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Jonathan D. Schiller

Managing Partner
Washington, DC

t: 202 237 2727
f: 202 237 6131

jschiller@bsfllp.com
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Areas of Practice

Litigation

Class Actions

International Arbitration

Investigations / Corporate Governance

Sports Law


Education

Columbia University, J.D., 1973

Columbia University, B.A. , Political Science, 1969; Blue Key Honor Society; 1967-68 Ivy League Championship Basketball Team; Columbia University Athletics Hall of Fame


Clerkships

Hon. Charles R. Richey, United States District Court for the District of Columbia, 1973-1974


Admissions

District of Columbia

New York

Jonathan Schiller is a co-founder and a Managing Partner of Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP. He concentrates on complex litigation and international arbitration, including ICC, LCIA, UNCITRAL, and ad hoc arbitrations.

Mr. Schiller has practiced law for thirty years and has tried cases before juries and judges in federal and state courts in the United States and before arbitral tribunals in Europe, Asia and the United States. He has represented United States, French, Dutch, German, Kuwaiti, and Singapore corporations against foreign sovereigns and companies in complex commercial disputes.

Mr. Schiller also serves as an arbitrator in ICC, UNCITRAL, AAA and ad hoc arbitrations. He was recently cited by Chambers and Partners, a London-based legal research organization that publishes annual peer-reviewed evaluations of the world's leading law firms and lawyers in Chambers' 2005 Guide to the World's Leading Lawyers for his "rare and outstanding forensic skills" together with his "first-rate advocacy" as accounting for impressive victories in litigation and arbitration.

Representative Cases

Mr. Schiller is currently lead counsel in preparing the Bank of New York Mellon's defense of RICO claims for $22 billion brought by the Russian Federal Customs Service in the Moscow Arbitraz Court.

Mr. Schiller was counsel for Genesco, Inc. in its successful specific performance case in Tennessee Chancery Court to compel (i) Finish Line to consummate its merger agreement with Genesco and (ii) UBS to finance the merger.

Mr. Schiller was co-lead counsel for the class action plaintiffs in In Re Vitamins antitrust litigation, which the presiding Judge determined "uncovered the illegal actions of vitamins manufacturers across the globe," and in which a record antitrust settlement of $1.05 billion was achieved for the class. Mr. Schiller also led the defense of Qwest Communications International Inc. in its class action securities litigation pending in federal court and in "opt out" state court cases across the United States. He also leads Qwest's defense in parallel proceedings pending in Europe and the United States arising out of the KPNQwest bankruptcy. These cases present significant securities litigation issues facing multinational companies today.

Mr. Schiller also successfully defended Goldman Sachs & Co. against New York Stock Exchange seat holders who sought to enjoin NYSE's merger with Archipelago Holdings.

Mr. Schiller also represented the Board of Directors of RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd., a Bermuda-based reinsurer, in connection with federal and state governmental investigations of securities law matters in the insurance and reinsurance industries and the related defense of private security class actions.

In 2004, Mr. Schiller successfully represented YES Networks in a fast-track arbitration against Cablevision. The arbitral award was in the form of a long-term carriage agreement with Cablevision increasing the enterprise value of YES by $1.5 billion.

Mr. Schiller successfully represented Florida Power & Light against two Indonesian state companies, Pertamina and PLN, seeking contract damages for cancellation of a geothermal power project. Following a three-week trial in Geneva, claimant was awarded $261 million in damages on claims for breach of contract, affirmed in 2004 by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. He also successfully represented Westinghouse (now CBS Corporation), Siemens and Raytheon in parallel international arbitration and federal court proceedings, securing a federal court order staying enforcement of a $1.4 billion Pakistani court judgment in contravention of an arbitration agreement, and a declaratory judgment of $4 million in damages. He later obtained an injunction against any re-entry of a Pakistan judgment in the United States and, in 2005, secured dismissal of the Pakistan proceeding by the Pakistani Supreme Court.

Mr. Schiller has also successfully represented a Kuwaiti oil company as a claimant in a LCIA arbitration against British Petroleum (LCIA Arbitration/London). During a two week trial in London and Kuwait, the Claimants sought a declaration of contract rights pursuant to a joint bidding agreement for oil fields in Kuwait. The proceedings concerned issues of numerous contract defenses, evaluation of the available prospects for bidding, and valuation issues. The Award found in favor of the Claimants, affirmed Claimants' contractual rights to specific equity interests in any bid by the Respondents or any of their affiliates, and awarded fees and costs to Claimants.

