Practices & Industries

Education

  • Columbia University School of Law (J.D.)
  • Brooklyn College (B.A., summa cum laude)

Bar/Court Admissions

  • New York
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York
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Michael Evan Avidon

Michael Evan Avidon

Partner

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T(212) 554-7854

Michael Evan Avidon is Co-Chair of Moses & Singer’s Banking & Finance Practice Group.  Mike’s clients include money center banks (often acting as administrative agent for a syndicate of lenders) as well as other financial institutions.

Mike is widely recognized for his knowledge of letters of credit, lending, and secured transactions.  His practice emphasizes secured and unsecured lending transactions, letter of credit transactions, trade finance, supply chain finance, accounts receivable purchases, draft discounting, subscription finance, electronic contracting, white labeling agreements, and letter of credit litigation.  His letter of credit work involves standby, direct pay, and commercial letters of credit as well as demand guarantees.

Mike served as an Observer to the Joint Study Committee on the Uniform Commercial Code and Emerging Technologies (involving digital negotiable instruments and other innovations and proposed changes to the UCC) and was a member of the ICC’s Consultative Group that helped prepare the ICC’s Uniform Rules for BPOs (automated bank payment obligations).  He was a leading participant in the 1990's revision of UCC Article 5 on Letters of Credit and the preparation of the International Standby Practices 1998 (ISP98). He served on the American Bar Association/U.S.C.I.B. Task Force whose report led to the 1990's UCC Article 5 revision.  He also participated in drafting Rules of Arbitration for the International Center for Letter of Credit Arbitration, Inc. and is a charter member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Documentary Credit World (and, previously, of Letter of Credit Update).

Mike writes and speaks frequently about letters of credit, demand guarantees, syndicated lending, secured transactions, trade finance, and other finance-related topics, and actively participates in bar associations and trade groups. Mike was elected a Fellow of the prestigious American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers. He is a past Co-Chair of the Letters of Credit Subcommittee of the UCC Committee of the American Bar Association and is a past Chair of the Subcommittee on Letters of Credit of the New York State Bar Association's Banking Law Committee.

Mike has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America® as well as Law & Politics' New York Super Lawyers®.  Martindale-Hubbell® awarded him its highest AV rating for both ethics and legal abilities in his practice area.

Law School Activities/Honors
  • Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, Columbia University School of Law
Presentations
  • Program Chair, Moderator and Panelist: "Letters of Credit & Applicant Bankruptcy: U.S. and Canadian Bankruptcy Provisions and Cases for Beneficiaries, Issuers, Applicants and Others," American Bar Association, March 2019.
  • Program Chair and Panelist: "Letters of Credit & Bank Guarantees: Traps for the Unwary in Cross-Border & Domestic Transactions," American Bar Association, April 2016.
  • "If You Build It, Will They Come? The New Bank Payment Obligation (BPO),"  Moses & Singer Webinar, March 2014.
  • Frequent speaker and panelist, including for the ABA,  BAFT, the City Bar Center for CLE, the PLI, the Institute of International Banking Law & Practice, other trade associations and bar associations, and banks, regarding: letters of credit, demand guarantees, syndicated lending, secured transactions, supply chain finance, UCC Articles 9, 8 and 5, UCP 600, ISP98, URDG 758 and the URBPO.
Professional Affiliations
  • New York State Bar Association (Past-Chair, Subcommittee on Letters of Credit; Member, Banking Law Committee, Business Law Section)

  • American Bar Association (Past-Co-Chair, Subcommittee on Letters of Credit; Member, Subcommittees on Secured Transactions, Loan Documentation, Syndications and Lender Relations, Legal Opinions in Commercial Finance, and Cross Border and Trade Financing, Committees on Banking Law, Uniform Commercial Code, Commercial Finance, and Legal Opinions, and Business Law Section (and other groups); and 1986-1990 was a Member of the Task Force on the Study of U.C.C. Article 5)

  • American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers

Representative Matters

  • Represented money center bank as agent in structuring, negotiating and closing a $475 million syndicated subscription credit facility for three mezzanine debt funds and two of their feeder funds organized in U.S. and foreign jurisdictions.
  • Represented money center bank in innovative partial transfer and silent confirmation of large international letter of credit to finance sale of gas turbines.
  • Represented the New York Branch of a foreign bank, which was the target of legal actions in India and New York seeking contradictory relief, in obtaining a stay in New York pending completion of an arbitration to determine whether a drawing on a letter of credit was fraudulent.
  • Represented money center bank as administrative agent in structuring, negotiating and closing multi-billion dollar syndicated facilities for U.S. clearing corporations.
  • Represented money center bank as administrative agent in structuring, negotiating and closing a multi-billion dollar syndicated subscription credit facility for large private equity and energy funds organized in U.S. and foreign jurisdictions.
  • Represented money center bank that had issued a counter-standby letter of credit in defeating applicant's motion for a preliminary injunction.
  • Represented money center bank as administrative agent in structuring, negotiating and closing syndicated secured letter of credit facilities for one of the largest solar power companies in the world.
  • Represented money center bank as administrative agent in structuring, negotiating and closing syndicated subscription credit facility for one of the world's largest and most prominent private equity funds.
  • Represented issuing bank in obtaining summary judgment upholding the bank's dishonor of a drawing under a standby letter of credit where presentation failed to include the original letter of credit and amendments as mandated by the credit's express terms.
  • Represented many U.S. national banks and branches of foreign banks in preparing letter of credit-related forms such as reimbursement agreements, letter of credit templates, assignments of letter of credit proceeds, and commitments to purchase or negotiate documents.

