The multi-front litigation over bond insurer MBIA Inc.’s 2009 restructuring is already about as heated as they come, and the lawyers involved have never been shy about expressing their opinions. But in an unusual press release on Jan. 4, one of MBIA’s key adversaries publicly aired a back-room spat that erupted last month between MBIA counsel Marc Kasowitz of Kasowitz Benson Torres & Friedman and David Ichel of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, who represents Aurelius Capital Management.
Aurelius released a Dec. 21 letter from Mr. Kasowitz, in which Mr. Kasowitz accused Mr. Ichel and Aurelius chairman Mark Brodsky of breaking state law by telling Reuters and Bloomberg that MBIA’s settlements with banks that held structured finance policies illustrated the bond insurer’s precarious financial situation. (Mr. Ichel made a similar statement last month to the Litigation Daily, a Law Journal affiliate, after MBIA reached a settlement with Morgan Stanley.)
