Gary P. Naftalis

One of the nation’s leading trial lawyers, Mr. Naftalis is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He has for some 40 years represented individuals and corporations in all phases of complex bet-the-company civil, criminal, and regulatory matters, including those involving allegations of insider trading, market manipulation, accounting irregularities, stock options backdating and other financial fraud. Mr. Naftalis also has served as counsel to audit and special committees of a number of major public companies in connection with regulatory issues.

Mr. Naftalis was named recently as one of the 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America by The National Law Journal, as one of the 10 Leading Trial Lawyers in the United States by Legal 500 and as one of the Top 10 Lawyers in New York (Top Point Getter 2008 & 2012) by Super Lawyers. He has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America since 1993 in three categories – Bet-the-Company Litigation, White Collar Criminal Defense and Commercial Litigation. He was also cited as one of America’s leading lawyers by Lawdragon 500, as one of America’s leading trial lawyers by Chambers Global, and as a leading white collar defense and commercial litigator by Chambers USA and by Benchmark/Institutional Investor.

Mr. Naftalis’ recent representations include his successful defense of Michael Eisner, the CEO of The Walt Disney Company, in the shareholders derivative lawsuit relating 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 Disney case was chosen as one of the top defense wins of 2005 by The National Law Journal.