New York Horse Lawyer

Dear Friends,

I am pleased to announce that effective December 22, 2009, I will be relocating my practice to 214 N. State Street, Syracuse, NY 13203. My new telephone number will be 315-295-1450. My new fax number will be 315-478-1687. My email will remain tengel@engelatty.com. My Saratoga office remains at 1104 Middleline Road, Ballston Spa, NY 12020.

I will continue to represent individuals and small businesses in the following practice areas:

• Estate Planning and Administration
• Trust Drafting and Implementation
• Business Development and formation
• Personal Injury Litigation
• Commercial Litigation
• Equine Matters, including partnership formation, syndication, licensing issues, or any other associated matter.

I look forward to this new opportunity and am excited to continue to provide the quality personal based representation you have come to expect from Engel Law Offices. Please contact me with any questions regarding this move.

Wishing you and your family the best during this holiday season.

Todd

It was announced today that Calvin Borel was pulled from being the jockey on Mine That Bird for the remainder of 2009. Why?

It’s plain and simple, Borel would not commit to riding Mine That Bird for the remainder of the 2009 campaign. Borel and his agent determined that he would ride Warrior’s Reward in the Jim Dandy in Saratoga rather than honor a commitment made to Chip Wooley the trainer of Mine That Bird to ride the Kentucky Derby winner throughout the 2009 campaign.

I support Mr. Wooley’s and the owners of Mine That Bird’s decision in removing Borel as the jockey. Borel and his agent made a commitment to the owners to ride the horse throughout 2009 save for races when Borel would ride Rachel Alexandra. I can appreciate that, because Borel made that commitment before taking the mount on Mine That Bird, so I would have expected him to honor that promise.

I was always taught the only thing you have to rely on is your word. What Borel did by not honoring his commitment to Chip Wooley is say “my word is no good.” That is not they way that one should conduct business.The character Mr. Borel portrayed was one of being the nice guy on the backstretch. The one who would work horses out and jump on his mounts in the afternoon. He was portrayed as one of those jockeys well liked by others. Unfortunately his actions have belied a much different person. A selfish person who has no regard for the word he gives.

I wish Mine That Bird great success this year. I hope that he wins the West Virginia Derby and that he shows up at the Travers Stakes on August 29th. I then hope Calvin Borel is given a mount on a Travers horse and Mine That Bird cleans his clock each and every time they race against each other.

Good luck Mine That Bird!

Jess Jackson recently purchased Kentucky Oaks winner Rachel Alexander for the price of $10,000,000. Now, pardon me if I watch as my Kendall Jackson wine prices all of a sudden skyrocket!

To most of us, ten million dollars is an astronomical amount of money. The logical question then becomes how does one come up with such a figure as a sales price? The second question that comes to mind is why would someone pay it?

In analyzing a sales price for a horse of Rachel Alexander’s magnitude, remember she just won the Kentucky Oaks by over 20 lengths, one needs to evaluate several criteria. First, the horse’s earning potential on the track. Jackson owned Curlin, the horse who presently has the most earnings of any race horse from purses on the track with just over $10.2 million dollars. He knows that the likelihood that this filly will achieve that sum is remote. This is because should she continue to run against male competition as she is scheduled to do in the Preakness, she could be competitive but it is not guaranteed that she will be successful. Should she run against fillies she will find short fields and few competitors and more importantly, lower purses. As a result the valuation is minimally based upon potential race earnings.

Rachel Alexander presently is the broodmare prospect for 2009. It remains to be seen whether her racing will bear that out, but assuming that statement hold up, how will Jess Jackson recoup his investment? As the adage goes it will take money to make money because the expectation I am assuming will be that Rachel Alexander will make money through breeding.

The difficulty is that this is completely speculative. If Rachel Alexander is infertile, then the purchase will never recoup its value. Unlike a colt who can be booked for multiple mares in a season thereby earning stud fees on a recurrent basis, a filly or mare can only recoup monies after the foal is born and raised for a year and then sold at the yearling sales. Assuming a ten year breeding cycle, Mr. Jackson is betting that two things happen, first Rachel Alexander produces great runners with outstanding confirmation that would bring in excess of a million dollars at a yearling sale. Secondly, that the economy turns around so that there are interested buyers for the foal.

I wish him luck with this. As for me, I am skeptical that Mr. Jackson will ever recoup his investment.

