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
|
Michael Evan Avidon
Partner
Contact Me
Michael Evan Avidon is Co-Chair of Moses & Singer’s Banking and 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, electronic contracting, outsourcing and 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 is an Observer to the Joint Study Committee on the Uniform Commercial Code and Emerging Technologies (involving digital negotiable instruments and other innovations) 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 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 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 on 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 Co-Chairs 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 bar associations, and banks, regarding: letters of credit, demand guarantees, syndicated lending, secured transactions, 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 (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.
Related News
- Moses & Singer LLP Attorneys Achieve Super Lawyer 2020 Status
October 28, 2020
- Mike Avidon To Co-Chair Virtual Meeting of ABA Letters Of Credit Subcommittee
September 22, 2020
- Michael Evan Avidon Honored with Appointment to American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers
April 1, 2015
- Michael Evan Avidon Advises Bankers on the BAFT Master Trade Loan Agreement
September 29, 2014
- Super Lawyers Honors 36 Moses & Singer Attorneys in 2014 New York Metro Edition
September 23, 2014
- Martindale-Hubbell Announces List of Top Rated Lawyers In New York
October 17, 2013
- Super Lawyers Announces List of Winning Moses & Singer Attorneys
September 23, 2013
- Moses & Singer Acts As Outside Counsel To JPMorgan Chase Bank and J.P. Morgan Securities On $14.6 Billion Credit Facility
July 1, 2013
- Moses & Singer LLP Banking Attorney Michael Evan Avidon Speaks on “Bank Payment Obligations – A New Era in International Trade Financeâ€
June 24, 2013
- Moses & Singer LLP Contributes to Lexis Practice Advisor, a LexisNexis Product for Attorneys Handling Transactional Matters
January 31, 2013
- New York Super Lawyers® Lists Moses & Singer Lawyers
October 18, 2012
- Mike Avidon Provides an Update on Bank Payment Obligations
July 11, 2012
- Moses & Singer Celebrates Its Alumni
June 21, 2012
- Moses & Singer Lawyers Contribute to Lexis® Practice Advisor
February 21, 2012
- Moses & Singer Attorneys Earn Top Listing
September 26, 2011
- New York Super Lawyers® Lists Moses & Singer Lawyers
September 30, 2010
- Moses & Singer A Sponsor of Japan Day 2010
June 14, 2010
- Moses & Singer Lawyers Listed in New York Super Lawyers®
October 23, 2009
- Moses & Singer Lawyers Listed in 2008 New York Super Lawyers®
September 1, 2008
- NY Magazine and Best Lawyers name Michael Evan Avidon and Gideon Rothschild in their 2008 survey results as two of "The New York Area's Best Lawyers"
December 21, 2007
- We congratulate our partners chosen to New York Super Lawyers
September 25, 2007
- Moses & Singer triumphs as a friend of the Court
September 16, 2006
Related Events
- Michael Evan Avidon Speaking at 2020 BAFT Virtual Trade Finance Workshop
June 22, 2020
- Michael Evan Avidon, Paul Roder & Dave Rabinowitz Will Be Panelists At This Year's Standby & Guarantee Forum & Letter of Credit Law Summit
October 31, 2019
- Mike Avidon to Speak at the 2019 BAFT New York Trade Finance Workshop
June 26, 2019
- Michael Evan Avidon and Mark N. Parry to Speak at ABA Business Law Section 2019 Spring Meeting
March 29, 2019
- Standby & Guarantee Forum + LC Law Summit
October 25, 2018
- New York Trade Finance Workshop
July 19, 2018
- Annual Survey of LC Law & Practice - Charlotte
March 15, 2018
- Standby & Guarantee Forum + LC Law Summit
October 26, 2017
- 2017 BAFT New York Trade Finance Workshop
June 22, 2017
- 25th Americas Annual Survey of Letter of Credit Law & Practice - Atlanta
March 16, 2017
- Standby & Guarantee Forum + LC Law Summit
October 27-28, 2016
- BAFT New York Trade Finance Workshop
June 17, 2016
- 2016 Americas Annual Survey of Letter of Credit Law & Practice
March 17-18, 2016
- The Institute of International Banking Law & Practice
October 15, 2015
- New York Trade Finance Workshop - Letters of Credit
