting the Plaintiffs’ claims that PDVH is the alter ego of PDVSA and that it must be directly liable for notes issued by PDVSA that were allegedly in default. Plaintiffs’ claims, if successful, would have caused a major disruption to the long-running case Crystallex Int’l Corp. v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, No. 17-mc-151 (D. Del.) (“Crystallex”), which involves the potential sale of PDVH to satisfy creditors of Venezuela and PDVSA, and it would have meant considerable additional litigation as creditors of PDVSA and the Government of Venezuela scrambled to establish the seniority of their debts.
In Judge Rakoff’s June 25 opinion, he sided with the Defendants on all theories advanced by the Plaintiffs. In particular, he held that the Plaintiffs “utterly failed” to present evidence satisfying even a single extensive-control factor, methodically rejecting each factual argument that Plaintiffs put forward to argue PDVSA exercised extensive control over PDVH. In addition, Judge Rakoff rejected Plaintiffs’ equitable theories, holding that “there is no inequity to be cured that is not addressed in the Crystallex proceedings” and that it would “be fundamentally inequitable to allow plaintiffs to cut ahead of creditors” in Delaware.
The Willkie team was led by partners Michael Gottlieb, Robert Meyer, Samuel Hall, and Andrew English. The Willkie team also included associates Courtney LaHaie, Kathryn Garrett, D. Jason Kelly, Noah Mussmon, Linda E. Halfacre, Lindsay Hemminger, Amanda Cort, and Samantha Huang.
On May 20, 2025, Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the Southern District of New York granted summary judgment in favor of PDVH, rejecting the Plaintiffs’ claims that PDVH is the alter ego of PDVSA and that it must be directly liable for notes issued by PDVSA that were allegedly in default. Plaintiffs’ claims, if successful, would have caused a major disruption to the long-running case Crystallex Int’l Corp. v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, No. 17-mc-151 (D. Del.) (“Crystallex”), which involves the potential sale of PDVH to satisfy creditors of Venezuela and PDVSA, and it would have meant considerable additional litigation as creditors of PDVSA and the Government of Venezuela scrambled to establish the seniority of their debts.
In Judge Rakoff’s June 25 opinion, he sided with the Defendants on all theories advanced by the Plaintiffs. In particular, he held that the Plaintiffs “utterly failed” to present evidence satisfying even a single extensive-control factor, methodically rejecting each factual argument that Plaintiffs put forward to argue PDVSA exercised extensive control over PDVH. In addition, Judge Rakoff rejected Plaintiffs’ equitable theories, holding that “there is no inequity to be cured that is not addressed in the Crystallex proceedings” and that it would “be fundamentally inequitable to allow plaintiffs to cut ahead of creditors” in Delaware.
The Willkie team was led by partners Michael Gottlieb, Robert Meyer, Samuel Hall, and Andrew English. The Willkie team also included associates Courtney LaHaie, Kathryn Garrett, D. Jason Kelly, Noah Mussmon, Linda E. Halfacre, Lindsay Hemminger, Amanda Cort, and Samantha Huang.
