Firm Profile
FIRM OVERVIEW: Boies, Schiller & Flexner, based in New York City, has grown to over 230 lawyers practicing in offices strategically located throughout the United States. The firm has tried more than 350 cases before juries and judges in federal and state courts throughout the United States. The firm regularly serves as Lead Counsel on complex, high profile global matters. Boies, Schiller & Flexner was lead counsel for the United States in United States v Microsoft, for US Vice President Al Gore in Bush v Gore and for the plaintiff class in In re Vitamins. The firm has established and enjoys a worldclass reputation for its highly successful Litigation Practice. In addition, the firm has a fast-growing Corporate Practice based in New York City
MAIN AREAS OF PRACTICE: Complex commercial trials and litigation, including antitrust, securities, financial products, insurance, and international arbitration are the leading and defining forces of Boies, Schiller & Flexner’s practice. The firm has extensive expertise in disputes arising from mortgage backed securities and derivatives including Collateralized Debt Obligations, Credit Default Swaps and Structured Investment Vehicles. The firm is widely recognized as having one of the most selective and entrepreneurial class action practices in the country, representing both plaintiffs and defendants in cases involving a broad range of subject matters. The firm also represents corporate clients and financial institutions in significant merger and acquisition, joint venture, commercial banking, securities, venture capital, and private investment fund transactions, including by defending transactions before state and federal agencies. The Corporate Practice has a proven record in representing clients in significant cross-border transactions.
INTERNATIONAL WORK: Boies, Schiller & Flexner partners have participated in arbitral proceedings representing clients before tribunals in Paris, Geneva, London, Zurich, Stockholm and Hong Kong and throughout the United States. The international practice is headed by Managing Partner Jonathan Schiller, who is a member of the Milan Chamber of National and International Arbitration Club of Arbitrators and serves as an advocate and arbitrator in international arbitration. The firm’s international Arbitration Practice includes ICC, LCIA, UNCITRAL, ICSID, AAA, NASD and ad hoc arbitration.
CLIENTS
Boies, Schiller & Flexner partners, led by David Boies and Donald Flexner, successfully represented American Express in the $2.25 billion settlement of its claims against Visa in November 2007. Seven months later, in June 2008, the firm negotiated another $1.8 billion settlement with Visa’s co-defendant, MasterCard. The combined settlements bring the total recovery the firm obtained on behalf of American Express to more than $4 billion, making it the largest antitrust recovery ever in US history. The firm successfully represented Delta Air Lines in court and before federal and state antitrust agencies to obtain clearance for Delta’s proposed acquisition of Northwest Airlines. The merger, consummated in October 2008, created the world’s largest airline. The firm won a trial verdict requiring completion of a $1.5 billion deal for its client, Genesco in December 2007.The action against Finish Line and UBS was the first failed merger case to be tried as a result of the credit crisis and was widely watched by Wall Street. The firm was successful in securing a settlement for its client, Barclays in December 2008. The result was a $7 billion cash and securities settlement from Lehman Brothers and J. P. Morgan Chase. The firm is leading the world-wide defense of The Bank of New York Mellon against a $22.5 billion RICO suit brought by the Russian Federal Customs Service against the Bank in the Moscow State Arbitrazh Court. Boies, Schiller & Flexner is currently working on the defense of Maurice R (“Hank”) Greenberg, former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of American International Group Inc. and the C.V. Starr companies in criminal, civil and regulatory proceedings. In October 2008, the firm successfully represented Wachovia in state and federal court after Wachovia rejected a proposed merger with Citibank in favor of Wachovia’s preferred merger with Wells Fargo. The firm in January 2008 obtained summary judgment of all claims for its client NASCAR in a significant antitrust case. The firm successfully argued to have a Federal Judge’s decision upheld in the US Court of Appeals for its client, Qwest Communications that affirmed a previous dismissal of a $9 billion claim against Qwest by Dutch company, KPNQwest. The firm’s clients include some of the largest and most sophisticated companies in the world: Altria, American Express, Bank of New York Mellon, Barclays, CBS, C.V. Starr, Delta Air Lines, DuPont, Ernst & Young, Florida Power & Light, Goldman Sachs, Lloyds of London, NASCAR, New York Life Insurance Company, Philip Morris International, Plainfield Asset Management, Qwest Communications, Sony Corporation, The New York Yankees, Tudor Investment, Tyco International, Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network and Zurich Capital Markets.