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Martin Garbus is one of the country’s leading trial lawyers. He aggressively represents his commercial and criminal clients in both the courts and the public media. He has appeared before the United States Supreme Court as well as trial and appellate courts in the nation, in over 100 cases.
The Guardian called him “one of the world’s finest trial lawyers” and the “founding partner of one of America’s most prestigious law firms.” In 2007, Business Week called him "legendary," “a ferocious lawyer who has received numerous media citations as one of America’s leading trial lawyers” and a "ferocious litigator;" Time Magazine named him "legendary, one of the best trial lawyers in the country." Fortune Magazine called him, "One of the nation's premier First Amendment attorneys," and "legendary," Reuters called him a “famed lawyer” while other media have called him "America's most prominent First Amendment lawyer" with an "extraordinarily diverse practice" and "one of the country's top ten litigators." Super Lawyers Magazine designated him as a “Superlawyer.” New York Magazine and Los Angeles Magazine, over the last twelve years have named him both as one of America’s best trial lawyers, and one of America’s best intellectual property lawyers.
Super Lawyers states that, has designated him as a “Superlawyer.” New York Magazine, over the last eleven years, named him both as one of America’s best trial lawyers, and one of America’s best Intellectual Property lawyers. Los Angeles Magazine has done the same.
Mr. Garbus's skill as a trial lawyer has earned his distinguished reputation as a result of his courtroom skills. He is an expert at every aspect of litigation and trial, from jury selection to cross-examination to summation. His cases have established new legal precedents in the Supreme Court and courts throughout the country.
Mr. Garbus, who taught trial practice at the Yale Law School and Constitutional law at Columbia, as well as in Beijing, China and Prague, Czech Republic is the author of six books and numerous articles, that have appeared both in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and in legal publications. He has given hundreds of talks on various aspects of law before Bar Associations, corporations, law schools and CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN and other television and radio networks. His devotion to ethics, justice, free speech and the law has garnered respect among the legal community, commercial and corporate sectors, and beyond, earning him numerous honors, designations in Who’s Who in America, recently a Profile in the New York Times, Who’s Who in Best Lawyers in America as well as awards from his law school and college and praise from his numerous high-profile clients.
MOST RECENT PROFILES
UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT CASES INCLUDE
- In a 5-4 decision reached by the United States Supreme Court, Mr. Garbus filed what is arguably the most important due process case of the 20th century, Goldberg v. Kelly (397 U.S. 254).
- Arguing in the United States Supreme Court after a trial in Alabama, Mr. Garbus won in King v. Smith (392 U.S. 309), a unanimous 9-0 decision striking down laws in 14 states on the grounds they violated the Constitution. These laws had disenfranchised one million people.
- Served as co-counsel in Ashton v. Kentucky (384 U.S. 195), a Supreme Court decision that struck down all criminal libel laws in the United States
- Served as co-counsel in Jacobellis v. Ohio (378 U.S. 184), where the Supreme Court held unconstitutional an Ohio statute seeking to regulate motion pictures and, for the first time, defined the term “national community standards.”
NOBEL PRIZE WINNING CLIENTS INCLUDE
- Vaclav Havel, James Watson, Nelson Mandela and Andrei Sakharov.
ON THE PRESENT DOCKET OF MARTIN GARBUS
Notable among the many cases Mr. Garbus is currently handling are the following:
- Represents Al Pacino in a suit against manufacturers wrongfully using his name, image and likeness to sell their products.
- Represents disputants in a fight over the dead sea scrolls.
- Defending Don Imus in a free speech suit brought by advertisers on his radio program.
- Represents Annie Leibovitz on internet matters.
- Represents Fox reporter Roger Freidman, recently fired by Rupert Murdoch for material that appeared in Mr. Freidman's column.
- Represents Euginia Silva, Spain's top model, whose altered picture was placed on the cover of Vanity Fair.
- Criminal case against a former European Prime Minister in California. Civil and RICO mail fraud and money laundering case involving $400,000,000 in California.
- Copyright, Lanham Act and breach of contract case in New York, Colorado and California, against Marvel, for income derived from Spider Man, the Incredible Hulk and other Stan Lee characters.
- Copyright and Lanham Act case for control of name, image and likeness of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.
- Represents Terry McMillan, the noted author, in a San Francisco, California suit against a lawyer and former husband who allegedly tried to extort funds from her.
- Represents a New York Times journalist sued by Jane Pauley.
- Represents participants in Michael Moore's film, "Sicko," threatened with federal criminal prosecution for having gone to Cuba for medical treatment
- Martin Garbus recently settled a suit brought by his client, Don Imus, against CBS for a reported $20 million, and successfully defended Don Imus in a libel suit brought by the members of the Rutgers women's basketball team.
