Christopher E. Duffy (Chris)

• Lead counsel for a major financial institution in an international arbitration seeking more than $400 million of damages against a contractual counterparty. Leading press coverage described the outcome of the case as a "big win" and "windfall" for the client.
• Lead counsel for a major financial institution in an ongoing international arbitration, including successful emergency arbitration proceedings, over control of digital infrastructure assets in South and Central America
• Co-lead defense counsel for an international financial institution in a jury trial in New York state court; obtained a jury verdict eliminating all of the plaintiff’s claims for more than $100 million in damages and interest
• Co-lead counsel for a publicly traded medical device company in defense of multiple ongoing federal securities lawsuits alleging misstatements in securities registration materials.
• Lead counsel for an investment bank in an expedited trial in the Delaware Court of Chancery, and a subsequent appeal to the Delaware Supreme Court, in a closely watched indemnification dispute; prevailed at trial and on appeal in Delaware, and subsequently prevailed in a related federal court lawsuit, and in multiple appeals to the Third Circuit
• Amicus curiae counsel for the Society for Corporate Governance in multiple U.S. Supreme Court and Second Circuit appeals regarding high-profile securities law issues
• Lead counsel for an investment firm in expedited multi-court litigation over the control of two publicly traded REITs; prevailed against a motion for preliminary injunction and successfully resolved all claims
• Lead counsel for two hedge funds in an expedited nine-witness trial in Delaware Court of Chancery over a disputed multi-billion dollar stock authorization by a public company
• Lead counsel for an investment firm in proxy fight litigation over disputed board nominations; prevailed against multiple motions for injunctive relief and reached a successful settlement of all claims
• Lead counsel for a depositary institution in winning a ten-figure judgment in New York state court against a group of defaulted borrowers; obtained preliminary and permanent injunctions prohibiting the borrowers from transferring collateral intended to secure the disputed loans
• Co-lead counsel for a private equity consortium in an expedited bench trial in Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of Texas; obtained a full defense judgment dismissing all claims by equity holders seeking more than $700 million in damages from the private equity lender group
• Lead counsel for an asset management firm in multi-forum litigation regarding five renewable energy projects
• Counsel for an investment bank in civil litigation brought by the New York Attorney General relating to the operation of the bank’s equity trading platform
• Lead counsel for an investment bank and several of its former employees in litigation and arbitration involving equity swaps
• Co-lead counsel for a seed investor in Delaware Court of Chancery trial against a hedge fund; obtained a post-trial judgment that the hedge fund breached its fiduciary and contractual duties to the seed investor
• Counsel in federal court jury trial involving claims brought by a public company seeking control of a private investment firm’s board of directors and billions of dollars of its assets; obtained jury verdict dismissing all claims
• Lead counsel for creditor in the Title III PROMESA restructuring of Puerto Rico’s Sales Tax Financing Corporation in pursuing and successfully settling claims arising from an ISDA-governed interest rate swap agreement
• Lead counsel in multiple external investigations by the New York Attorney General, the SEC, FINRA, and other agencies
• Won a rare appellate reversal of a jury verdict in a multibillion dollar fraud trial arising from a public-to-private M&A deal
• Won a full dismissal of claims brought by a former top cable television executive asserting an ownership interest in a major cable network
• Won the dismissal of all damages claims in a fiduciary duty lawsuit brought by a court-appointed bankruptcy trustee against a private equity firm and several of its principals, arising from the bankruptcy of one of the firm’s portfolio companies

Chris represents clients in a broad range of litigation and regulatory matters, with an emphasis on representing financial institutions in courts and before international arbitration tribunals. He focuses on high value and highly sensitive and complex commercial trials, arbitrations, appeals, pre-litigation disputes, and government investigations.

Chris is regularly recognized in leading industry publications such as Lawdragon (included in “The 500 Leading Lawyers in America”), Chambers USA (New York Litigation/General Commercial), where a commentator described him as "an outstanding civil litigator who is able to distil complicated issues into simple and compelling themes"; and The Legal 500, where commentators have called him “a star for international commercial litigation," "a first-class legal mind," and a "very strategic" attorney who "excels at witness examination and argument."