Four Decades for Justice
Richard W. Clary retired from Cravath’s Litigation Department in December 2020. His practice focused on securities defense; antitrust (plaintiff and defense sides); patent, trade secret and trademark litigation (plaintiff and defense sides); bankruptcy litigation (debtor and creditor sides); commercial litigation; fiduciary duty litigation; fraud, FCPA and bribery litigation; Anti‑Terrorism Act litigation; and civil rights and constitutional rights litigation. Mr. Clary had extensive federal and state court experience, including jury trials and bench trials, and argued numerous appeals. He also handled both international and domestic arbitrations and numerous pro bono cases.
Mr. Clary was born in Tarboro, North Carolina. He received a B.A. magna cum laude from Amherst College in 1975, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and a J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1978, where he was Developments Officer of the Law Review and awarded the Sears Prize. Mr. Clary served as a law clerk to Hon. Walter R. Mansfield of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and to Justice Thurgood Marshall of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Mr. Clary joined Cravath in 1980 and was elected a partner in 1985. Mr. Clary served as the Firm’s Litigation Managing Partner from February 1997 to November 2005, and as Head of Litigation from November 2005 to September 2010.
Mr. Clary was born in Tarboro, North Carolina. He received a B.A. magna cum laude from Amherst College in 1975, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and a J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1978, where he was Developments Officer of the Law Review and awarded the Sears Prize. Mr. Clary served as a law clerk to Hon. Walter R. Mansfield of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and to Justice Thurgood Marshall of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Mr. Clary joined Cravath in 1980 and was elected a partner in 1985. Mr. Clary served as the Firm’s Litigation Managing Partner from February 1997 to November 2005, and as Head of Litigation from November 2005 to September 2010.
Deals & Cases
May 19, 2011
On May 17, 2011, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granted a motion to dismiss shareholder derivative litigation brought against Cravath clients, the Outside Directors of Citigroup Inc. Shareholders alleged breach of fiduciary duty, corporate waste and mismanagement against certain of Citigroup’s current and former directors and officers in connection with Citigroup’s losses on mortgage-backed assets in the second half of 2007.
Deals & Cases
March 25, 2011
On March 22, 2011, Judge Elaine Bucklo of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois dismissed with prejudice an amended derivative complaint against Cravath client Huron Consulting Group Inc. and its directors.
Deals & Cases
December 08, 2010
On December 6, 2010, Cravath client Huron Consulting Group Inc. announced that it has entered into an agreement in principle with the lead plaintiff in the pending securities class action lawsuit related to the restatement of the Company’s financial statements in July 2009. The agreement provides that the settlement class in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois will receive total consideration of approximately $38 million, consisting of $27 million in cash, which will be funded by the Company’s insurance carriers, and 474,547 shares of common stock (valued at approximately $11 million) issued by the Company. The proposed settlement is subject to the completion of final documentation and court approval, which is expected to occur in the first half of 2011.
Deals & Cases
July 28, 2010
On July 27, 2010, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granted a motion for judgment on the pleadings in favor of Cravath client Credit Suisse Group and its senior officers, dismissing the Section 10(b) securities fraud claims of all U.S. plaintiffs who purchased Credit Suisse common stock on the Swiss Stock Exchange. This is one of the first decisions to implement the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Morrison v. National Australia Bank, which ruled that investors could not invoke the widely used federal securities law Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 after they buy and sell shares of foreign companies on non-U.S. exchanges. Plaintiffs argued that Morrison should be limited to foreign purchasers, but Cravath successfully argued that the bright-line test announced in Morrison also applied to U.S. purchasers who purchased securities listed on a foreign exchange.
Deals & Cases
June 11, 2010
On June 10, 2010, the United States District Court of the Eastern District of New York accepted the settlement by New York State in Lewis v. Burroughs, pursuant to which Stephen Lewis will be paid $300,000. The Honorable John Gleeson appointed Cravath to represent Mr. Lewis, then an inmate, in his lawsuit against four New York state prison guards for violation of his Eighth Amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. Mr. Lewis alleged that, while he was an inmate at the Arthur Kill Correctional Facility, he was subjected to a sexual assault during a pat frisk by a prison guard, while three other guards watched and failed to intervene. Following three days of a trial consisting of three different phases, the jury entered a verdict of liability against all four guards and awarded compensatory and punitive damages to Mr. Lewis. Despite testimony by all four guards that nothing had happened, the jury found Mr. Lewis’s testimony to be credible. The final phase of trial, against the Superintendent of the prison for failure to supervise, was ongoing when New York State decided to settle. In accepting the settlement, the Court noted that the trial had revealed “systemic problems in the management of Arthur Kill facility . . . [that] contribute to an environment that allows the abuse of inmates to go unpunished.”