- Represents a New York Supreme Court judge in a misconduct investigation
- Represents a California lyricist in a suit against a television shopping channel (Home Shopping Network) for copyright infringement
- Represents a California individual accused of planting drugs in Lindsay Lohan's car
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Mr. Garbus is currently preparing to appear before a jury in Federal Court in New York in connection with a copyright infringement suit seeking in excess of $100,000,000 against rap star Eminem and Universal, his record label. His client, a renowned French composer, alleges his music was copied without authorization and used in the song Kill You, the first track on The Marshall Mathers LP. That album, Eminem’s second, enjoyed sales of over 16,000,000 CDs, making it number one in CD sales the year it was released.
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Mr. Garbus will try a jury case in New York State Court involving property damage to a $20,000,000 painting by one of America’s greatest 20th century artists.
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Representing discharged employees in a class action employment discrimination suit challenging President Bush’s “faith-based” initiative. The case is expected to go to trial in Federal Court before the end of 2008.
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Representing flight attendants in a labor dispute against their union and American Airlines. This case, where the recovery may be over $1 billion, is expected to go to trial in Federal Court before the end of 2008.
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Mr. Garbus is representing an individual who appeared before a grand jury in San Francisco investigating Barry Bonds and the use of steroids in organized sports.
He has testified before the United States Congress and the New York and California legislative branches many times on many issues as well as before numerous federal and state agencies.
LIBEL, DEFAMATION AND OTHER FIRST AMENDMENT CASES INCLUDE
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Successfully represented famed comedian Lenny Bruce and his freedom of speech against criminal charges
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Successfully represented best-selling writer Robert Sam Anson in a lawsuit claiming Walt Disney tried to stop publication of a book critical of the company in a free speech case
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Successfully represented, in a Federal court and then before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals sitting in New York, Penguin Books against attempts by Lawrence Walsh, Special Counsel to Iran-Contra, to stop the publication of Jeffrey Toobin’s book on Iran-Contra
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In a Chicago state court, and then in the Supreme Court of Illinois, successfully stopped the unauthorized publication of a book of short stories of author John Cheever
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In a Los Angeles, California federal court, and then in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, successfully represented actor/director Spike Lee in an injunction suit filed to prevent the release of “Malcolm X”
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Successfully defended the author Terry McMillan in a New York State court against libel allegations, on First Amendment grounds
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Representing Penguin, successfully set new precedent on behalf of all authors in establishing that libel did not under certain circumstances lie in the fiction area
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Successfully defended Scholastic Books, the publisher of the “Harry Potter” series, against claims that some others than Rowling wrote the best-selling books
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Successfully defended Time Warner, Random House, Penguin, Putnam and Bantam Books on numerous libel claims in New York, Arkansas, Ohio, Wyoming and California
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In South Dakota, North Dakota and Nebraska, and before the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in Minnesota, successfully defended Peter Matthiessen and Penguin Books in federal suits filed by William Janklow, South Dakota Governor and Senator, and the FBI over allegations that the FBI wrongfully coerced testimony through physical abuse and that Janklow had raped an Indian woman.
INTERNATIONAL LAW
During his legal career, Mr. Garbus has represented and advocated on behalf of political dissidents such as Nelson Mandela, Vaclav Havel, and Daniel Ellsberg. On behalf of Andrei Sakharov and other Russian dissidents, he smuggled a list of political prisoners describing their awful jail conditions, out of the Soviet Union, personally delivering it in January 1980, two weeks before the inauguration, to President Jimmy Carter, who acknowledged this document as the beginning and cornerstone of his new American human rights policy.
He played a role in writing the Czechoslovakian constitution, the Russian media laws, and laws in other foreign countries. He represented the Rwandan government, after the genocide, in its negotiations with the International Court over questions concerning the trials of the accused. He has represented government officials in other countries, including members of Salvadore Allende's goverment, cabinet ministers and judges of the highest court of India during Indira Gandhi's crackdown, jailed opponents of the regime in Taiwan, Basques in Spain, and members of the African National Congress in South Africa.
He advised the Chinese government in their attempts to enforce copyright and lectured Chinese officials and students in copyright enforcement. Mr. Garbus has also been an international observer in trials and elections in South Africa, Czechoslovakia, Russia, Venezuela and Nicaragua.
He has also represented individuals and corporations in media and commercial matters overseas.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, COPYRIGHT
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Won a copyright suit against the Coors Brewing Company on behalf of Public Enemy No. 1, a hip-hop and rap group, for wrongful sampling the group’s music in beer advertisements.
