Lewis J. Liman is a partner based in the New York office.
Mr. Liman is an experienced commercial litigator and appellate lawyer.
Mr. Liman's practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, including securities class action lawsuits, and on white-collar defense matters and investigations. Mr. Liman has represented Bank of America in litigation arising from its acquisition of Merrill Lynch; Bear Stearns in litigation and government investigations arising from allegations of mutual fund market-timing; Goldman Sachs in Enron-related litigation; a major investment bank in Refco matters; and Citigroup in investigations related to securities research analyst independence. He has represented numerous public companies in securities class action lawsuits or derivative actions, including sanofi-aventis, IMAX, and Pall Corporation. He has represented Boards of Directors in shareholder derivative litigation, including the Board of CA, Inc., and numerous individuals in DOJ or SEC matters or investigations, including those involving Baker-Hughes Corporation, Cardinal Health, JP Morgan Chase, Alcoa, ImClone, Safety-Kleen, Tyco, Lehman Brothers, United Rentals and UBS.
Mr. Liman has argued cases before the United States Supreme Court, the Courts of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Federal Circuit, and the Ninth Circuit, and in the courts of New York State.
Mr. Liman has been named one of the country's Best Litigation Lawyers by
Chambers USA; one of the nation's Star General Commerical and White-Collar Crime Lawyers in
Benchmark Litigation: The Definitive Guide to America's Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys; a Leading Lawyer in Commercial Litigation by
The Best Lawyers in America; Leading Lawyer in New York Securities Litigation and Criminal Defense White Collar by
Super Lawyers magazine; and a Leading Lawyer in Securities Litigation by
The Legal 500. He was also named the 2012 New York City Litigation - Banking & Finance Lawyer of the Year by
Best Lawyers. Mr. Liman is a Trustee of the Federal Bar Council and serves as the Chair of the Public Service Committee of the Federal Bar Council. He is also a director of the New York Legal Assistance Group. Previously, he served as a member of The Chief Judge's Task Force on Commercial Litigation in the 21st Century and of the Task Force on The Role of Attorneys in Corporate Governance of The New York City Bar Association. He has been a Director of the Legal Aid Society of the New York Council of Defense Lawyers.
Mr. Liman joined the firm in 2003 as a partner. He received a J.D. from Yale Law School in 1987, an M.Sc. in Economics, with distinction, from the London School of Economics in 1983, and an undergraduate degree,
magna cum laude, from Harvard University in 1983.
Mr. Liman served as a law clerk to the Honorable Pierre N. Leval, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, and to Justice John Paul Stevens of the U.S. Supreme Court. Mr. Liman worked for over five years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, during which time he was appointed Deputy Chief Appellate Attorney.
Mr. Liman is a member of the Bar in New York and is admitted to practice before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the Court of International Trade, and the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the Eastern District of Michigan.