Michael R. Griffinger

Highlights:

• Selected as "Lawyer of the Year" for 2009 in the category of "Bet-the-Company Litigation" by Best Lawyers and listed in four other categories as well (Antitrust, Appellate, Commercial Litigation and Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law).
• Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers and International Academy of Trial Lawyers.
• Top tier for Commercial Litigation in Chambers USA Guide to America's Leading Law Firms, 2009.
• Top ten attorneys in New Jersey by Super Lawyers.
• Chairman, New Jersey State Bar Association Judicial and Prosecutorial Appointments Committee.
• Chairman of Board of Trustees, Volunteer Lawyers for Justice.
• Author, lecturer, honoree.

Michael R. Griffinger, former Chair of the Business & Commercial Litigation Department, has been an active litigator in federal and state courts for over 40 years. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. He has conducted trials and hearings in federal and state courts in New York, Florida, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Connecticut, California and Nevada in addition to New Jersey. His litigation is focused primarily on corporate and commercial disputes, securities litigation and antitrust matters. He has represented major United States and foreign corporations from numerous industries, including manufacturing, railroad, automobile, food, financial, telecommunications and pharmaceutical industries. He is experienced in both jury and non-jury trials as well as class action and derivative litigation.

Columbia Law School (J.D., 1964)

Cornell University (B.A., 1958)
Columbia School of Business (M.B.A., 1964)

State of New York 1964

State of New Jersey 1965

United States Supreme Court 1969

United States District Court for the District of New Jersey 1965

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York 1974

United States District Court for the District of Colorado 2002

United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit 1965

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit 1974

United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit 1993

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit 1998

United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit 1974

New Jersey State Bar Association
Chairman, Business and Commercial Litigation Committee, 2002-2004
Founder and Past Chairman of Federal Practice and Procedure Committee
Trustee, 1972-1973, 1997-2001

Trustee, Essex County Bar Association, 1991-1997

Lawyers Advisory Committee, United States District Court, District of New Jersey, (1996-present)

Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Essex County Legal Services Corporation, 1968-1970

Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Volunteer Lawyers for Justice, 2008-

Co-Chairman, Third Circuit Judicial Conference, 1991

Former Member of Third Circuit Lawyers Advisory Committee

Master, Lifland Inn of Court

Panelist or Moderator, various PLI and ICLE programs

Columbia University Law School Board of Visitors

"Ponzi Schemes: Making Sense of the Madoff Mess," Commerce, June 2009 (Michael R. Griffinger, Eugene H. Kim)

Contributor, Michael R. Griffinger & Paul F. Cullum III, New Jersey Estate Litigation (New Jersey Law Journal Books, 2006)

"Court Endorses the Business-Judgment Rule," New Jersey Law Journal , December 16, 2002 (Michael R. Griffinger, Harold G. Levison, R. Edwin Selover, William E. Frese)

"Coordinating Parallel Litigation," Litigation Magazine, Vol. 14, No. 2 , Winter, 1998

"New Technology in the New Jersey Federal Courtrooms," New Jersey Lawyer, the Magazine, Pg. 15 , July/August 1996

"Strategies for Ex-Employer Plaintiffs in Trade Secret Actions," Practical Lawyer, Vol. 34, No. 2 , March, 1988

"Bankruptcy Litigation Handbook," Prentice Hall, 1987

Interviewed in "Newark Looks Back," The Caucus Educational Corporation's Series on Newark's Rebirth, April 2008 (John J. Gibbons, Michael R. Griffinger)

Quoted in "Commodities, Derivatives, Securities, Oh My!" NJ Biz, August 1, 2005

Moderator, New Jersey Law Center, "Commercial Litigation: Procedure and Substance" New Brunswick, NJ. June 1, 2007

Recipient, William J. Brennan, Jr. Award, 2010

Listed as the "New Jersey Best Lawyers Bet-the-Company Litigator of the Year," 2009

Listed as a "Local Litigation Star," Commercial Litigation, by Benchmark Litigation, 2010

Listed in Super Lawyers, Business Litigation
Top 10 attorneys in New Jersey, 2008-2010
Top 100 attorneys in New Jersey, 2004-2010

Listed in Chambers USA Guide to America's Leading Law Firms, Litigation: General Commercial, 2010

Listed in The Best Lawyers in America, Antitrust Law, Appellate Law, Bankruptcy & Creditor-Debtor Rights Law, Bet-the-Company Litigation and Commercial Litigation, 2010

Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers

Fellow, International Academy of Trial Lawyers

Fellow, American Bar Foundation

Tree of Life Award Recipient, 2003, Jewish National Fund

Recipient, Professional Lawyer of the Year Award, 1999, New Jersey Commission on Professionalism in the Law

Recipient, Civil Practice Achievement Award, Essex County Bar Association, 1997

Gibbons Director Michael R. Griffinger Honored by the Association of the Federal Bar of New Jersey

Gibbons Director Michael R. Griffinger to be Honored by American Jewish Committee

Best Lawyers Names Michael Griffinger "Bet-the-Company Litigator of the Year" for NJ

Michael Griffinger is Chairman of the Greater Newark Holiday Fund

President, Essex-Newark Legal Services Foundation, 1992-1995, Trustee, (1995-present)

Board of Trustees, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1995-present (Recipient, Chambers Award, 2004)

Chairman, Greater Newark Holiday Fund, 2002-2003

Co-Chairman, Fresh Air Fund, 1991-1992 Co-Chairman, Columbia Law School Reunion Fund Drives

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*No aspect of this communication has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey. Further information about methodologies for rating or selecting attorneys is available on our website’s Award Methodology page.