Lawrence B. Friedman
Senior Counsel
Lawrence Friedman was the firm’s first general counsel.
As a partner, his practice focused on international and domestic commercial litigation and arbitration, in such fields as mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, international banking, and marketing and licensing agreements, and on disputes concerning intellectual property infringement and misappropriation.
Larry also has particular experience in multijurisdictional litigation and arbitration. In prominent international engagements, Larry has defended Crédit Lyonnais, BNP Paribas, Commerzbank, and National Westminster Bank in multiple lawsuits in New York and Washington, D.C. federal courts against claims under the U.S. Anti-Terrorism Act that the banks are responsible for acts of international terrorism because of transactions they processed on behalf of clients.
Larry joined the firm in 1983, became a partner in 1991, and served as the firm’s general counsel from 2018 to 2023.
Notable Experience
Litigation—International and Domestic
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Ahlstrom in a joint venture dispute that spawned parallel proceedings in New York, Stockholm and Helsinki.
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Bank of America in defeating the attempt by the Lehman Brothers estate to thwart the bank’s sale of its interest in the Archstone real estate investment trust.
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Boris Berezovsky in successfully prosecuting a libel claim against Forbes magazine in a London court.
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Members of the Crédit Agricole Group in extensive litigation arising from the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme.
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Crédit Lyonnais in highly complex and politically sensitive criminal and regulatory investigations and parallel civil litigation involving the Executive Life Insurance Company.
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Gucci Group in parallel lawsuits in New York, Germany and Italy against Gucci’s worldwide licensee for fragrances.
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Sanofi-Aventis in lawsuits concerning an environmental liability agreement with Rhodia S.A. and a dispute with two European shareholders of Rhodia.
International Arbitration
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Aventis CropScience in an International Chamber of Commerce arbitration concerning the enforceability of a divestiture-related non-competition clause under European Community law.
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A telecommunications arm of the Orascom family of companies in a London Court of International Arbitration proceeding arising out of a tax indemnity dispute.
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GlaxoSmithKline in an ICC arbitration relating to a product distribution agreement in Taiwan.
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Nortel Networks in an ICC arbitration relating to the grey market importation of telephone equipment.
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Several American claimants in disputes with Iranian government agencies before the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal in The Hague.
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The Carlyle Group in winning the right to force a buyout of Carlyle’s investment in a Chinese retail venture.
Intellectual Property Litigation
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Citigroup in a software-related trade secret misappropriation case.
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Ducati in a motorcycle naming rights case.
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Ferrari in winning a trial verdict for trade dress infringement against a manufacturer of “kit car” replicas of Ferrari automobiles, which was affirmed on appeal.
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The Guggenheim Museum in New York in winning the summary dismissal of a copyright infringement claim based upon a fair use defense.
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People’s United Bank in defeating challenges to the use of People’s United’s name in Massachusetts by other banks with the word “peoples” in their names.
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Ricoh Company of Japan in several patent infringement lawsuits, winning trial verdicts for Ricoh in patent infringement lawsuits relating to photocopier technology.
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The Heisman Trophy Trust in winning preliminary and permanent injunctions against a seller of t-shirts that infringe the “Heisman” trademark.
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Young & Rubicam in a copyright infringement lawsuit concerning Chinese television commercials for toothpaste.
Selected Activities
trigger- Member of the Board of Directors, Family Legal Care
- Inaugural Chair, International Commercial Dispute Resolution Committee, New York City Bar Association
- Former Secretary, Committee to Enhance Diversity in the Legal Profession, New York City Bar Association
Publications
- Second Circuit Confirms That an Arbitral Award That Has Been Nullified at the Seat of the Arbitration Should Rarely Be Enforced, July 27, 2017
- Second Circuit Rules That FSIA Provides Sole Basis for Jurisdiction Over Foreign Sovereigns in Actions to Enforce ICSID Awards, July 17, 2017
- Court Strikes Down The Lanham Act’s Bar On Registration Of Disparaging Trademarks, June 21, 2017
- U.S. Supreme Court Holds That State Courts Lack Specific Personal Jurisdiction to Entertain Non-Residents’ Claims for Injuries Not Connected to In-State Conduct, June 20, 2017
- The Supreme Court’s Lexmark Ruling On Patent Exhaustion: The Strategic Implications For Patentees, June 5, 2017
- U.S. Supreme Court Reaffirms That Corporate Defendants Are Subject to General Personal Jurisdiction Only Where They Are “At Home,” May 30, 2017 (republished in the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation on June 14, 2017)
- Supreme Court Limits Where Patent Infringement Lawsuits May Be Filed, May 24, 2017 (republished in the Intellectual Property and Technology Law Journal, May 2017)
- U.S. Supreme Court: Hague Service Convention Permits Service of Process by Mail, May 23, 2017
- Supreme Court Adopts Exacting Approach to Jurisdictional Inquiry Under FSIA’s Expropriation Exception, May 2, 2017
- The Supreme Court Limits U.S. Patent Infringement Liability For Goods Sold Overseas, February 27, 2017
- Notable IP Decisions of 2016, and a Look Ahead to 2017, February 16, 2017 (republished in the Intellectual Property and Technology Law Journal, May 2017)
- “The Supreme Court Relaxes Standard for Enhanced Damages in Patent Infringement Suits,” Intellectual Property and Technology Law Journal, September 2016 (co-authored with David Herrington and Tom Kessler)
- “The Supreme Court Clarifies Standard for Attorneys’ Fee Awards in Copyright Infringement Cases,” Intellectual Property and Technology Law Journal, September 2016 (co-authored with David Herrington and Tom Kessler)
- “President Obama Signs The First Federal Trade Secrets Law, Supplementing State Law Protections Against Trade Secret Misappropriation,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum, May 13, 2016 (co-authored by David Herrington and Arminda Bepko)
- “Supreme Court to Consider Whether Apparel Design Is Protected By Copyright Law,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum, May 9, 2016 (co-authored with David Herrington and Arminda Bepko)
- “Congress Passes The First Federal Trade Secrets Law,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum, May 2, 2016 (co-authored with David Herrington and Arminda Bepko)
- “Fourth Circuit Permits Foreign Trademark Owner to Assert Lanham Act Claims,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memorandum, April 21, 2016 (co-authored with Arminda Bepko, David Herrington and Thomas Kessler)
Events
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June 3, 2015
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June 12, 2012
Distressed IP: The Nortel Auction and the Evolving Patent Frenzy