About Forum Fellow David Boies
Since 1997 Mr. David Boies has been the Chairman of Boies, Schiller and Flexner LLP, a law firm with offices in New York, Washington D.C., California, Florida, Nevada, and New Hampshire. Prior to 1997 Mr. Boies was a partner at Cravath Swaine & Moore.
Mr. Boies has been selected as one of the 100 Most Influential People
in the World by Time magazine (2010). He is the recipient of honorary
LL.D.s from the University of Redlands (2000) and New York Law School
(2007), and an Honorary Doctor of Letters from the Chicago Theological
Seminary (2011). His awards include the ABA Medal from the American Bar
Association, the Vanderbilt Medal from New York University Law School,
the Pinnacle Award from the International Dyslexia Association, the
William Brennan Award from the University of Virginia, the Role Model
Award from Equality Forum, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the
Mississippi Center for Justice. Mr. Boies was named the Lawyer of the
Year by the National Law Journal (1999 and 2000); runner-up Person of
the Year by Time Magazine (2000); the Antitrust Lawyer of the Year by
the New York Bar Association (2003); the Commercial Litigator of the
Year by Who's Who International (an unprecedented four times, including
2010); and a Star Individual by Chambers USA (2010).
Mr. Boies served as Chief Counsel and Staff Director of the United States Senate Antitrust Subcommittee in 1978 and Chief Counsel and Staff Director of the United States Senate Judiciary Committee in 1979.
In 1986, representing the Democratic National Committee, he won a permanent injunction prohibiting the Republican National Committee from targeting minority districts with efforts to challenge voter qualifications. In 1991-1993, Mr. Boies was counsel to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, recovering $1.2 billion from companies who sold junk bonds to failed savings and loan associations.
In 1998-2000, he served as Special Trial Counsel for the United States Department of Justice in its antitrust suit against Microsoft. Mr. Boies also served as the lead counsel for former Vice-President Al Gore in connection with litigation relating to the 2000 election Florida vote count. In 2010, Mr. Boies represented plaintiffs in California suing to enjoin the state’s ban on gay marriage as violative of the federal constitution.
In 2008, Mr. Boies successfully defended NASCAR against antitrust charges and collected a record $4.1 billion for American Express in its antitrust litigation against Visa and MasterCard. In 2009, Mr. Boies won a defense jury verdict for his client Starr International against a $4.3 billion claim by AIG, and represented the Golden Gate Yacht Club in its successful efforts to enjoin the America’s Cup defender from disqualifying the Club’s boat (which went on to win the Cup).
In 2010, he won the largest copyright infringement jury verdict for his client Oracle in its suit against SAP and successfully defended his client Barclays against an effort by the Lehman Bankruptcy Trustee to revise the terms of Barclays' 2008 purchase of Lehman assets.
Mr. Boies was born in Sycamore, Illinois. He attended the University of Redlands (1960-62), and received a B.S. from Northwestern University (1964), an LL.B., magna cum laude from Yale University (1966), and an LL.M. from New York University (1967).
Mr. Boies is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers; and a Trustee of the National Constitution Center, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center. Mr. Boies is the author of numerous publications including "Courting Justice," published by Miramax in 2004, and "Public Control of Business" (with Paul R. Verkuil) published by Little Brown in 1977. He has taught courses at New York University Law School and Cardozo Law School.