Commercial Litigation

Cahill has a prominent litigation practice with approximately 120 litigators. We advise and represent privately-held and public corporations, both domestic and foreign, financial institutions, partnerships, committees, directors and officers and other individuals in a wide range of significant commercial litigation.

Cahill litigators have long been at the forefront of landmark litigation, including formative antitrust rulings of the Supreme Court of the United States in National Broadcasting Co. v. United States and Times Picayune v. United States, and seminal First Amendment decisions of the Supreme Court from The Pentagon Papers Case to Citizens United. It was also Cahill that obtained the first award, and ultimately one of the largest, made by the U.S.-Iran Claims Tribunal.

Our clients operate in an increasingly complex litigation landscape. We handle matters in highly specialized areas including appeals; securities laws; antitrust and trade regulation; insurance and reinsurance; First Amendment and other constitutional law challenges; copyright, trademark and trade secret disputes; communications; bankruptcy litigation; structured finance; anti-corruption law including FCPA and OFAC; as well as complex commercial disputes involving claims of accounting and legal malpractice, fraud, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and other business disputes. 

We have recently represented public and private multinational companies, insurers, financial institutions and publishing companies, among others, in a variety of complex commercial disputes and in regulatory and enforcement situations. We are also proud to be considered "the litigator's litigator," the firm that a number of the country's largest and most successful law firms have chosen to defend them in high-stakes securities and professional responsibility claims.

Working in close partnership with our clients, we learn their businesses and understand their goals. When high-stakes matters go to court, we draw on our experience and reputation as trial lawyers in state and federal courts throughout the country, and our experience before international tribunals such as the London Court of International Arbitration, the World Court and the ICC International Court of Arbitration, to achieve the best results for our clients.

Cahill litigators frequently appear before government entities, including the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, the Patent and Trademark Office, Congress, State Attorneys General, grand juries and  bankruptcy courts. Cahill litigators are also appointed by state and federal courts to help settle existing disputes, even those involving complex issues such as the very structure of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms themselves and questions of resolution privacy.

Among our ranks are former law clerks at the federal trial and appellate levels, including the Supreme Court of the United States, as well as lawyers who joined the firm following distinguished careers at the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of the Treasury and other federal and state agencies. Over time, current or former Cahill lawyers have served as the U.S. Attorney General, as state and federal judges (including the US Court of Appeals) and as United States Attorneys for the Department of Justice in the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the District of Connecticut, and the Eastern District of California.

Many members of the bench have been part of Cahill’s litigation practice. Three former Cahill attorneys presently sit on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Court or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Other Cahill-trained attorneys are now judges on the United States Tax Court or state courts.

Law360 recognized Cahill as a 2023 Banking Practice Group of the Year, noting Cahill’s precedent-setting jury trial win on behalf of Credit Suisse in a foreign exchange markets class action, as well as the firm’s extensive litigation work on behalf of financial institutions.

As a result of this trial victory for Credit Suisse, the trial team was also recognized by The National Law Journal in 2023 as General Litigation Trailblazers, and in 2022 by The American Lawyer as Litigators of the Week.

We are proud of the reputation we have earned for client service, legal excellence, and the ability to master complex challenges. Our experience and reputation for client service has led Chambers USA to rank Cahill among New York’s "Elite" law firms for Commercial Litigation.

Our practice is also top-ranked by The Legal 500 and Benchmark Litigation and we were again named a "Go-To" firm for Litigation by American Lawyer Media’s Corporate Counsel. Additionally, eighty percent of our litigation partners have also been singled out in leading peer evaluation publications as among the very best at what they do.