
Christopher Duffy

The Grace Building
1114 Avenue of the Americas
32nd Floor
New York, New York 10036

Chris focuses on high value and highly sensitive and complex commercial trials, arbitrations, appeals, pre-litigation disputes, and government investigations. He is regularly recognized in leading industry publications such as Chambers (New York Litigation/General Commercial), Lawdragon (included in “The 500 Leading Lawyers in America”), Super Lawyers (New York), and The Legal 500, where a commentator called him “a star for international commercial litigation” and “a go-to address for such matters.”
Chris is the Co-Head of Vinson & Elkins’ Complex Commercial Litigation practice.
Experience Highlights
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 (decision pending)
Lead Counsel in ongoing arbitration proceedings for a major financial institution seeking more than $400 million of damages against a contractual counterparty
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 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
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
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
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 a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist in defending New York state court lawsuit brought by political figure; obtained a full dismissal of all claims and an award of attorneys’ fees under New York’s Anti-SLAPP statute
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
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 government 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
Credentials
- Columbia Law School, J.D., 2001 (Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar; Senior Editor, Columbia Law Review)
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, M.A., Communication Studies, 1997
- University of Virginia, B.A., English, 1994
- Prior to joining the firm, Chris was a partner in the New York office of a global litigation law firm.
- Chambers USA, Litigation: General Commercial (New York), 2022 and 2023
- Legal 500 U.S., Dispute Resolution: Corporate Investigations & White-Collar Criminal Defense, 2021–2023; Dispute Resolution: General Commercial Disputes, 2022 and 2023
- Lawdragon, 500 Leading Litigators in America, 2023
- Selected to the 500 Leading Lawyers in America, Lawdragon, 2022 and 2023
- Selected to the New York Super Lawyers list, Super Lawyers (Thomson Reuters), 2013–2022
- Board of Directors: New York Lawyers for the Public Interest
- New York
- U.S. District Court: Southern and Eastern Districts of New York
- U.S. Court of Appeals: Second, Third, Ninth and Eleventh Circuits
- U.S. Supreme Court
- InsightSeptember 26, 2023
Published by Law Business Research Ltd
- Rankings & AwardsSeptember 22, 2023
- Rankings & AwardsSeptember 11, 2023
- Rankings & AwardsJune 12, 2023
- Rankings & AwardsJune 1, 2023
- Rankings & AwardsJanuary 17, 2023
- Rankings & AwardsOctober 4, 2022
- Rankings & AwardsJune 16, 2022
- InsightJune 9, 2022
V&E Renewable Energy Update
- Rankings & AwardsJune 1, 2022
- Rankings & AwardsMarch 29, 2022
- Rankings & AwardsFebruary 21, 2022
- InsightSeptember 30, 2021
First Published in Lexology GTDT
- Deals & CasesAugust 10, 2021
- The Statutory Classification of Cable-Delivered Internet Service, 100 Columbia Law Review 1251, 2000
News & Insights
Published by Law Business Research Ltd