Richard W. Clary retired from Cravath’s Litigation Department in December 2020. His practice focused on securities defense; antitrust (plaintiff and defense sides); patent, trade secret and trademark litigation (plaintiff and defense sides); bankruptcy litigation (debtor and creditor sides); commercial litigation; fiduciary duty litigation; fraud, FCPA and bribery litigation; Anti‑Terrorism Act litigation; and civil rights and constitutional rights litigation. Mr. Clary had extensive federal and state court experience, including jury trials and bench trials, and argued numerous appeals. He also handled both international and domestic arbitrations and numerous pro bono cases.
Mr. Clary was born in Tarboro, North Carolina. He received a B.A. magna cum laude from Amherst College in 1975, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and a J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1978, where he was Developments Officer of the Law Review and awarded the Sears Prize. Mr. Clary served as a law clerk to Hon. Walter R. Mansfield of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and to Justice Thurgood Marshall of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Mr. Clary joined Cravath in 1980 and was elected a partner in 1985. Mr. Clary served as the Firm’s Litigation Managing Partner from February 1997 to November 2005, and as Head of Litigation from November 2005 to September 2010.
Mr. Clary was born in Tarboro, North Carolina. He received a B.A. magna cum laude from Amherst College in 1975, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and a J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1978, where he was Developments Officer of the Law Review and awarded the Sears Prize. Mr. Clary served as a law clerk to Hon. Walter R. Mansfield of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and to Justice Thurgood Marshall of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Mr. Clary joined Cravath in 1980 and was elected a partner in 1985. Mr. Clary served as the Firm’s Litigation Managing Partner from February 1997 to November 2005, and as Head of Litigation from November 2005 to September 2010.
Deals & Cases
May 19, 2011
On May 17, 2011, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granted a motion to dismiss shareholder derivative litigation brought against Cravath clients, the Outside Directors of Citigroup Inc. Shareholders alleged breach of fiduciary duty, corporate waste and mismanagement against certain of Citigroup’s current and former directors and officers in connection with Citigroup’s losses on mortgage-backed assets in the second half of 2007.
Deals & Cases
March 25, 2011
On March 22, 2011, Judge Elaine Bucklo of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois dismissed with prejudice an amended derivative complaint against Cravath client Huron Consulting Group Inc. and its directors.
Deals & Cases
December 08, 2010
On December 6, 2010, Cravath client Huron Consulting Group Inc. announced that it has entered into an agreement in principle with the lead plaintiff in the pending securities class action lawsuit related to the restatement of the Company’s financial statements in July 2009. The agreement provides that the settlement class in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois will receive total consideration of approximately $38 million, consisting of $27 million in cash, which will be funded by the Company’s insurance carriers, and 474,547 shares of common stock (valued at approximately $11 million) issued by the Company. The proposed settlement is subject to the completion of final documentation and court approval, which is expected to occur in the first half of 2011.
Deals & Cases
July 28, 2010
On July 27, 2010, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granted a motion for judgment on the pleadings in favor of Cravath client Credit Suisse Group and its senior officers, dismissing the Section 10(b) securities fraud claims of all U.S. plaintiffs who purchased Credit Suisse common stock on the Swiss Stock Exchange. This is one of the first decisions to implement the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Morrison v. National Australia Bank, which ruled that investors could not invoke the widely used federal securities law Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 after they buy and sell shares of foreign companies on non-U.S. exchanges. Plaintiffs argued that Morrison should be limited to foreign purchasers, but Cravath successfully argued that the bright-line test announced in Morrison also applied to U.S. purchasers who purchased securities listed on a foreign exchange.
Deals & Cases
June 11, 2010
On June 10, 2010, the United States District Court of the Eastern District of New York accepted the settlement by New York State in Lewis v. Burroughs, pursuant to which Stephen Lewis will be paid $300,000. The Honorable John Gleeson appointed Cravath to represent Mr. Lewis, then an inmate, in his lawsuit against four New York state prison guards for violation of his Eighth Amendment right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment. Mr. Lewis alleged that, while he was an inmate at the Arthur Kill Correctional Facility, he was subjected to a sexual assault during a pat frisk by a prison guard, while three other guards watched and failed to intervene. Following three days of a trial consisting of three different phases, the jury entered a verdict of liability against all four guards and awarded compensatory and punitive damages to Mr. Lewis. Despite testimony by all four guards that nothing had happened, the jury found Mr. Lewis’s testimony to be credible. The final phase of trial, against the Superintendent of the prison for failure to supervise, was ongoing when New York State decided to settle. In accepting the settlement, the Court noted that the trial had revealed “systemic problems in the management of Arthur Kill facility . . . [that] contribute to an environment that allows the abuse of inmates to go unpunished.”
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