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Represented Miramax Co when the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) tried to rate several of its films “R,” and on behalf of Miramax, brought a lawsuit to declare unconstitutional the MPAA’s film ratings system.
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Won a federal jury verdict representing the Isley Brothers against Motown Records involving accounting fraud and copyright infringement and had it upheld by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
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Successfully defended a trustee of the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance in a copyright infringement case involving choreographed material
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Won a trial in Mississippi Federal Court on behalf of Britain’s Channel 4 and the Public Broadcasting System involving breach of contract claims and the unauthorized use of photographs in a PBS-Channel 13 film on art in America and had the decision upheld by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Louisiana.
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Represented the Public Broadcasting System in copyright and criminal suits in the United States
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Represented renowned artist Agnes Martin in lawsuits regarding ownership of her paintings and in her estate
MEDIA CLIENTS
Mr. Garbus’ diverse practice as an entertainment lawyer consists of individuals and companies involved in media, entertainment and the arts. He has handled entertainment law cases involving free speech, intellectual property, and commercial law issues as well as book and movie negotiations, including movie negotiations for the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Oppenheimer." His clients include:
Authors
David Halberstam, Philip Roth, Tom Brokaw, Amy Tan, Terry McMillan, Peter Matthiessen, Martin Sherwin, Kai Bird, Nancy Reagan and Alger Hiss.
Actors, Playwrights, Directors, & Producers
Al Pacino, Lauren Bacall, Martin Lawrence, Sean Connery, Michael Caine, Richard Gere, Robert Redford, Penny Marshall, Spike Lee, Michael Moore, Garry Marshall, Sidney Lumet, Samuel Beckett, Peter Stone, Michael York, Frederick Wiseman and Jonas Mekas.
Publishers
Penguin-Putnam Books, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Random House, Alfred A. Knopf, Pantheon, Ballantine Books, Grove Press and Scholastic Books.
Artists, Photographers & Galleries
Agnes Martin, Tom Wesselman, Sally Mann, Bert Stern, Richard Avedon, Robert Frank and The Pace Gallery.
Motion Picture Studios, Media & Corporate Entities
Martin Garbus has done corporate litigation for Twentieth Century Fox, Warner Brothers, Miramax, LucasFilms, Paramount, Michael Bloomberg and Bloomberg, L.P.
Among the litigations involving high-profile individuals that Mr. Garbus has handled:
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Michael Bloomberg, the Mayor of the City of New York's private company against Rupert Murdoch and Fox
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Successful defense of actor Richard Gere against criminal assault charges
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Successful defense of Donald Trump against libel charges
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Successfully represented Richard Avedon, renowned photographer, against invasion of privacy claims
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Successfully represented Robert Redford in a false advertising suit against the Lorillard Tobacco Company.
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Successfully represented LucasFilms in the corporate litigation of its book negotiations for “Star Wars.”
ESTATE MATTERS AND PROTECTION OF PERSONAL WEALTH
Mr. Garbus protects his clients and their hard-earned assets.
- He has tried numerous complex estate cases in New York and been appointed to serve as lawyer and/or executor and/or trustee of numerous estates, including those of Marilyn Monroe, Igor Stravinsky, John Cheever and Margaret Mitchell
- Successfully represented the Stravinsky estate in a preceding-setting suit interpreting the late author’s will and the disposition of hundreds of millions of dollars of royalties
- Represented the Mitchell Estate in a case involving a parody of the novel, “Gone With the Wind”
- Successfully represented Grove Press and Pia Pera, author of “Lo’s Diary,” in a suit brought by the Estate of Vladimir Nabokov to block publication of her novel
- Successfully represented, in a Los Angeles federal court, a well-known Hollywood personality defrauded of hundreds of millions of dollars by his business managers
- Represented in New York and New Mexico substantial estates involving control and value over significant works of art
- Represented art donors in valuation proceedings before the IRS and in tax court
- Represented Lloyds of London in the Supreme Court, New York County, on breach of contract claims by Russian oligarchs, and in California and Texas on breach of contract claims
CLASS ACTION SUITS
- Successfully represented plaintiffs and defendants in class action suits in New York.
- Presently represents American Airlines employees in a one billion dollar class action suit against the airline.
- In a four-month long class action securities fraud suit, Mr. Garbus represented plaintiffs against one of America’s largest corporations.
ANTITRUST
- Successfully represented independent movie houses in their suit against several motion picture studios over preferential treatment given to movie chains
- Successfully represented book publishers charged with antitrust violations, including price fixing and monopoly.
