
Christopher Duffy

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

Chris serves as Co-Head of Vinson & Elkins’ Complex Commercial Litigation practice. A seasoned New York litigator, Chris’s practice focuses on complex commercial trials and appeals, arbitrations, and government investigations. He represents clients in a number of industries, from technology to professional sports, and has significant experience representing large financial institutions in complex matters.
Experience Highlights
As co-lead trial counsel for a major international banking firm, delivered the summation to the jury and cross-examined the plaintiff’s CEO, COO, and expert witness on damages. After a nine-day trial, the jury returned a verdict in less than three hours, eliminating all of the plaintiff’s claims for more than $100 million in alleged damages and interest
As lead counsel for a major U.S. investment bank, prevailed at trial in the Delaware Court of Chancery, and in a subsequent appeal to the Delaware Supreme Court, in a dispute over the meaning of indemnification provisions in corporate by-laws
Defended civil litigation brought by the New York Attorney General relating to the operation of a major investment bank’s private trading platform
Defended a major investment bank and several of its former employees in litigation and arbitration centering on whether particular transactions qualified as swaps, security-based swaps or security-based agreements, for purposes of determining the application of the Commodities Exchange Act
As co-lead counsel for a large investment firm, prevailed at trial in the Delaware Court of Chancery, resulting in a judgment that a hedge fund breached its fiduciary and contractual duties by raising “gates” to block the redemption of a seed investment
Secured a full defense verdict in a jury trial of claims brought by a public company seeking control of the client’s board of directors and billions of dollars of its assets
Won a rare appellate reversal of a jury verdict in a multibillion dollar fraud trial arising from a public-to-private M&A deal
Represented a creditor in pursuing and successfully settling claims arising from an ISDA-governed interest rate swap agreement in the Title III PROMESA restructuring of Puerto Rico’s Sales Tax Financing Corporation
Regularly served as lead counsel for clients involved in external investigations by FINRA, the SEC, the New York Attorney General, and other government agencies
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
Served as lead counsel in multiple confidential FINRA arbitrations for financial industry clients
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
- Legal 500 U.S., Dispute Resolution: Corporate Investigations & White-Collar Criminal Defense, 2021 and 2022; Dispute Resolution: General Commercial Disputes, 2022
- 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
- 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
V&E Renewable Energy Update