Gary P. Naftalis

Gary has also argued significant appeals in appellate courts throughout the country. In addition, he has served as counsel to audit and special committees of a number of major public companies in connection with regulatory issues.

Most recently, Gary represented Sirius XM Radio Inc. in a patent infringement suit regarding certain technology related to satellite communication networks. On July 10, 2023, Senior U.S. District Judge Joseph F. Bataillon, sitting by designation in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, granted summary judgment for Sirius XM Radio Inc., ending a six-year-long patent infringement lawsuit brought against Sirius by Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Angewandten Forschung e.V., a Germany-based research organization. This Sirius victory was chosen as runner up for Litigator of the Week.

This was the second victory for Sirius XM in major litigation. Earlier Gary defended Sirius XM Radio in a breach of contract action by Howard Stern seeking $330 million in damages, in which Gary secured summary judgment in favor of Sirius dismissing the case. The court found that the “clear, unambiguous language” of the contract defeated Stern’s claim.

Gary’s most notable work on behalf of clients includes his successful defense of Michael Eisner, the CEO of The Walt Disney Co., in the shareholder derivative lawsuit related to the hiring and termination of Michael Ovitz. After a 37-day trial in the Delaware Court of Chancery, Mr. Eisner and the other Disney directors prevailed on all counts. The National Law Journal chose the Disney decision as one of the top defense wins of that year. Gary also successfully secured dismissal for Kenneth Langone, former chair of the New York Stock Exchange Compensation Committee, of all charges brought against him by then-Attorney General Eliot Spitzer relating to the compensation of NYSE Chairman Richard Grasso.

Other notable matters include the representation of the city of New York in the inquiry by the New York County District Attorney relating to the fire at the Deutsche Bank building at the World Trade Center, in which no charges were brought against the city or any of its agencies or its officials, the defense of Rajat K. Gupta, the former managing director worldwide of McKinsey, in both a high-profile criminal insider trading trial and a parallel Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement action, where he obtained a precedent-setting decision challenging the attempt by the SEC to utilize an administrative process rather than go to court.

Gary successfully represented pro bono Congregation Jeshuat Israel, the congregation that has worshipped for the past 130 years at Touro Synagogue, the nation’s oldest synagogue, in a dispute with a New York City congregation over the ownership of the synagogue and valuable silver bells (rimonim) that adorn Torah scrolls and were made by colonial silversmith Myer Myers. After a two-week trial in federal court, Jeshuat Israel prevailed on all issues. The American Lawyer Daily named Gary Litigator of the Week for his success in this two-week trial. In June 2017, The American Lawyer named the case one of the nation’s top pro bono accomplishments of 2016.

Gary has long been regarded as the man to see by securities industry clients in sensitive “bet the company” matters, including federal and state criminal actions, SEC investigations, and civil litigation. He successfully defended Salomon Brothers in the federal criminal and SEC investigations of U.S. Treasury auction bidding practices, and Kidder, Peabody & Co. in connection with the Wall Street insider trading scandal. In both instances, he persuaded the U.S. government not to bring criminal charges. He also represented Kidder, Peabody in multiple related civil litigations in which the company faced more than $2 billion in damage claims. In addition, he represented the CEO of Arthur Andersen in the Enron matter; the chairman of Global Crossing; the COO of MF Global; the CEO of Refco; the CEO of WorldCom; and major figures in inquiries involving Drexel Burnham, Orange County, CA, Cendant, Tyco, Bank of Credit and Commerce International, and British Petroleum.

