Arnold S. Schickler

Counsel

1177 Avenue of the Americas
5th Floor
New York, NY 10036
212-262-7871
arnold.s.schickler@schicklerlaw.com

Arnold has been a recognized authority in the area of motor vehicle lease and installment sale financing in New York for over fifty years. This part of his practice has included major banks, lending institutions and leasing companies, franchised motor vehicle dealerships and used motor vehicle dealerships in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. His leasing practice has included motor vehicles, equipment and airplanes. Arnold has authored motor vehicle  leases, installment sale contracts, security agreements, financing agreements and related documents (together with internal setups) for his bank, lending and leasing clients; these documents have been used in  financings of over a billion dollars throughout the United States. The representation of the banks and lenders has included the purchase and sale of multi-million dollar portfolios of lease and installment paper. He continuously represented some of his banking and leasing clients for over thirty years.

Arnold has also maintained an extensive corporate practice representing public corporations as outside general counsel (including securities and SEC compliance), major investment banks, hedge funds and numerous closely held corporations, limited liability companies and partnerships. For his corporate clients he has supervised and directed multi-million dollar IPO’s, secondary offerings and private placements. During the course of his corporate practice he negotiated for the purchase of major league baseball teams, bought and sold a AAA minor league baseball team and served as the general manager and counsel for the minor league team.

He has litigated and tried hundreds of cases related to the foregoing areas of his practice in the New York State and federal courts. He has served as a registered lobbyist for banks and lenders in the New York State legislature. And he is an arbitrator with the International Court of Arbitration, at the International Chamber of Commerce based in Paris, France.

Mr. Schickler was a founding partner of Vincenti & Schickler (1962-1993) which occupied the North West quadrant on the 102nd floor of the World Trade Center (WTC) as its first tenant. There he headed a ten-man litigation department and the banking and finance areas. While on the 102nd floor of the WTC, The New Yorker Magazine referred to Mr. Schickler as “the highest lawyer in New York” and John Reed the then Chairman of Citibank “as the highest banker in New York”. Citibank was a client of Mr. Schickler for over thirty years. He was also the managing partner of Schickler & Schickler, LLP (1993-2011).

Arnold Schickler has devoted a substantial part of his professional life to civic and charitable activities which included the founding, in New York City, of the leading school for children with learning disabilities; the first outpatient clinic in New York City for children with mental retardation and brain damage; and the first early learning center for 18 month old disadvantaged children in New York City. He served as an officer and trustee for each of these institutions and organizations. He was also an officer and trustee of a foundation that supported remedial research in the area of mental retardation, brain damage and learning disabilities related to children. Mr. Schickler was the co-producer of an award-winning public service film shown on nationwide television in the United States supporting the establishment of community-based programs for intellectually disabled and brain damaged children — at a time when children were regularly institutionalized for these afflictions. In recent years he founded a non profit organization that researched developing methods for best practices, high standards and training modules in residences for people on the autism spectrum. And he has co-founded another nonprofit organization that is creating model residences for people on the autism spectrum who cannot live independently — with the expectation of replication in New York and throughout the United States.

Arnold is Counsel to the firm.