THE INTERNET
In 1998, Mr. Garbus began representing individuals and companies in Internet litigation. Pioneering the legal future of the digital age, he represented the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Open Source Movement in the first copyright case to be tried under the new Digital Millennium Copyright Act. That landmark case, involving the motion picture industry and the MPAA, became the battleground where First Amendment and copyright / intellectual property values clashed, permanently affecting the art, movie, music and DVD industry, including the rights of MP3 and iPod owners. It helped lead to changes in the way music and movies are sold. In other Internet law cases, he successfully represented Internet defendants, including AOL, in copyright, libel and criminal suits.
CRIMINAL DEFENSE
Criminal defense lawyer Martin Garbus has defended criminal cases across the country. In Nebraska and South Dakota, he successfully represented Wounded Knee murder defendants, a leading scientist against a claim by IBM that he stole secret computer codes, white-collar defendants, defendants in military court martial cases against various charges, as well as 10 cases of murder in New York. His case load in criminal defense includes a criminal case against a former European Prime Minister in California. This civil and RICO mail fraud and money laundering case involves $400,000,000 in California.
ENVIRONMENTAL AND PUBLIC LAW
- Successfully represented environmental groups challenging the Lower Manhattan Expressway in New York
- Represented citizens’ groups challenging excessive fees paid to New York State legislators and lobbyists
- Successfully represented university faculties and students in New York, Oregon and Florida on academic freedom and free speech issues, as well as age and sex discrimination suits
ADDITIONAL AREAS OF LAW
- Successfully represented well-known defendants and plaintiffs in matrimonial and custody suits at trial and before the highest court in the State of New York, the Court of Appeals.
- Successfully represented an NBA player seeking arbitration of his contract
CIVIL RIGHTS, FREE SPEECH, AND OTHER FIRST AMENDMENT ISSUES
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Defended Josh Wolf, America's longest jailed journalist, who refused to turn over names of demonstrators to a 2007 San Francisco grand jury
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Represented Connecticut students whose play on Iraq, "Voices in Conflict," was banned by school administrators in presenting their performance at the Public Theater and the Culture Project in New York
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Defended Cesar Chavez and other members of the United Farm Workers Union on criminal charges in Delano, California, Florida and Texas
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Defended employees of Mobilization for Youth brought before the New York State Senate HUAC committee
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Defended civil rights workers, lawyers and voters in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas on criminal charges
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Co-directed “Operation Southern Justice” to integrate criminal and civil juries in the South
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Defended opponents of the Vietnam and Iraq wars and supporters of the Civil Rights movement throughout the country
INTERNATIONAL TRIALS AND ELECTIONS
- Attended criminals' trials overseas on behalf of individual clients, governments and human rights groups including trials in South Africa, Chile, China, the Soviet Union, Serbia and Rwanda.
- Represented governments in international organizations, including Rwanda, in its negotiations with the international court in setting up trials in Kigali and Arrusha after the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
- International elections observer in Venezuela, Nicaragua, South Africa and Russia.
Taught judges in Czechoslovakia, Russia, China and the United Kingdom.
- Martin Garbus has participated as a consultant in the preparation of laws and the writing of constitutions in China, Russia, Czechoslovakia and South Africa
- He has participated in litigating commercial and criminal matters as co-counsel in foreign countries before private and governmental bodies.
ADMISSIONS INCLUDE
- U.S. Supreme Court
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second, Sixth, and Ninth Circuits
- U.S. District Court, Southern and Eastern Districts of New York
- Pro hoc vice in California, Nebraska, Minnesota, Alabama, Florida, and Louisiana Federal District Courts
- Courts of the State of New York
POSITIONS HELD INCLUDE
- Co-director, Columbia University Center on Social Policy
- Director-Counsel, Roger Baldwin Foundation
- Legal Director, American Civil Liberties Union
- Associate Director, American Civil Liberties Union
- Chairman of the Board, Lawyers Constitutional Defense Committee
MEMBERSHIPS INCLUDE
- Association of the Bar of the City of New York
- Committees on Criminal Justice, Criminal Courts, Copyright, Intellectual Property, Media
LAWYERS AND ORGANIZATIONS
Garbus has participated with the following lawyers in cases, projects and controversies: Robert Bork, Kenneth Starr, Floyd Abrams, Victor Kovner, Michael Ratner, Kathleen Sullivan, Victor Navasky, David Cole, Herbert Wachtell, Martin Lipton, Charles Fried, Gerald Lefcourt, Leonard Weinglass, William Coleman, Stephen Shapiro, Shearman and Sterling, Michael Cardozo, Jonattan Zittrain , Daniel Petrocelli, Michael Hess and Barry Sheck, and with the following organizations: ACLU, NYCLU, New York Times, Daily News, Assocoation of American Publishers, Motion Picture Association, Center for Constitional Rights, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Berkman Center.
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