David Boies
David Boies (born
March 11,
1941) is a lawyer and a managing partner of
Boies, Schiller & Flexner (BSF). Gifted with a
photographic memory, which enables him to present complex cases without using written notes, he has been involved in various high-profile cases in the
United States.
Both his parents were teachers and he was born in
Marengo,
Illinois as were three of this four siblings. His first job was when he was 10 years old - a paper round with 120 customers. In
1954 the family moved to
California. Boies attended the
University of Redlands, and studied law at
Northwestern and
Yale universities. He received a B.S. from Northwestern in
1964, an LL.B.
magna cum laude from Yale in
1966, an LL.M. from New York University
1967, and an LL.D. from the University of Redlands in
2000.
He has been married three times. He married his first wife - his high school sweetheart - while at Redlands. While at Redlands he also taught journalism at a local mental hospital. He was the president of the campus
Young Republicans. While studying law at Northwestern he conducted an affair with one of his professor's wives which got him banned from the campus. The woman in this tale later became his second wife. He met his third wife
Mary McInnis - a lawyer - while she was on the
White House staff in the late '70s. Boise was then on a sabbatical from Cravath while working with the
US Senate Antitrust Subcommittee. He had been divorced from his second wife for ove five years. They have between them two children. Boies has his home at
Westchester County,
New York, a ranch in Northern California, an oceangoing yacht and a large wine collection. He charges up to US$750 an hour.
As a lawyer at
Cravath, Swaine & Moore, he helped defend
IBM in an antitrust case, and years later famously took the "other side" by representing the Justice Department in the
United States v. Microsoft case. While the Court trial was a victory for Boies, Microsoft won many issues on appeal. He defended
CBS in the action brought by
William Westmoreland. This case was settled at trial, but CBS lost its preeminence as the
Tiffany news network. Following the
2000 U.S. presidential election, he represented Vice President
Al Gore in
Bush v. Gore, which would be his first courtroom loss. He has also, unsuccessfully, defended
Napster when the company was sued by the
RIAA for facilitating copyright infringement.
Other cases in which he has been involved include
Pennzoil and
Texaco, the half-billion-dollar settlement of a suit by his art-buyer clients against the world's two leading art-auction companies,
Sotheby's and
Christie's; and the
Tallahassee passion play case.
As of November 2003, he is representing deposed Chief Financial Officer of
Enron,
Andrew Fastow, and has been retained by the
SCO Group in their pursuit of alleged infringement of their rights to the
UNIX intellectual properties. He is also representing
Lord Black of Crossharbour regarding the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the
Ontario Securities Commission probes of
Hollinger International's disclosure of $32 million (U.S.) in unauthorized payments to Black, fellow executives, and parent company
Hollinger Inc.Other current clients include
Tyco International Ltd., and
Qwest Communications International Inc.. During the Tyco case he told the world about
Dennis Kozlowski's US$15,000 umbrella stand. But the thorough audit Tyco commissioned him to perform at the troubled firm overlooked at least US$300 million in accounting irregularities that subsequently came to light.
Boies was also Chief Counsel and Staff Director of the United States Senate Antitrust Subcommittee in 1978, and served as Chief Counsel and Staff Director of the United States Senate Judiciary Committee in 1979.
He left Cravath over a conflict of interests in 1997. Boies wished to represent
New York Yankees owner
George Steinbrenner in a suit against
Major League Baseball. This would involve an action against all the teams. The
Atlanta Braves were owned by
Time Warner a longtime Cravath client. He left the firm within 48 hours of being informed of this conflict of interests and created his own firm.
A complaint was filed in Florida by several of BSF's clients -
Adelphia,
Tyco,
Qwest, and half a dozen others - about a document management firm called
Amici LLC. Amici is one third owned by three of Boies' children. The firm was founded by a former colleague of David Boies who pled guilty in 1997 to four felony counts of overbilling the federal government and subsequently served 33 months in prison.
In 2004 The Florida
Supreme Court dismissed an ethics complaint against Boies, who was charged with violating Florida Bar rules by paying more than $400,000 to help his law firm's chief financial officer
Amy Habie pursue a contract dispute in
Palm Beach County Circuit Court. Boies cannot currently take depositions in Florida without a Florida licenced attorney being present.
Boies, Schiller & Flexner currently has 9 offices (four in
Florida), approximately 200 lawyers and ~US$500 million in annual revenues. Its chief financial officer
Amy Habie has recently (2006) accused of contempt of court by the Judge currently assigned to the case. The Judge, Palm Beach Circuit Court Judge Amy Smith, ordered that a special prosicutor be appointed to look into whether
Amy Habie was guilty of the accused crimes. A hearing for August 7, 2006 is currently scheduled.
He has taught courses at
New York University Law School and
Cardozo School of Law. A professorial chair - the David Boies Professor - has been established at the
University of Pennsylvania. The current holder is
Sheldon Hackney a professor of history. The chair is named after Boies' father. One of Boies's sons is also named David.
* "Never in a thousand years could I have predicted such a large recovery. Mr. Boies has to be the
Tiger Woods of the legal profession."
** fellow lawyer
Fred Furth on the
Sotheby's and
Christie's price fixing class-action lawsuit**
Courting Justice, p. 352
*
Betrayal catches Black by surprise by David Olive, Toronto Star, Nov. 24, 2003.
*
Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP Corporate Website*
Courting Justice: From New York Yankees vs. Major League Baseball to Bush vs. Gore, 1997-2000 (Miramax Books, 2004) ISBN 0786868384
v. Goliath: The Trials of David Boies, by Karen Donovan (Pantheon, 2005) ISBN 0375421130