Todd Engel
tengel@engelatty.com

For me, this weekend is the Superbowl, the Daytona 500 and the World Series all wrapped into one package. This weekend is the 135th Kentucky Derby. For as long as I can remember, my family gathered around and watched the Derby, we would analyze the race and determine which horse we liked. It is something we continued eve as we became more involved in the thoroughbred industry, sometimes foregoing our heads for our hearts given whether we knew anyone involved with one of the horses; trainer, owner, jockey or breeder. The Kentucky Derby has been and continues to be the pinnacle of horse racing. It is run early in the year, however which means that the horse who wins this one race may not be the best horse at the end of the year, but usually he has a pretty good shot. The road to the Derby is paved with many pretenders, but at the end of the day Saturday, we will know the champion.
I usually spend a lot of time watching the prep races to get a good handle on the different horses and where they are coming up to the Derby. I watch the trainers and the jockeys. I am a believer that Churchill Downs and the Derby in particular is a race for the closer. I therefore come into handicapping the Derby with an inherent bias towards a horse who can come from behind. I remained consistent this year with that theory. That does not mean that there hasn’t been winners on the lead, I just believe that the track favors a closer. In 1994, Go for Gin, a Nick Zito trained colt was 12 lengths off the lead at the top of the stretch and managed to win going away, and he was not the only closer.
My horse to beat, Quality Road, scratched last week due to the fact that a second crack was found in his hoof. Hopefully it will be patched and he will be around for the Preakness and or the Belmont. He looks to be an exciting horse and I look forward to watching him later in the year.
This year, I think that Friesan Fire, a horse trained by Larry Jones will be at or near the front of the pack. He will be the strongest contender of the front running style horse. If West Side Bernie is going to pull an upset of significant magnitude, he will have to do it on the lead; however I do not expect him to make the distance with this group. I also suspect Regal Ransom, the Godolphin representative to be near the front.
Those running at the middle of the pack will be led in stature by Pioneer of the Nile. I suspect Bob Baffert, who has won the Kentucky Derby three times will hold him a little off the pace meaning third through sixth for the first quarter mile to half mile when he will make his move. Many feel that this horse, who is the only one in the Derby from last year’s two year old campaign, is the one to beat. I think he will be live for exactas and trifectas but don’t think that he will give Baffert his fourth Derby trophy. Expect General Quarters to try to make a move from this group; however I think that the field outclasses this horse and he will find a place in different stakes company throughout the year.
Starting the Derby at the back of the thundering pack will be the morning line favorite, I Want Revenge. This horse, who exhibited a tremendous move in the Gotham, will come off the pace and close to be at or near the front at the wire. I think that this campaign may have taken a little out of him, crossing the country twice to run in New York from his California base. The positive is his move from Polytrack showed an affinity for the natural dirt surface which is similar to that found at Churchill Downs.
Bill Mott will have his Polytrack specialist Hold Me Back will be coming from off the pace as well. My concern about this colt centers around his success on Polytrack. I am not a believer that a horse who is successful on Polytrack automatically translates into a win on dirt. Clearly horses who do well on dirt do not automatically translate to wins on Polytrack. Should Hold Me Back handle the dirt, he might be in the mix for the trifecta.
Another vying for the lead from behind should be Dunkirk. Dunkirk is an interesting horse in that he has only had three starts before the Derby. Dunkirk is a fresh horse, not having a start since the Florida Derby, the same technique used by Big Brown’s trainer Rick Dutrow, last year. He does have three bullet workouts. Interestingly, he was a 3.7 million dollar purchase as a yearling. Now, I am one who believes that a horse does not know what he was sold for, so the purchase price of a yearling is of little value, except in certain circumstances. The Derby is one of those circumstances because breeding has so much to do with the stamina needed to win the Derby. I think Dunkirk, a horse by Unbridled Song, (a derby winner) out of a mare sired by AP Indy (a derby winner) has the breeding to handle this race.
My picks, for entertainment purposes only are:
1st: Dunkirk
2nd Friesan Fire
3rd Hold Me Back
4th Pioneer of the Nile

Sing My Old Kentucky Home, have a mint julep and enjoy the race, it should be a good one.

Todd Engel

tengel@engelatty.com
www.engelatty.com

Ernie Paragallo is accused of neglecting over 170 horses on a Greene County, NY farm. The ASPCA reported that one young stallion died as a result of the malnutrition and treatment (actually, lack of treatment) received by these horses while under Paragallo’s care. According to The New York Times, who broke the story on Saturday, Paragallo failed to treat the horses and left them malnourished and without hay for bedding, or feed. Horses were hundreds of pounds underweight and in deplorable condition.

The Albany Times Union reported today that the New York Racing Association revoked Paragallo’s privileges to run his family’s stable (Paraneck Stables), and scratched the horses entered through next Wednesday as a result. Good for NYRA. Good for the state for investigating Paragallo and doing what they can — to not only save the horses, but to get him out the sport of horse racing.

Owners of thoroughbred horses have an absolute obligation to care for our horses. We have taken on the responsibility of caring for these animals and should recognize that even off the track we need to care for our animals.

