Wolf Popper LLP

Education:

  • Brooklyn Law School (J.D., summa cum laude, 2004)
  • State University of New York at Binghamton (B.S., Accounting, 1999)

Bar Admissions:

  • New York
  • Southern and Eastern Districts of New York
Practice Areas

James Kelly-Kowlowitz

Associate

jkelly@wolfpopper.com
(212) 451-9635

James Kelly-Kowlowitz is an associate at Wolf Popper. He is a summa cum laude graduate of Brooklyn Law School, where he received various awards including the CALI Award for Excellence in Securities Regulation and the Edith C. Blum Foundation Prize for exceptional achievement in the area of Taxation. Mr. Kelly-Kowlowitz obtained a B.S. in Accounting from the State University of New York at Binghamton, where he was a member of Beta Alpha Psi, National Honor Society. During law school, Mr. Kelly-Kowlowitz interned for the Honorable Allan L. Gropper at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, S.D.N.Y., and interned for the New York City Department of Finance, Office of Legal Affairs. Mr. Kelly-Kowlowitz is also a Certified Public Accountant with extensive knowledge of taxation, accounting and financial reporting.

Since joining Wolf Popper in September of 2004, Mr. Kelly-Kowlowitz has spent much of his time working in Wolf Popper’s Corporate Transactional Department. These cases typically involve the failure of directors to obtain the highest price in the sale of a company or to provide shareholders with sufficient information so that they could make an informed decision in a merger or tender offer situation. Some of the cases he helped litigate include buyout transactions involving Nassda Corp., Mossimo, Inc., William Lyons Homes, The Topps Company, Inc., James River Group, Inc., and Bioenvision, Inc.

Mr. Kelly-Kowlowitz is also active in Wolf Popper’s Consumer Fraud and Commercial Law Departments. Most recently, he was part of the team that litigated claims against Google, Inc., on behalf of Google’s customers (advertisers) that placed ads on Google and were overcharged. After extensive motion practice, a settlement was reached in the amount of $20 million. He was also a member of the team that successfully litigated claims on behalf of purchasers of alleged improper tax shelters from Bank One Corporation.  Currently, he is a member of the team litigating claims against Jackson Hewitt for overcharging its customers for tax preparation services.

He is also an active member of Wolf Popper’s ERISA Department. Recently, he was a member of the group of attorneys that prosecuted In re AIG ERISA Litigation, Master File No. 04-cv-9387 (JES) (AJP) (S.D.N.Y.), a case arising out of accounting fraud at AIG that caused substantial losses to 401(k) participants’ investment in AIG stock. After successfully defeating defendants’ motions to dismiss the consolidated complaint, on October 7, 2008, the Court approved the settlement of In re AIG ERISA Litigation, in the amount of $24.2 million. Currently, he is a member of the group of attorneys representing participants and beneficiaries of the Citigroup 401(k) Plan and the Citibuilder 401(k) Plan for Puerto Rico.

Mr. Kelly-Kowlowitz has also provided substantial assistance to the firm’s Securities Litigation Department over the years. Most recently, he was a member of the team that obtained a reversal of a district court’s grant of summary judgment for defendants from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (Huberman v. Tag-It Pac., Inc., 314 Fed. Appx. 59 (9th Cir. Cal. 2009). Shortly after the reversal, the parties settled the litigation.   

Mr. Kelly-Kowlowitz is admitted to the Bar of the State of New York, the Bar of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and the Bar of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.