Robert S. Wolf
Partner

Robert S. Wolf is the Chair of Gersten Savage’s litigation practice.  His primary areas of practice are corporate, commercial and real estate litigation, securities litigation and investigations, and white collar criminal defense.   His vast litigation experience is much broader and includes the representation of corporations and individuals in all stages of federal and state civil, criminal and bankruptcy proceedings, regulatory enforcement proceedings and arbitrations.  Mr. Wolf has tried cases and argued appeals in federal and state courts throughout the country and has handled complex international litigations in numerous European Union member countries and other foreign jurisdictions.

Mr. Wolf has also has extensive expertise in crisis management and has a well earned media-savvy reputation, regularly representing high-profile clients, including hedge funds, real estate developers and celebrities, who are subjected to unfavorable press or otherwise targeted by the media. He also regularly represents many clients in the entertainment industry.

Mr. Wolf is recognized as the first American attorney to be permitted into a Russian prison in an actual case, representing a U.S. citizen charged with fraud and money laundering in connection with one of the first joint criminal prosecutions between the United States and the Russian Federation.  He is frequently quoted in various news publications including The New York Times, financial publications including the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News and Reuters, and international media publications, and he has appeared often as a legal analyst on television. 

Representative Matters:

   - Achieved a seven-figure FINRA arbitration award for a hedge fund, in an unprecedented case finding the fund’s prime broker bank liable for extensive losses caused by the fund’s rogue trader, notwithstanding established industry-enforced contractual defenses of  “no duty” and “no responsibility” of prime brokers for trading losses of hedge funds.

   - Recently won a Delaware Chancery court decision in favor of a hedge fund’s right to enforce an arbitration clause, thereby avoiding disclosure of sensitive investor information notwithstanding a Delaware statute otherwise providing for exclusive jurisdiction over such matters.

   - Represented several White House interns in connection with the Monica Lewinsky investigation and provided assistance to the defense of President Clinton in Congressional impeachment proceedings.

   - Represented several clients in connection with national security matters, international arms and the intelligence community, and negotiated the reacquisition of Stinger missiles together with the Central Intelligence Agency.

   - Successfully represented an aerospace industry jet engine company against SAAB International and recovered several million dollars in an arbitration and federal litigation alleging fraud and material concealments in connection with the purchase of SAAB’s subsidiary. 

   - Successfully defended an energy and oil industry company in bankruptcy court against an effort by major creditors to defeat its Chapter 11 reorganization plan, notwithstanding its failure to initiate drilling of oil wells in accordance with contractual requirements.

   -Represented a medical prosthetics company in a federal court action involving complex sale and accounting valuation issues and won an award of several million dollars in a related valuation proceeding resulting in the favorable resolution of the litigation.

   - Served as co-lead trial counsel in the representation of a major toy industry company, which won a successful settlement several weeks into trial, involving hundreds of millions of dollars of fraud and contract claims in connection with the sale of the company.

   - Successfully defended a trader in the Merrill Lynch bonus scandal investigation by the New York State Attorney General’s Office, resulting in no action against the client  nor disgorgement of the seven-figure bonus.

   - Prevented any action being taken against a client lobbyist in the public pensions fund investigation conducted by the New York State Attorney General’s Office.

   - Obtained the dismissal of all criminal charges filed against a well-known television personality in connection with an equally high-profile criminal prosecution and has represented other celebrities in well-publicized prosecutions and litigations.

   - Recently defended a client and affiliated entities in a complex fraud litigation in Cyprus involving claims of political corruption and Russian corporate raiding.

   - Has successfully handled employment matters in the securities industry and elsewhere on behalf of both employers and employees.  Among other things, he negotiated and obtained substantial severance packages for at-will employees in hostile environments, and has also represented broker-dealers and hedge funds against employees in similar matters and obtained a landmark ruling regarding the U-5 disclosure immunity defeating substantial monetary damage claims. 

     - Successfully represented Ford Models in a federal trademark infringement litigation defeating a Massachusetts-based modeling agency that had been improperly using the Ford name for over 20 years.

   -  Mr. Wolf regularly represents clients in significant securities fraud prosecutions and SEC enforcement actions around the country.