What Paragallo did is unconscionable, and shows that he is not involved in horse racing for the love of the sport. Rather, he is in it for simply for the glory. Clearly, it is not just his responsibility, because both of his daughters (aged 21 and 26) are listed as the owners of Paraneck Stables, while he is allegedly the agent. All responsible parties should not only be prosecuted for neglecting and mistreating these animals, but the State Racing and Wagering Board should pull Paragallo’s license for good.

Horse racing can be a beautiful sport. It can be exciting and exhilarating to watch your horse come down the lane and strive for victory. Trainers work hard to make sure the horses are ready to run. Vets work hard to make sure that the horses maintain soundness. Good owners work hard to allow these people to do their jobs.

What Paragallo did by turning his back on the horses that he and his family own is not only a crime, but something that will give creed to those people who say there is cruelty to animals involved in racing. Paragallo makes it hard to say there are good people in racing, but guess what? There most certainly are good people in racing.

While what he did puts a blight on our sport, we as owners and fans of horse racing need to fight back. We need to let people know of the beauty of the game. We need to make sure that Paragallo is used to show the good we can do in racing rather than the bad as he has shown all too well.

Todd Engel
tengel@engelatty.com
www.engelatty.com

This afternoon, I went to the Syracuse Chamber of Commerce annual business networking show. Some people have said why go to these shows? I am of the mind that it is very important for a solo or small firm lawyer or business owner to attend the show, especially if you can’t or won’t pay the price of an exhibitor’s booth.

I met dozens of people who could potentially be sources of developing my practice. I met with loan officers to expand my real estate closings. I met small business owners who need help with determining the smartest business entity to use for them. I met people who either need estate planning because of their family situation or are considering estate planning.

Do I get a booth myself? No, I find much more use of visiting the exhibitors and learning about their businesses. I met one person when we were talking at another person’s booth.

Whether I gain revenue from the show is yet to be determined. Whether I get value from going is an absolute, I do and will continue to do so. Oh yeah, and going cuts way down on my office supply budget with the swag I pick up, which is also a good thing!

Todd Engel
tengel@engelatty.com
www.engelatty.com

I realize that the story I am about to share may not compare to the swindling that Bernie Madoff executed, but from my perspective it is actually worse. In today’s Syracuse Post Standard, there was an article detailing the scheme conducted by Jerome Feldman involving those must vulnerable: families in need of a transplant.

Allegedly, Feldman concocted a scheme where he would solicit opportunites to obtain a transplant in the Philippines if money was sent to his bank account in DeWitt, NY. The individual awaiting the transplant was instructed to wire $70,000 into Feldman’s bank account. Medical staff would then be available in the Philippines to conduct the transplant, or so Feldman said. The problem was, once the patient flew to the Philippines, no organ was there and the money was gone.

Feldman preyed upon those individuals who are looking for any hope possible for their loved one. I know, I was there; not one of Feldman’s victims, but a family member of a person on a transplant list. My mother was on dialysis for 15 years, before her death in 2006. She started with home dialysis and progressively needed the centers. She did it three times a week, and it prolonged her life. For about 10 years of the dialysis she was on the transplant lists until she became so compromised with additional illnesses that she had to be removed. Every time the phone rang, we hoped it was the transplant center letting us know that a kidney was there. We came close, but never found that perfect match. So, I know firsthand the desire to gain more time through obtaining a new organ.

Feldman’s acts were not acts of kindness. They were not acts of benevolence from one man to another. He was motivated by one thing: greed. Taking advantage of those people who are looking for any hope necessary is in my opinion the lowest form of the low. For the families who are suffering at the hands of Jerome Feldman, I am deeply sorry. For those of us who were families of people either waiting for or receiving transplants, it proves that we must go through the system for the private market organ transplant is fraught with thieves and miscreants who only want to take advantage of the situation.

Jerome Feldman Story

Todd Engel

tengel@engelatty.com

One of my favorite areas of practice is my equine law specialty. No, I am not just horsing around!

Since 1977, my family has owned and raced thoroughbred horses. We have been fortunate enough to race horses throughout North America and presently run horses at Aqueduct. We have raced at tracks from Oaklawn Park to Woodbine in Toronto. We have raced most frequently in the New York circuit. It is a wonderful experience and nothing is quite as thrilling as watching your horse running down the stretch going for the finish line. The question is whether a horse needs a lawyer?

No, the horse doesn’t need a lawyer, but others certainly do. I represent owners with respect to setting up the legal entities that make sense for their needs There needs to be agreements by and between the partners. There needs to be corporate resolutions in order to establish the business entity properly. Remember, while horse racing is a sport, and can be a lot of fun, the ownership of horses is intended to be a business.

