Print Email this page Litigation

For more than 40 years, Pryor Cashman’s litigators have successfully handled sophisticated and complex corporate, commercial, intellectual property and real estate matters in trials, arbitrations and administrative proceedings throughout the U.S. As the firm’s largest practice group comprised of nearly 60 attorneys, our Litigation Group has the size and breadth of experience to litigate against the largest of firms while retaining the cost efficiencies associated with our mid-size status.

This experience and expertise encompasses all types of major and complex commercial litigation, including breach of contract, corporate, partnership, antitrust and trade regulation, accounting, white collar, fraud, securities, banking, entertainment, labor and employment, bankruptcy, trade secrets and real estate cases. In addition, with the recent increase in state attorney general regulatory investigations, we have developed substantial expertise in managing such investigations for corporate clients.

In litigation, the talents and experiences of individual attorneys often determine the difference between success or failure, both inside and outside the courtroom. Our litigation partners are all experienced and skilled trial lawyers, having tried hundreds of cases in federal and state courts and handled arbitrations in venues throughout the U.S. and abroad in a wide variety of areas. Among the Litigation Group’s members are lawyers who have been senior federal and state prosecutors, members of federal congressional and state legislation committees and law school professors. More than one-third of our litigators have served as law clerks to federal and state court judges in many state and federal jurisdictions.

In addition to trying numerous cases in the federal and state courts in New York, Pryor Cashman’s litigators have practiced in courts spanning more than 30 states and the majority of federal judicial circuits. There are currently over 500 published cases in federal and state courts that involve Pryor Cashman as counsel. And, since the hallmark of a successful litigation is often settlement, the number of published cases merely touches the surface of the body of our litigation experience.

In the intellectual property area, historically a significant percentage of our litigation practice, our litigators are widely recognized and regularly sought out to represent corporations and individuals in the media and entertainment business. We have handled some of the most high-profile and, in many instances, landmark cases involving copyrights, trademarks, trade dress, trade secrets, unfair competition, theft of ideas, rights of privacy and publicity, and the Internet, as well as the related areas of antitrust and technology. In the digital arena, our litigators are on the cutting edge, handling cases and investigations involving the intersection of digital media and the protection and monetization of intellectual property.

Outside the courtroom, our litigators have represented clients in arbitrations and mediations before the American Arbitration Association (AAA), JAMS, the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Center for Public Resources (CPR) and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). Several of our attorneys have been and are practicing arbitrators and mediators who know the value of resolving disputes through alternative dispute resolution proceedings and are experienced in doing so from both sides of the table.

While many of our litigations are on behalf of entities and individuals that are otherwise clients of the firm in other areas (such as corporate and entertainment), the majority of our litigations are for clients which have retained Pryor Cashman for our special expertise as litigators of complex commercial and intellectual property matters. Our clients include companies of all sizes and types, ranging from Fortune 500 corporations to major media and entertainment companies, brokerage firms, entertainers, technology companies, multinational corporations, insurance companies and closely held corporations. We also represent individuals, including entrepreneurs, entertainers, officers and directors of large companies, and investors.

Litigation Philosophy

By any yardstick, whether it be knowledge, experience, skill, efficiency, practicality, economics, results achieved or, perhaps most important, the respect of our adversaries, Pryor Cashman’s Litigation Group is an extraordinarily talented group of attorneys. We routinely litigate against firms of all sizes and have achieved exceptional results. Moreover, by focusing on key issues, factual and legal, and by trying to isolate those critical issues as quickly as possible, we always seek to achieve results for our clients at the lowest cost possible.

In our experience, the best litigation results are obtained when, at the earliest possible time, counsel and the client agree upon the range of possible results and direct their efforts towards maximizing the prospects for securing such results. In litigation, we believe that it is the collaboration of talented counsel and involved clients that achieves results.

Pryor Cashman’s philosophy is to assure the immediate and active involvement of the partner in the case from its inception. If additional attorneys are required, the tasks assigned to each will be based upon efficiency and experience. However, the partner in charge at all times remains intimately involved and is always available to our clients.

By litigating cases in a lean fashion while assuring that at least two attorneys are always familiar with all aspects of the case, the attorneys who have built the case from inception are the attorneys who present the case to the judge, jury or arbitrator. Not only does this assure that the attorneys handling the matter are fully familiar with it, but it also assures that unnecessary expense and duplication of effort will be eliminated or minimized.

Areas of Focus

New York | Los Angeles