June 11-12, 2015
- 24th Annual BAFT International Trade Conference - Trade Loan Agreements
November 13, 2014
- Americas Standby & Guarantee Forum and LC Law Summit
October 23, 2014 - October 24, 2014
- Developing Industry Best Practices: Introduction To The Master Trade Loan Agreement
September 16, 2014
- BAFT Global Trade Finance Workshop
June 5, 2014
- 2014 Americas Annual Survey of Letter of Credit Law & Practice
March 13-14, 2014
- Webinar: If You Build It, Will They Come? The New Bank Payment Obligation (BPO)
March 4, 2014
- Americas Letter of Credit Law Summit
October 25, 2013
- Americas Standby and Guarantee Forum
October 24, 2013
- BAFT-IFSA Global Trade Workshop
June 6 - 7, 2013
- 2013 Americas Annual LC Survey Conference
March 14 - 15, 2013
- 2012 Americas LC Law Summit
October 26, 2012
- 2012 Americas Standby & Guarantee Forum
October 25, 2012
- Documentary & Standby Letters of Credit, Guarantees and Reimbursements Workshop
June 28 - 29, 2012
- Commercial Lending Today: New Developments in Letters of Credit and Demand Guarantees
April 26, 2012
- New Options in Trade Finance: Understanding the New URDG 758
July 26, 2011
Related Articles
-
Important Holdings for Letter of Credit Users and Issuers From Recent New York Cases Involving Natixis Funding Corp. and Natixis, New York Branch
December 1, 2020
-
Credit Agreement Checklist of Issues To Consider In Light of the Ongoing Pandemic
May 5, 2020
-
Giving Credit Where Credit is Due: Letters of Credit and the Coronavirus
March 2020
-
Letters of Credit and Applicant Bankruptcy
October 1, 2019
-
Facing the Known Unknown: Advice to Banks and Other Financial Institutions Preparing for Compliance with New York’s New Cybersecurity Regulation
October 3, 2017
-
Original Letter of Credit Must Be Presented For Complying Presentation: MEPT 757 Third Avenue LLC v. Sterling National Bank
May 2, 2017
-
Trustees Post-Bankruptcy Counsel Fees not Allowed as Part of its Unsecured Claim against the Bankruptcy Estate
January 26, 2016
-
BAFT Master Trade Loan Agreement
October 20, 2014
-
Why New York Law and Jurisdiction Offers Advantages for International L/C Transactions
May 2014
-
Treasury and IRS Issue Final FATCA Regulations
February 2013
-
Model Standby Forms Under ISP98: Comments on Form 4 - Model Standby Providing for Transfer and Incorporating Annexed Form of Transfer Demand
July/August 2012
-
ISP98 Rule 3.12(a): Is it a Trap, or a Warning to an Unwary Beneficiary of a Letter of Credit
December 2010
-
Subscription-Secured Credit Facilities: Basic Credit-Related Issues for Secured Lenders
November 2010
-
A US Perspective on the New URDG758 Compared to ISP98, UCP600 and the NY UCC
September 2010
-
New Opportunities in Trade Finance: Understanding the URDG 758
September 2010
-
Drafting the Reimbursement Agreement to Protect the Issuer
March 2003
-
Forms Under Revised Article 9
January 2002
-
UCC Revised Articles 5 and 9 Assignment of Proceeds of Letter of Credit and Request for Issuer Consent
March 2000
-
Getting Ready for ISP98-The New International Standby Practices
December 1998
-
Getting Ready for ISP98-The International Standby Practices
October 1998
-
Notice of Nonrenewal of an 'Evergreen' Letter of Credit Must be 'Clear and Unequivocal'
September 1998
Biography
Michael Evan Avidon is Co-Chair of Moses & Singer’s Banking and 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, electronic contracting, outsourcing and 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 is an Observer to the Joint Study Committee on the Uniform Commercial Code and Emerging Technologies (involving digital negotiable instruments and other innovations) 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 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 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 on 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 Co-Chairs 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 bar associations, and banks, regarding: letters of credit, demand guarantees, syndicated lending, secured transactions, 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 (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
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.
|