If the business is successful, then tax issues are at play. Income taxes, sales tax, and other tax issues are continuously changing and need to be evaluated. The stimulus bill just signed by President Obama has created excellent tax advantages for horse ownership including depreciation of up to $250,000 for horses put into service during 2009. Sales tax issues can be reviewed and assessed dependent upon the state where a sale takes place.

Should a horse become extremely successful, there are additional legal issues to look at. These center around stallion syndication and arrangement of stallion servicing. Negotiating arrangements with the various farms where the stallion is to stand is necessary. Drafting agreements between the owner of the stallions and the owners of the mares is also required.

The racing side also has its need for equine attorneys. Licensing issues for owners, trainers and jockeys are an integral part of equine representation. Should a trainer or jockey have to serve a suspension, quality representation is necessary to protect their rights. Negotiation with the State Racing and Wagering Board can keep a trainer or jockey from having to serve a suspension and therefore keep the trainer or jockey from losing necessary income. Should a hearing be necessary, the lawyer can conduct the examination of witnesses and effectively represent a trainer, owner or jockey in front of the Board.

Horse racing is a thrilling sport. Proper assistance can make sure you remain in the game for the long haul.

Todd Engel

tengel@engelatty.com

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When I look around my community, I see a totally new and evolving economic paradigm. Sure there are layoffs everywhere. Circuit City closes and there are 30,000 fewer jobs. Magna may close their local plant eliminating what at its height was 8,000 jobs in the automobile industry. Five years ago, who would have ever thought that Lehman Brothers would no longer be in existence? If you ask me, it is a time for opportunity to grow and develop a business.

Globally the economy is shrinking. This is no surprise from picking up the newspapers. However, that offers an opportunity for an enterprising person to open and develop a new business. In my view, the old economy of manufacturing and big business is no longer viable in today’s marketplace. The manufacturing is being accomplished in other countries where the costs of doing business are less. These only makes sense in a capitalistic society, if I can make it cheaper and sell it on the marketplace, then why do I need to pay the overhead, taxes and other costs of manufacturing in this country. So, how are we going to survive and what can a lawyer do to help?

The best way to reinvigorate the economy in times such as the now is to invest in ourselves and be creative. For some, that means thinking outside the box of what they know to look for employment in new areas. For others, it is to examine what their strengths are and to start their own business. My thinking is the small to medium sized businesses are going to drive this economy forward because those are the businesses that are going to roll up their sleeves and move us forward through creative work. What industry that is in is to be determined. However this is an exciting time to be involved in legal representation of small closely held businesses.

How does a lawyer help you? A good business lawyer can help in each facet of business planning. Whether it is setting up a good quality business plan., determining the right entity to begin this venture with, whether it is a solo proprietorship, general partnership, limited liability partnership, or corporation, a lawyer can guide you through the process and help fill out the appropriate documentation. A lawyer will work with you to project financing needs and developing strategies for obtaining startup capital. A lawyer can advise as to the tax implications of owning versus renting your business location and other depreciation techniques. Use a lawyer at the beginning who you trust, and it can be mean money saved down the line.

Todd Engel

engelatty@gmail.com

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My last blog post dealt with some basic technology in order for a practice to hit the ground running. We will now discuss certain additional applications to make running an office more seamless as well as effective.

As I said previously, Microsoft Outlook is the email calendar and task tool that has the market dominance. This is because it is bundled with Microsoft Office. I use it to keep my contacts as well as my calendar and my emails. While stability can be an issue, it is the industry standard. Google has an online calendar system that is pretty good, however being that it is unsecure, I would not recommend it for law office calendar management due to confidentiality issues.

Clients today expect and deserve feedback as quickly as possible. That is one of the many reasons smartphones have become ubiquitous with attorneys. What an individual looks for in a smartphone is an ability to synch with your email, contacts and calendars. There are many flavors, whether it is the Iphone, the Blackberry or the Palm or variations on their theme. The key to me is to be able to have the information not only at my desk but also at my fingertips when I am out of the office.

Document assembly software is important in making sure you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. When your practice has developed a niche, use the appropriate software to generate repeat documents. Hotdocs is a great example of this. I also use Drafting Libraries for various documents. The quality of the document produced is quite good and there is certain customization and flexibility which is important.

Every lawyer wants to be paid for what they do. Therefore invest in a good time and billing package that can be utilized both by you and your assistant. Ideally it should feed into your phone/PDA so that you can quickly capture time outside the office. You should be able to enter fees quickly and easily. You should be able to set whether you are billing on an hourly basis, flat fee basis or contingency fee. You should ideally be able to combine this with a practice management suite which sets forth a conflict search. Try demos of these products, there are many and again, different people like different programs.

Technology is constantly changing and evolving and lawyers have to stay current to best serve our clients. Join the technology group of your local bar. Join the ABA Law Technology section. Read and learn what you can but remember don’t use something without trying it first.

Todd Engel

tengel@engelatty.com

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