Significant Representation
  • Designed the documentation and compliance procedures for financing recourse loans collateralized by vehicle leases and installment sales contracts.
  • Designed the structure and formulated the documentation for an asset backed securities program which combined a securitization model with a warehousing mechanism for pumping new collateral originations into the issuing SPV – thereby creating an ongoing evergreen investment pool.
  • Designed and documented a securitization of vehicle leases and installment sale contracts.
See More
  • Created and authored dealer security agreements, direct motor vehicle leases, master motor vehicle leases, safe harbor motor vehicle leases, tax driven motor vehicle leases, compliance procedures and related documents for banks, lenders, leasing companies, franchised motor vehicle dealerships and used motor vehicle dealerships.
  • Created and authored bank and financial institution setups for recourse and non-recourse motor vehicle lease financing programs.
  • Authored motor vehicle leases, compliance documents and disclosure statements used in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, California, Florida and Maryland.
  • Authored the primary motor vehicle lease and disclosure documents which became the industry model throughout the U.S.
  • Authored floor plan financing setups and related documents for banks and lenders providing motor vehicle financing to franchised motor vehicle dealerships and used car dealerships.
  • Engaged in development of the initial basic disclosure forms mandated under the federal Consumer Leasing Act with the U.S. Comptroller of the Currency.
  • Authored position papers submitted to the New York legislature in connection adoption of the New York Motor Vehicle Leasing Act.
  • Designed the structure and formulated the documentation for multi-million dollar bank funded closely held corporate real estate lenders which provided commercial real estate mortgages to businesses and industry.
  • Authored the documentation and provided the mechanisms and procedures to support banks and lenders disposition of multi-million dollar portfolios of motor vehicle lease and installment sale paper, without the necessity of costly litigation.
  • Acted as lead defense counsel for a team of 17 lawyers and law firms in the successful defense of multifaceted white-collar civil and criminal actions, whistle blower actions, derivative shareholder suits, and debarment proceedings related to government contracting – all individual indictments, the whistleblower actions and the derivative actions were dismissed and the corporation made nominal payments in settlement of the criminal and civil actions commenced against it.
  • Obtained numerous preliminary and permanent injunctions to preserve and then effect the turnover of banks and lender’s collateral.
  • Recovered a money judgment against a defaulted borrower after securing preliminary and permanent injunctions to preserve the banks collateral.
  • Recovered bank collateral from a bankrupt debtor after trial.
  • Recovered borrowers’ defaulted debt by moving expeditiously to complete a private sale at foreclosure, prevailing on a bankruptcy court lift-stay proceeding and obtaining a settlement from a guarantor.
  • Recovered a money judgment against defaulted borrowers after securing preliminary and permanent injunctions to preserve the banks collateral.
  • Obtained settlements nearing limits of coverage before trial, on directors’ and officers’ liability insurance policies.
  • Defeated a multi-million dollar borrower’s usury claim and recovered the lender’s principal.
  • Recovered an award including punitive damages for an international investment company against a major U.S. investment bank in an NASD arbitration.
  • Obtained a judgment after a jury verdict in an action for conversion of bank collateral.
  • Won two trials before an administrative law judge against the U.S. Department of Defense requiring reinstatement of security clearances for senior officers of a public company defense contractor.
  • Won a mandamus proceeding against the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles of the State of New York.
  • Obtained a jury verdict in a false arrest action brought by two corporate executives who were incarcerated for 12 minutes with the highest verdict of its type in New York up to that time.
  • Obtained a jury verdict in  Fogal v. Genesee 41 App Div 2d 468; 344 NYS 2d (1972) in a case of breach of warranty, medical malpractice, informed consent and negligence without producing a live expert witness other than a handwriting  expert – the first reported case of its type in New York.  Fogal has been cited by courts over 168,000 times.
Selected Activities

Churchill School, New York, New York (nonprofit)– Co-Founder, Trustee, President. The leading school in the U.S. serving children with learning disabilities.

New York Institute for Child Development (nonprofit), New York, New York. Co-Founder, Trustee, Vice President.  The first out-patient clinic for intellectually disabled children in New York City.

Countee Cullen Early Learning Center (nonprofit) – Co-Founder, Trustee, Vice President. The first early learning center for 18-month-old socio-economically disadvantaged preschool children in New York City.

See More

Valentine-Kline Foundation (nonprofit) – Co-founder, Trustee, Secretary.  Supported research to remediate children with mental retardation and learning disabilities.

Co-Produced “Where do the Children Play”, a Cannes Film Festival award winner and the first nationally distributed public service film supporting community-based programs for the mentally retarded – at a time when children were institutionalized for these afflictions.

Autism Community Experience, Inc. (nonprofit) – Founder, Trustee, President, Board Chairman – researched methods to develop best practices, high standards and training modules for residences housing people on the autism spectrum who cannot live independently.

U S Autism Homes, Inc. (nonprofit) – Cofounder, Trustee, Board Chairman – it is creating model residences for people on the autism spectrum who cannot live independently — with the expectation of replication in New York and throughout the United States.

Vanderbilt University Law School – Board of Advisors and Emeritus member.

Vanderbilt University Law School Alumni Board.

Vanderbilt University Law School Class Agent.

Temple Rodeph Sholom – Presidents Committee.

Temple Beth Sholom – Aided founding.

President John F. Kennedy – Election Speakers Bureau.

U.S. Senator Estes Kefauver (Tennessee) – Election Advance Man.

New York State Democratic County Committeeman.

U.S. Army and New York National Guard.

Professional Experience

Schickler PLLC, New York, New York
Of Counsel

Schickler & Schickler, L.L.P., New York, New York
Managing Partner

Vincenti & Schickler, New York, New York
Partner

Practice Areas
Education

Vanderbilt University, J.D.
Vanderbilt University, B.A.

Bar Admissions

All New York State Courts
United States District Court – Southern and Eastern Districts
United States Court of Appeals – Second and Fourth Circuits
United States Tax Court
Supreme Court of the United States

Arbitrator:
International Court of Arbitration, International Chamber of Commerce – Paris, France.

Professional Affiliations and Committees Have Included:
New York State Bar Association.
American Bar Association.
New York State Trial Lawyers Association.
Federal Bar Council.
Association of the Bar of the City of New York.
New York County Lawyers Association
New York State Bar Association Committee on Consumer Financial Services.
American Bar Association Subcommittee on Personal Property.
National Vehicle Leasing Association.