Attached is a personal interview with two of our senior business partners, attorneys Doron Afik and Shlomi Turgman, following the resignation of the firm from businessman Eli Reifman. . The Epic-Turgeman Office, which I value and admire for investing in my portfolio, will continue to advise me outside and accompany me in the process before Judge Verde Elshich. "
(Hebrew Only)
Reifman attorneys resigned: "We did beautiful things in this case"
At the end of a year of working around the clock in the service of Eli Reifman, his resigning attorneys, Shlomi Turgeman and Doron Afik, are free to defend their controversial conduct in the case. For them, it was Eitan Erez who "conducted himself aggressively and uninformed." Of themselves they are pleased: "We have done the impossible
Anat Roa and Mark Sean 14.04.10, 09: 179 Comments
"There is no frustration, but there is a feeling of missing out" - this is how Shlomi Turgeman and Doron Afik, the resigning lawyers of Emblaze founder Eli Reifman, sum up the turbulent year they have had since the opening of the proceedings against Reifman in March 2009 until their resignation earlier this week. The two do not explicitly confirm this, but it seems that the background to the resignation is disagreements with Reifman over the management of the case. According to Reifman, the background is his inability to pay for the 3,000 hours of work they invested in the portfolio, in their estimation.
Bottom line, Turgeman and Afik say, they are proud of the accomplishments they have achieved for their client, including their success in getting him released from a 50-day jail term, and the fact that to this day Reifman continues to fight for his economic recovery without being declared bankrupt.
But along with these facts, the two agree that there was something unusual in the case, especially regarding the murky relationship that developed between them and Reifman and Judge Varda Alsich and the special manager, Adv. Eitan Erez. On the scale with Reifman: When Judge Alsheikh did not believe in Reifman she also did not believe them, and when she attacked Reifman she did not hesitate to attack them either.
Why did you resign from the case?
Afik: "One of the reasons we are not in the picture is that there is a special state of 'anger' between the debtor and the special manager. Now that we are out of the picture, the special manager will have to try and talk to the debtor and start finding solutions, instead of continuing on a crusade. "Because we think we have done him an injustice here and continue to be behind him, but we are not in front of him and can not continue to be in a situation where we serve as a buffer between the special administrator and the debtor. It is time to transfer the reins."
How did you feel about the negative treatment you received from the court?
Turgeman: "I used to show up at Alshikh so I always knew what was going to happen. All the way through the discussions were excellent and so were the results. In this procedure something was different. There was impatience and a reluctance to hear the arguments or discuss them. And judgments, it would seem that here it is different from the conduct I know.The obvious comparison is to Lev Leviev, who received a different treatment, although speaking of orphans, widows and retirees, unlike Reifman, who worked with people who knew well to price the risk, their profession It is money; it is borrowed at a very high interest rate. "
How do you explain that?
Turgeman: "The court wants information and this is important to him and rightly so, but he appointed a special manager for his long arm who in this case acted in an unwise, aggressive manner. He created a non-existent reality for the court and blackened the debtor's face. Then, instead of trying to create a partnership "Action and checking the assets and what can be done, suddenly there was a war between the parties; and when the lawyers stand and do not want to be dragged into the wrong move of searching under the flashlight, they are attacked because they are perceived as helping to oblige to hide."
What do you think made you overly identified with Reifman?
Afik: "An illogical situation has arisen where the special administrator is 'annoyed' with the debtor, so any conversation should be made through the debtor's lawyers. Erez, for example, did not visit Reifman in prison at all, until we demanded it after almost two months. opal".
Turgeman: "The identity was created because it was a very intensive procedure that needed answers in a short time, and had great media coverage. But I'm sure we did the impossible in this case, both in terms of the quality of the work and the results."
What achievements will you remember from this portfolio?
Afik: "In practice, this is a case that has created several precedents. No one has ever been imprisoned in Israel in a process of contempt of court in such circumstances, and certainly not for such a long period. A re-examination of this area has been done here after decades and a huge logical leap, because the rulings from the fifties stated that if a request for imprisonment has even a hint of a feeling that stems from punishment, then the whole move is null and void. Here the Supreme Court said he was uncomfortable with the punitive part and dismissed only it. It is a matter of principle and we have done beautiful things in it. "