Gary is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He has been repeatedly recognized as one of America’s premier litigators and trial lawyers. In 2023, Gary received The American Lawyer’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He also received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the New York Law Journal in 2017. National Law Journal named him a 2015 “White Collar Trailblazer” and also named him one of the “100 Most Influential Lawyers in America” the last two times it has compiled the list — in 2013 and in 2006. The Legal 500 has named him one of the “Leading Trial Lawyers in the United States” every year since 2007, when it first compiled its list. And Super Lawyers has named him one of the “Top 10 Lawyers in New York” every year since 2007 (ranking him No. 1 in 2008, 2012, 2015 – 2017 and 2019 – 2022, and No. 2 in 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014 and 2018). He has been recognized by Benchmark Litigation since 2008 as a “Litigation Star” and as one of America’s “Leading Trial Lawyers.” Gary also received Benchmark’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014. In 2015, he received the Milton Gould Award for Outstanding Oral Advocacy from the Office of the Appellate Defender. In 2012, he received the New York Council of Defense Lawyers Norman Ostrow Award in recognition of his white collar defense achievements. Gary also received the 2011 Chambers USA Award for Excellence in White Collar Crime and Government Investigations. He has also been cited as one of America’s leading lawyers by Lawdragon 500 every year since 2006, and was named a Lawdragon 500 “Legend” in 2016. In 2017, Lawdragon 500 named Gary to its Hall of Fame, which recognizes those lawyers whose mark on the legal profession is indelible, celebrating their enduring contributions to the legal profession. Who’s Who Legal identified him in 2018 and 2019 as the nation’s most highly regarded corporate business crime defense lawyer and also described him as “one of the greats” and “‘a top lawyer’ in white-collar criminal matters, most notably relating to complex litigation proceedings.” He has been named as one of America’s leading trial lawyers by Chambers Global and Chambers USA, which also designated him one of its “senior statespeople” in Litigation nationwide and in White Collar Crime and Government Investigations in the New York region. His many decades of work on behalf of clients have earned Gary a well-deserved reputation as a “legend of the white-collar bar” (Chambers USA 2022). In 2021, Chambers USA sources described him as “one of the great trial lawyers,” possessing “a combination of intellect, charm and humor that is really remarkable”; “the godfather of the white-collar criminal Bar in New York”; and “one of the greatest lawyers in American history.” In 2020, Chambers USA stated that “sources acknowledge his ‘stellar reputation,’ describing him as ‘a real legend in the Bar’ who is ‘totally dedicated to his clients’” and as “a phenomenal lawyer and a luminary in the practice.” In 2019, Chambers USA described Gary as a “go-to trial lawyer” and “one of the masters — he deservedly has one of the best reputations” for defending “individuals and corporations facing major civil and criminal proceedings.” In previous years, Chambers USA quoted clients who said, “Working with him is an excellent experience. His strength is his common sense and unbelievable intelligence and knowledge of the law. He is also fantastic at explaining legal issues to non-legal professionals” (2018); “Clients offer superlative praise: ‘He is superb as litigation counsel. He has great intelligence, and is a likable person and an excellent strategist’” (2017); and “‘Giant of the Bar’ Gary Naftalis is a nationally recognized trial lawyer whose experience includes some of the largest criminal and civil cases in recent history” (2016). Chambers also named Gary one of the top four “star individuals” among white collar criminal defense lawyers in New York in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Gary’s litigation successes have been the subject of numerous profiles over the years, including The American Lawyer in 2023 in recognition of his Lifetime Achievement Award (“A Lifetime of Learning and Laughing: Gary Naftalis on Lessons Learned Amid a 50-Year Legal Career”); a profile written by the Honorable Jed S. Rakoff in the New York Law Journal in 2017 in connection with their Lifetime Achievement Award; The New York Times in 2011 (“Columbo with a Law Degree”); the Wall Street Journal in 2006 (“The Zelig of the White Collar Bar: He’s Everywhere”) and in 2011 (“Gary Naftalis: Back in the Spotlight Again”); Super Lawyers in 2010 (“The Ultimate Lawyer Statesman”); The American Lawyer in 2006 (“The Velocity of Gary”); the fall 2014 ABA Litigation Journal; and the New York Law Journal in 1987 (“A Way Out: Naftalis, GE Work as a Team to Avert Kidder Indictment”).

In addition to the many honors he has received over the course of his career from within the legal profession, Gary was awarded the Benemerenti Medal by Pope Benedict XVI. He also received the Robert M. Morgenthau Award for the Legal Profession by the Police Athletic League, the George A. Katz Torch of Learning Award by American Friends of the Hebrew University, the Law and Society Award by New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, the Robert F. Wagner Jr. Award by the Citizens Union of the City of New York, the Judge Simon H. Rifkind Award by the Jewish Theological Seminary, the John J. McCloy Award by The Fund for Modern Courts, and the Saint Thomas More Award by the Inner-City Scholarship Fund.

Earlier in his career, Gary served as assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York and deputy chief of the Criminal Division. He also served as special counsel to the U.S. Senate subcommittee investigating abuses in the nursing home industry.

Gary has been a lecturer at Columbia Law School and a member of the faculty of Harvard Law School. He is the author of numerous books and articles, including leading works on the grand jury system, The Grand Jury: An Institution on Trial (with the Honorable Marvin E. Frankel), and on sentencing, Sentencing: Helping the Judges Do Their Jobs (also with Judge Frankel).