Gary P. Naftalis is one of the nation’s leading trial lawyers. Gary represents corporations, as well as officers, directors and significant individuals, in all phases of complex high-stakes civil, criminal and regulatory matters. His work spans more than four decades and includes many sensitive and high-profile matters, including governmental and regulatory inquiries and related civil litigation involving allegations of insider trading, market manipulation, accounting irregularities, stock options backdating and other financial fraud. Throughout his career he has been one of the first calls for corporate leaders encountering legal problems, and has served as counsel to audit and special committees of a number of major public companies in connection with regulatory issues. He has also argued significant appeals in appellate courts throughout the country.
Gary’s most notable work includes his successful defense of Michael Eisner, 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. 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.
His 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, and the defense of 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 Mr. Stern’s claim. More recently, Gary defended 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 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 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 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 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 claims. Gary 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.
A fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, he previously served as assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York and deputy chief of the Criminal Division.
Updated Aug 2023
