The Amazing Story Behind Record Sanction Awarded in Florida Bankruptcy Court That Turned the Tables on an Overly Aggressive Lawyer's Pursuit of a Disabled Man.

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, USA, April 21, 2020 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Yesterday, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in South Florida announced a stunning $354,777 sanction award in favor of a disabled Miami man who previously filed for bankruptcy. On the receiving end of this sanction was attorney Eric Rayz from far-away Pennsylvania. Rayz and his offshore client Vertonix were sanctioned for violations of bankruptcy law the court called “egregious” and an “affront to the bankruptcy system.”

Litigation management firm LSS (Litigation Support Services LLC) and its principal Andrew Mogilyansky were key members of Mr. Lyubarsky’s legal team that won this award. LSS and Andrew Mogilyansky worked pro bono on the case.

The stunning Florida court award is the highest-ever sanction issued by any U.S. Bankruptcy Court against a lawyer for violating the automatic stay, a key provision that protects consumers who file for bankruptcy. The court called Eric Rayz’s conduct “sneaky,” “extreme and troubling,” “without regard to appropriate and legally imposed boundaries” and described Rayz’s own sworn testimony as “unbelievable.”

The full text of the court decision is available at www.LitigationAid.com/Decision-Lyubarsky-v-Rayz-2020.pdf.

LSS was launched by Andrew Mogilyansky in 2016 as a boutique consultancy to help select clients and their lawyers brainstorm and win the toughest, most challenging lawsuits. Despite not being a lawyer himself and having a difficult and highly unusual personal history, Mr. Mogilyansky believed he had the expertise and analytical skills to deliver a significant advantage by participating in legal teams. By spring 2018, LSS was a highly respected consultancy with a number of major victories under its belt.

It was then that Mr. Mogilyansky was introduced to a hapless and mentally disabled Florida man, Yuri Lyubarsky, who was struggling to fend off an extremely aggressive lawyer from Pennsylvania. After a decade of unsuccessful litigation, the elderly Mr. Lyubarsky had paid out more than $200,000 and was about to lose his last lifeline – his disability benefits that allowed him to survive financially. Mr. Lyubarsky’s then-existing legal team had failed in a succession of motions and appeals – and was ready to give up.

“Before we got involved, Mr. Lyubarsky was an underdog locked in a decade-long fight against an overzealous lawyer,” said Andrew Mogilyansky, Managing Partner of LSS. “Using claims his offshore client purchased for only $3,000, Eric Rayz took almost everything Mr. Lyubarsky had. He even tried to seize his disability benefits.”

At Mr. Mogilyansky's suggestion, Mr. Lyubarsky hired a new lawyer in Florida and filed for bankruptcy. He then asked Mr. Mogilyansky to assist

“Sometimes you have to drop everything and help those in need. If you don't, nobody will. By 2018 my company LSS was doing great as a business, and I felt it was time for me to give back,” said Andrew Mogilyansky.

Mr. Mogilyansky agreed to assist Mr. Lyubarsky pro bono. This started a 2-year journey that ended with today's stunning court victory.

Soon after Mr. Lyubarsky sought bankruptcy protection, Eric Rayz, the unrelenting Pennsylvania attorney, demanded an additional $250,000 from him and accompanied this demand with a threat of severe retribution if Mr. Lyubarsky did not comply.

“Eric Rayz threatened that if he did not get the $250,000 by the following Monday, he would release damaging information about Mr. Lyubarsky to the Bankruptcy Trustee and the U.S. Attorney's Office. When I wrote to him that his conduct was inappropriate, he responded that he did not care,” said Leonid Nerdinsky, the Miami lawyer who helped Mr. Lyubarsky file for bankruptcy in 2018.

These demands and threats were not the last improper actions that. “After his threats failed to produce result, Rayz filed a falsely exaggerated claim for $400,000 claim that withheld a key document,” said lead counsel Gary Seitz who joined Mr. Lyubarsky's legal team in 2019 to help hold Rayz accountable.

When the withheld document uncovered by LSS and brought to the court’s attention, Rayz defended his misconduct with doctored pictures and testimony that the court found “convoluted” and “unbelievable”.

“Andrew Mogilyansky was key to this case,” said Mr. Seitz. “He came up with the idea of demanding sanctions from Rayz, identified factual gems and legal theories that made our victory possible, helped define legal strategy and suggested a brilliant move at trial. Andrew’s talent, analytical skills and competence were key to our success. This is especially remarkable given his difficult personal history and the adversity Andrew overcame before starting LSS.”

This opinion was echoed by Mr. Seitz’s co-counsel. “Andrew Mogilyansky made incredibly valuable discoveries in court records and identified legal errors missed by a succession of prior lawyers. He uncovered documents Rayz withheld and pictures Rayz tampered with. Andrew’s involvement was a game-changer for our entire legal team,” said Florida attorney Leonid Nerdinsky.

Two Philadelphia lawyers who worked with LSS on other cases acknowledged Mr. Mogilyansky’s expertise in their supporting affidavits filed in Florida.

“With respect to Andrew’s professional skills, his research, analytical, writing and negotiation skills are unmatched,” wrote George Bochetto, senior partner at Bochetto & Lentz, P.C.

Elvin Ross, the managing partner of law firm Legis Group LLC (www.legisgroup.law), wrote that he had “marveled at the ingenuity of Andrew’s ideas on both tactical and strategic direction of the case, his masterful guidance of all related negotiations, and at how legally precise and eloquent his drafts of pleadings and communications were.”

“My life changed when Andrew Mogilyansky stepped in to help me,” said Yuri Lyubarsky, the disabled man who will reap most of the court decision’s benefits. “Andrew then persuaded Gary Seitz to help me as well. Rayz made my life miserable for over a decade. He froze my disability benefits. I was a deer in the headlights, contemplating suicide. Gary Seitz and Andrew Mogilyansky saved my life and restored my faith in Justice.”

About LSS:

Litigation Support Services LLC is a boutique consultancy in Southampton, Pennsylvania that helps select clients manage important high-value negotiations and litigation. For more information, visit www.LSS.LLC.

Contact: Andrew Mogilyansky, LSS Managing Partner, 215-909-9000, andrew@litigationaid.com

Media Packet:

An information packet containing records described in the court decision (such as the doctored picture) are available at www.LitigationAid.com/Information-Packet-Lyubarsky-2020.pdf.

Andrew Mogilyansky
Litigation Support Serivices LLC
+1 215-909-9000
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