Spector Gadon Rosen Vinci P.C. Shareholder and Director George M. Vinci, Jr. and Of Counsel Neal R. Troum recently obtained an amazing result for their clients in the adversary bankruptcy litigation proceeding Lightsway Litigation Services LLC v. Wimar Tahoe Corporation, et al., Bankr. D.Del. Adv No. 10-50289.

The Lightsway litigation resulted from the 2008 bankruptcy filing of the Tropicana Atlantic City casino. In re Tropicana Entertainment, et al., Bankr. D.Del. No. 08-10-856. The Lightsway plaintiff as successor to the unsecured creditors in the bankruptcy, brought claims against the two entities that had managed the Tropicana casino and a number of related casinos, Wimar Tahoe Corporation (“Wimar”) and Columbia Sussex Corporation (“CSC”). Lightsway brought claims against Wimar and CSC for an alleged breach of the management agreements between CSC or Wimar, on the one hand, and the casino entities, on the other; along with claims for breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing as well. Lightsway primarily relied upon the Atlantic City Casino Control Commission’s decision to deny Wimar a Casino License, and its accompanying decision, in support of its claim of mismanagement. Lightsway was claiming damages in excess of a half billion dollars. Lightsway originally brought additional claims against additional defendants which were dismissed on a motion to dismiss, only Lightsway’s contract and covenant claims against Wimar and CSC survived motions to dismiss.

Filed in 2010, the Lightsway adversary action did not go to trial for twelve years. The case was tried before the Hon. Mary Walrath, United States Bankruptcy Judge, over ten days in November and December 2022. On August 17, 2023, Judge Walrath issued her Opinion and Order soundly rejecting Plaintiff’s claims of mismanagement. She found, in a nutshell, that “Plaintiff has not met its burden of proving a breach of contract or breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing by the Defendants or the amount of any damages suffered . . . as a result of each of the Defendants’ actions.”

Accordingly, the Court entered judgment in favor of the Defendants and against Plaintiff.

In a case where the stakes could not have been higher, Messrs. Vinci and Troum successfully defended their clients against complicated commercial claims and obtained defense judgments in this long-suffering litigation.

George M. Vinci, Jr. is Shareholder and Director of Spector Gadon Rosen Vinci P.C., a Member of the Executive Committee, and Chairman of the Insurance Coverage & Casualty Litigation and Professional Liability & Malpractice Litigation practice groups. Mr. Vinci focuses his practice on civil litigation with a strong emphasis on professional malpractice, hospitality, employment, and insurance disputes.

Mr. Vinci’s litigation experience involves cases throughout the United States. Recently he obtained one of the highest verdicts in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000), in a fraud case against Grant Thornton. The case involved the sale of an abusive tax shelter. (William J. Yung et al v. Grant Thornton, LLP, et al., Kenton Cir. Ct., Fourth Division,  Commw. Of Kentucky, Case No. 07-CI-04647.) He was involved in a groundbreaking election fraud case (Marks v. Stinson) in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, which was aired on Court TV.

Mr. Vinci has successfully handled a wide variety of complex commercial litigation matters including tortious interference, civil RICO, FDCPA, Class Action Wage and Hour disputes and bankruptcy litigation. He also represents a large number of Long Term Care facilities in Florida.

Mr. Vinci is a member of the American Bar Association, the Pennsylvania Bar Association, the Professional Liability Underwriting Society and DRI. He served for six years as a panel member with the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Mr. Vinci has consistently been selected as a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer. In 2019, he was recognized with the Professional Excellence Award from The Legal Intelligencer, the oldest law journal in the United States, in the category of Distinguished Leaders. Mr. Vinci was also a recipient of the Philadelphia Business Journal’s 2019 Best of the Bar Award.  In 2021, he was one of only 30 attorneys nationwide to be named an Insurance Law Trailblazer by the National Law Journal.

Neal R. Troum is Of Counsel in the firm’s Philadelphia Commercial Litigation department. He is a seasoned litigator, whose experience includes securities litigation, complex adversary bankruptcy litigation, insurance defense, products liability, banking and commercial paper, and general contract and tort disputes. He previously worked at Sprague & Sprague and Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young in Philadelphia.

Mr. Troum has written extensively on the Federal Arbitration Act and other topics. He is an adjunct professor at Temple University Beasley School of Law, where he teaches Arbitration Law and Procedure, and he authored BNA Bloomberg’s litigation reference materials on the Federal Arbitration Act.

Spector Gadon Rosen Vinci P.C. has represented clients nationally and internationally for nearly 50 years and provides counsel and expertise across the entire spectrum of legal practice, from complex litigation to sophisticated transactional and corporate matters. The firm has offices in Philadelphia, New Jersey, Florida, and New York.

The firm represents businesses, corporate boards, and highly placed individuals. Its clients are engaged in a variety of industries including finance and banking, manufacturing, hospitality, gaming and entertainment, real estate and commercial development, insurance and venture capital, energy, financial services, health care, security and telecommunications.

The firm’s practice areas include high-stakes litigation, business disputes, commercial litigation, professional liability, products liability, securities, trust and estates, fiduciary litigation, bankruptcy and creditors rights, civil RICO, trade secrets, trademark and restrictive covenants, intellectual property, antitrust, white-collar criminal defense, banking and financial services, corporate formation and governance, employment, entertainment and amusements, environment and energy, wealth management, healthcare, hospitality, insurance coverage and insured casualty litigation, mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, real estate, sports and tax law.