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Biography

Michael Evan Avidon is Co-Chair of Moses & Singer’s Banking & Finance Practice Group.  Mike’s clients include money center banks (often acting as administrative agent for a syndicate of lenders) as well as other financial institutions.

Mike is widely recognized for his knowledge of letters of credit, lending, and secured transactions.  His practice emphasizes secured and unsecured lending transactions, letter of credit transactions, trade finance, supply chain finance, accounts receivable purchases, draft discounting, subscription finance, electronic contracting, white labeling agreements, and letter of credit litigation.  His letter of credit work involves standby, direct pay, and commercial letters of credit as well as demand guarantees.

Mike served as an Observer to the Joint Study Committee on the Uniform Commercial Code and Emerging Technologies (involving digital negotiable instruments and other innovations and proposed changes to the UCC) and was a member of the ICC’s Consultative Group that helped prepare the ICC’s Uniform Rules for BPOs (automated bank payment obligations).  He was a leading participant in the 1990's revision of UCC Article 5 on Letters of Credit and the preparation of the International Standby Practices 1998 (ISP98). He served on the American Bar Association/U.S.C.I.B. Task Force whose report led to the 1990's UCC Article 5 revision.  He also participated in drafting Rules of Arbitration for the International Center for Letter of Credit Arbitration, Inc. and is a charter member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Documentary Credit World (and, previously, of Letter of Credit Update).

Mike writes and speaks frequently about letters of credit, demand guarantees, syndicated lending, secured transactions, trade finance, and other finance-related topics, and actively participates in bar associations and trade groups. Mike was elected a Fellow of the prestigious American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers. He is a past Co-Chair of the Letters of Credit Subcommittee of the UCC Committee of the American Bar Association and is a past Chair of the Subcommittee on Letters of Credit of the New York State Bar Association's Banking Law Committee.

Mike has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America® as well as Law & Politics' New York Super Lawyers®.  Martindale-Hubbell® awarded him its highest AV rating for both ethics and legal abilities in his practice area.

Law School Activities/Honors
  • Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, Columbia University School of Law
Presentations
  • Program Chair, Moderator and Panelist: "Letters of Credit & Applicant Bankruptcy: U.S. and Canadian Bankruptcy Provisions and Cases for Beneficiaries, Issuers, Applicants and Others," American Bar Association, March 2019.
  • Program Chair and Panelist: "Letters of Credit & Bank Guarantees: Traps for the Unwary in Cross-Border & Domestic Transactions," American Bar Association, April 2016.
  • "If You Build It, Will They Come? The New Bank Payment Obligation (BPO),"  Moses & Singer Webinar, March 2014.
  • Frequent speaker and panelist, including for the ABA,  BAFT, the City Bar Center for CLE, the PLI, the Institute of International Banking Law & Practice, other trade associations and bar associations, and banks, regarding: letters of credit, demand guarantees, syndicated lending, secured transactions, supply chain finance, UCC Articles 9, 8 and 5, UCP 600, ISP98, URDG 758 and the URBPO.
Professional Affiliations
  • New York State Bar Association (Past-Chair, Subcommittee on Letters of Credit; Member, Banking Law Committee, Business Law Section)

  • American Bar Association (Past-Co-Chair, Subcommittee on Letters of Credit; Member, Subcommittees on Secured Transactions, Loan Documentation, Syndications and Lender Relations, Legal Opinions in Commercial Finance, and Cross Border and Trade Financing, Committees on Banking Law, Uniform Commercial Code, Commercial Finance, and Legal Opinions, and Business Law Section (and other groups); and 1986-1990 was a Member of the Task Force on the Study of U.C.C. Article 5)

  • American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers
Practices & Industries
Education
  • Columbia University School of Law (J.D.)
  • Brooklyn College (B.A., summa cum laude)
Bar/Court Admissions
  • New York
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York
Representative Matters
  • Represented money center bank as agent in structuring, negotiating and closing a $475 million syndicated subscription credit facility for three mezzanine debt funds and two of their feeder funds organized in U.S. and foreign jurisdictions.
  • Represented money center bank in innovative partial transfer and silent confirmation of large international letter of credit to finance sale of gas turbines.
  • Represented the New York Branch of a foreign bank, which was the target of legal actions in India and New York seeking contradictory relief, in obtaining a stay in New York pending completion of an arbitration to determine whether a drawing on a letter of credit was fraudulent.
  • Represented money center bank as administrative agent in structuring, negotiating and closing multi-billion dollar syndicated facilities for U.S. clearing corporations.
  • Represented money center bank as administrative agent in structuring, negotiating and closing a multi-billion dollar syndicated subscription credit facility for large private equity and energy funds organized in U.S. and foreign jurisdictions.
  • Represented money center bank that had issued a counter-standby letter of credit in defeating applicant's motion for a preliminary injunction.
  • Represented money center bank as administrative agent in structuring, negotiating and closing syndicated secured letter of credit facilities for one of the largest solar power companies in the world.
  • Represented money center bank as administrative agent in structuring, negotiating and closing syndicated subscription credit facility for one of the world's largest and most prominent private equity funds.
  • Represented issuing bank in obtaining summary judgment upholding the bank's dishonor of a drawing under a standby letter of credit where presentation failed to include the original letter of credit and amendments as mandated by the credit's express terms.
  • Represented many U.S. national banks and branches of foreign banks in preparing letter of credit-related forms such as reimbursement agreements, letter of credit templates, assignments of letter of credit proceeds, and commitments to purchase or negotiate documents.
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