Justin Ellis litigates high-stakes business disputes from the filing of a complaint through appeal. He tries cases and argues appeals in federal and state courts, often on complex commercial and financial subjects. He has litigated in every level of the judicial system from state trial courts to the Supreme Court of the United States.
Ellis has particular experience in disputes involving bankruptcy, distressed debt, and special situations. He regularly acts for ad hoc groups of creditors in and out of bankruptcy court, as well as indenture trustees and other fiduciaries. The matters he has handled include bondholder litigation; prosecuting and defending claims against directors and officers for breach of fiduciary duty; fraudulent transfer, tortious-interference, alter-ego liability, and other lender-liability claims; judgment-enforcement matters; and litigation for and against sovereigns. In particular, he has litigated – and tried – multiple matters involving liability management exercises on behalf of sponsors, issuers, and other creditors. Many of his matters are cross-border, including Chapter 15 restructuring proceedings and Section 1782 discovery requests.
Lawdragon Honors
Ellis also has significant structured-finance experience. He has acted for trustees, certificateholders, and servicers across a variety of product types, including RMBS, CMBS, and CDOs. His work includes claims for breaches of contractual representations and warranties; trust-instruction and waterfall disputes about payment priorities; disputes about servicing rights and call rights; and other matters. He has been ranked for more than 5 years as Band 1 by Chambers in the field of plaintiffs-side RMBS litigation.
In addition, Ellis maintains a broad practice in complex commercial litigation. He has tried cases and handled appeals on a broad range of subjects, including breach of contract, trade secrets, fraud, antitrust, and trusts and estates. Ellis acts for both plaintiffs and defendants in matters across the country. Together with the MoloLamken team, Ellis has recovered more than $2 billion for clients over the last five years.
Lawdragon has named Ellis as one of the country's top litigators and plaintiff's financial litigators, as well as one of the top bankruptcy and restructuring attorneys in the United States.
Prior to joining MoloLamken, Ellis was an associate in the New York office of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP. He also served as a law clerk to the Honorable Frank H. Easterbrook, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and as a research assistant to the Honorable Richard A. Posner and Professor William Landes.