KENNETH DANTE MURENA (vCard) is a business litigator and bankruptcy practitioner who focuses his practice on commercial, securities and fraud litigation, equity receiverships, corporate restructuring and bankruptcy, and creditors' rights.

After graduating from law school in 1998, Mr. Murena served as the Law Clerk to Honorable Paul G. Hyman, Jr., United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of Florida. Subsequently, he joined a prominent Miami-based law firm and focused his practice on complex commercial litigation, bankruptcy, and receiverships, in both state and federal court, at the trial and appellate levels. Mr. Murena has represented private individuals ranging from plaintiffs in civil disputes to defendants in SEC, CFTC and FTC enforcement actions, and corporate entities ranging from small businesses to public companies. In the context of bankruptcy proceedings, he has represented corporate debtors-in-possession, creditors committees, individual and corporate creditors, banks and other financial institutions, private lenders, and bankruptcy and liquidating trustees. In receivership matters, Mr. Murena has represented state and federal equity receivers and defrauded investors, including class representatives.

Mr. Murena was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1998 and is licensed to practice in all state and federal courts in Florida and the United States Courts of Appeals for the Third and Eleventh Circuits.

REPRESENTATIVE CASES

Litigation - Represented defendants in enforcement actions brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodities Futures Trade Commission, and the Federal Trade Commission in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida; worked on the legal team that represented the Estate of George Batchelor in the $500 million fraudulent transfer action arising from the leveraged buyout of International Air Leases, Inc., which filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida; represented the Federal Equity Receiver of Viatical Capital, Inc. and its affiliates in a fraudulent transfer action that resulted in a jury trial in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida against the brokers of the receivership entities who received commissions in exchange for selling fraudulent investment products to investors; represented class representatives in a class action filed in the Mutual Benefits Corporation federal equity receivership proceeding in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, which after less than one year of litigation, returned $105 million dollars – a 100% recovery – to the class representatives and all members of the class; worked on the legal team that successfully defended Steel Hector & Davis in a $500 million legal malpractice case that arose from the collapse of Southeast Bank.

Bankruptcy - Chapter 11 Reorganizations - Worked on the legal teams that represented debtors-in-possession, including national and international
corporations (Beverage Canners International Corp. involving $63 million of debt; CHS Electronics, Inc. involving $725 million of debt) and real estate developers (New Florida Properties Corp. reorganization involving $102 million of debt); Creditors' Rights - worked on the legal teams that represented various creditor interests in Chapter 11 reorganizations and converted liquidations, including individual creditors (Estate of George Batchelor in International Air Leases, Inc. reorganization), corporate creditors (Unipro Foodservice, Inc. in United Container, LLC reorganization, resulting in favorable decision: E.S. Bankest, LLC v. United Beverage Florida, LLC, 284 B.R. 162 (Bankr. S.D. Fla. 2002)), banks and other lending institutions (Wilmington Trust Company, as indenture trustee, in Atlas Air, Inc. reorganization involving over $1 billion in debt) (1st Source Bank in Amerijet International, Inc. reorganization), private lenders (Carnival Cruise Lines, as post-petition secured lender under Revolving Credit Facility in GoCruiseDirect.com reorganization), bankruptcy trustees (Aerofloral, Inc. reorganization/liquidation), liquidating trustees (United Petroleum/Farm Stores reorganization), and corporate landlords (The Walt Disney Company in Estrellamundo of California, LLC reorganization/liquidation).

SEC Receiverships - Worked on the legal team that represented the Federal Equity Receiver appointed by United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida in the receivership case of Securities and Exchange Commission v. Viatical Capital, Inc., et al. ( www.lifereceivership.com), where the receivership entities fraudulently sold over $59 million in securities in the form of viatical insurance policies and investor and creditor claims total over $50 million, and the Receiver successfully marshaled over $25 million in assets and allowed claimants are expected to receive an unprecedented 50% distribution. Worked on the legal team that represents the Federal Equity Receiver appointed by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida in the case of Securities and Exchange Commission v. Pension Fund of America, et al (www.pfareceivership.com), where the receivership entities fraudulently sold over $120 million in securities in the form of long-term investment products and investor and creditor claims are estimated to total over $75 million, and the Receiver successfully marshaled over $20 million in assets to be distributed to the defrauded investors and creditors.

Federal Appeals - Successfully defended an airline in a Federal appeal that created new law in the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit regarding the issue of multiple occurrences for purposes of insurance coverage in the context of a airplane crash: Flemming v. Air Sunshine, Inc., 311 F.3d 282 (3d Cir. 2002); represented defendants in enforcement actions brought by the Commodities Futures Trade Commission and Federal Trade Commission in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida and appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

REPRESENTATIVE PUBLISHED DECISIONS

E.S. Blankest, LLC v. United Beverage Florida, LLC (In re United Container, LLC), 284 B.R. 162 (Banker.
S.D. Fla. 2002).

Flemming v. Air Sunshine, Inc., 311 F.3d 282 (3d Cir. 2002).

Harbaugh v. Vardinoyannis, 2006 WL 1816463 (S.D. Fla. June 2, 2006), aff'd, 218 Fed. Appx. 950 (11th Cir. 2007).

BAR & COURT ADMISSIONS

Florida (1998)

The United States District Courts for Southern, Middle and Northern Districts of Florida (2001)

The United States Courts of Appeals for the Eleventh and Third Circuits (2001)

EDUCATION

University of Florida College of Law (J.D., 1998)
   Florida Law Review (Senior Articles Editor, 1997-1998)
   Journal of Law & Public Policy (Senior Articles Editor, 1996-97)
   Legal Research & Writing (Honors, 1995; Assistant Instructor, 1996)
   Appellate Advocacy (Honors, 1996; Assistant Instructor, 1997)
   Professor Jerold H. Israel (Research Assistant, 1997-1998)
   Alachua County State Attorney's Office (Certified Prosecutor Intern, 1998)

University of Florida College of Liberal Arts & Sciences (B.A., 1995)
   Graduated with Honors
   Four-Year Outstanding Scholar (top 1% of class)
   Anderson Scholar of the Highest Distinction
   Phi Beta Kappa (Early Induction, Fall 1994)
   Hall of Fame (Inducted Spring 1995)

PROFESSIONAL & COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

American Bar Association (Member, Litigation & Federal Courts Sections)
Florida Bar (Member, Business Law Section)
Dade County Bar Association (Member)
Bankruptcy Bar Association (Member)
Italian American Bar Association (Member)
Italy-America Chamber of Commerce Southeast (Business Member)
Educate Tomorrow (Mentor and Volunteer)
Friends of the New World Symphony (Business Member)