Mr. Schiller successfully represented WORLDSPAN in parallel federal court litigation in Atlanta, Georgia, and in ICC arbitration in London. He conducted a four-week hearing on the merits, while continuing to prosecute separate antitrust claims in related civil action in Georgia. The arbitral tribunal issued a $40 million award judgment in favor of WORLDSPAN.

Mr. Schiller was elected a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation "in recognition of professional attainment, and distinguished service" and appointed to the Milan Chamber of Commerce National and International Arbitration Club of Arbitrators. He has served for many years as a director of the Washington Tennis and Education Foundation, which provides tennis instruction and academic tutoring to at-risk children throughout Washington, D.C., and on the Leadership Advisory Board for the Junior Tennis Champions Center in Washington, D.C.

Selected Professional Awards and Associations

John Jay Award for Distinguished Professional Achievement (Columbia University 2006)

Fellow, American Bar Foundation

Milan Chamber of Commerce International Arbitration Club of Arbitrators

Judicial Conference of the District of Columbia Circuit (1976-1981 and 1983-2004)

Standing Committee on Pro Se and Pro Bono Matters of the Judicial Conference of the District of Columbia (1984-1990)

Selected Publications

Parallel Proceedings Involving International Arbitration, International Disputes Seminar, ICC, Los Angeles, California (October 1999)

Identifying and Applying the Law Governing the Arbitration Procedure - Role of the Law of the Place of Arbitration, A Commentary, ICCA Congress Series No. 9, Paris (May 1998)

Providing for Confidentiality in International Mediation, ICC Institute of International Business Law and Practice (October 1995)

Destruction of Grand Jury Documents, Destruction of Evidence (1989) (co-author)

Modification of Pension Fund Contributions During the Term of a Collective Agreement: The 1987 Employment and Economic Security Pact, 90 West Virginia Law Review 843 (1988)

The Legal Liability of Private Security Guard Company for the Criminal Act of Third Parties, An Overview, The Annals 91 (July 1988)

Related News

BS&F Squares Off Against Alan Dershowitz, G. Robert Blakey and Others in Russian Courtroom (August 7, 2008)

Firm Report: July 2008 (07.28.2008)

The Lawyer Reports on BS&F's Broad International Practice (May 9, 2008)

BS&F and Bank of New York Mellon Speak On $22 Billion Russian Litigation (April 8, 2008)

BS&F Represents Bank of New York Mellon in $22 Billion Russian Litigation (April 3, 2008)

American Lawyer "Big Suits" Column Features BS&F's $1.5 Billion Specific Performance Trial Verdict (March 1, 2008)

Firm Report: January 2008 (Volume III, Issue 1) (01.22.2008)

N.Y. Times Reports on Fallout of BS&F's Genesco Win (December 29, 2007, at B2)

BS&F Wins Trial Requiring Completion of $1.5 Billion Acquisition (December 28, 2007, at A3)

Genesco Lead Trial Counsel Jim Denvir Closes in Nashville Trial (December 19, 2007)

BS&F at the Center of UBS-Genesco-Finish Line Trial (December 19, 2007)

Firm Report: July/August 2007 (Vol. 2, Iss. 2) (08.22.2007)

BS&F Ranked as Leading Law Firm By Legal 500 (May 24, 2007)

The Law Dragon Leading Litigators: Boies, Schiller & Flexner Partners Receive Highest Ranking (2007)

Chambers USA: Boies, Schiller & Flexner partners named leaders in their fields (2007)

Federal Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Challenging Construction of the New Yankee Stadium (11.16.2006)

Firm Report: November 2006 (Vol. 1, Iss. 3) (11.01.2006)

Firm Report: March 2006 (Vol. 1, Iss. 1) (03.01.2006)

Boies, Schiller & Flexner partners recognized as leading litigators (2006)

Chambers USA: Boies, Schiller & Flexner is a "litigation powerhouse" (2006)

Why One Superlawyer Has A Hand In All The High-Profile Cases Of The Day (February 2001)