Nicholas Gravante is the Administrative Partner of Boies Schiller & Flexner's New York City office and also serves as General Counsel to the firm. He has extensive trial experience and his main practice areas include business crimes, complex commercial litigation and antitrust litigation. Mr. Gravante has consistently been honored as one of the country's top litigators, including by Lawdragon's 500 Leading Lawyers in America and New York's Best Lawyers.
Mr. Gravante currently serves as counsel in pending matters to the former CEO of a major insurance company, to Starr International Company and C.V. Starr & Co., both multi-billion dollar investment companies, to the Andy Warhol Foundation, and to several hedge funds. His latest victory was achieved after a lengthy trial in the battle for control of the Arizona Iced Tea empire, defeating claims seeking hundreds of millions of dollars against one of the company's founders. Most recently, he was engaged to represent several groups of bondholders in the Argentina's debt crisis litigation. Other representative clients of Mr. Gravante's have included Carnival Corporation, Calvin Klein Inc., Current TV, and Tyco International.
Before joining Boies, Schiller & Flexner in June of 2000, Mr. Gravante was a partner at Barrett Gravante Carpinello & Stern LLP. Prior to that, he was associated with Cravath, Swaine & Moore and the Law Office of Gerald L. Shargel.
Mr. Gravante has won trials in federal and state courts across the country, including securing acquittals in several high-profile criminal cases. Prior to his recent victory in the Arizona Iced Tea litigation, he won a substantial jury verdict in federal court in Los Angeles for a nationally known mystery author against a major publishing house, won the acquittal of a defendant charged with arson in New York State Supreme Court in a groundbreaking "false confession" case, and achieved a hung jury defending an anesthesiologist against insurance fraud charges in a high profile matter in federal court in New York. He presented part of the defense case on behalf of Starr International Company in the firm's trial victory over AIG in a dispute over the ownership of billions of dollars of AIG stock. He also recently represented members of the Vice-President's immediate family, winning an outright dismissal of a well-publicized civil action filed against them.
Prior to joining Boies, Schiller & Flexner, Mr. Gravante's trial victories included winning an acquittal for three leading New York City real estate companies indicted under the Martin Act. He also achieved a jury verdict vindicating foreign exchange traders at Bauque Indosuez accused of executing hundreds of millions of dollars of unauthorized trades.
In addition to his legal practice, Mr. Gravante serves as a member of the Second Department Judicial Screening Committee, as Vice-Chair of the Brooklyn Public Library, and as a member of the board of trustees for the Community Service Society, Poly Prep Country Day School and ESS Sheltering Arms.
Mr. Gravante has successfully negotiated pleas for individual and corporate clients in many high-profile matters, including for the former owner of a National Hockey League team charged with mail and wire fraud; a floor trader on the New York Stock Exchange charged with securities violations; and a medical supplies provider charged with insurance fraud. He has also negotiated non-prosecution agreements for major, publicly-traded companies and successfully exonerated numerous individuals, non-profit entities, Fortune 500 companies and a major national university in federal and state grand jury and regulatory investigations.
Selected Professional Awards and Associations
- Lawdragon's 500 Leading Lawyers in America
- New York's Best Lawyers
- Super Lawyers
- New York Council of Defense Lawyers
- Former Member of Sentencing Guidelines Committee
- Federal Bar Council
- Association of the Bar of the City of New York
- Former Member of Criminal Advocacy Committee
- National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers