Golenbock Eiseman Assor Bell & Peskoe LLP

Education and Honors

• J.D., Yale Law School (1972), Director, Yale Moot Court of Appeals
• S.B., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1969), Academic Honors, Member of Osiris (honorary society dedicated to MIT)
• Recipient of Department of Justice's Special Achievement Award for Sustained Superior Performance of Duty for the successful organized crime investigations and racketeering prosecutions. See United States v. Michael Clemente, et al., 640 F.2d 1069 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 820 (1980); In re United States, 608 F.2d 26 (2d Cir. 1979).

Judicial Clerkship

• Law Clerk, Gerhard A. Gesell, U.S. District Judge, District of Columbia (1972-73)

Prior Legal Experience

• Doar Devorkin & Rieck  
• Assistant United States Attorney, Southern District of New York 
• Attorney-advisor to the Associate Attorney General of the United States  

Practice Areas

Bar Admissions

Professional Activities

Publications Available on this website...

Michael S. Devorkin

Mr. Devorkin specializes in business litigation and white collar criminal defense. He has extensive experience in all phases of complex business and criminal trials and arbitrations, from investigation through trial and appeal. He has tried to verdict numerous jury and non-jury trials in federal and state courts and arbitrations and has argued numerous appeals before the state court of appeals and the U.S. Court of Appeals, including two successful mandamus petitions. See In re United States, 608 F.2d 26 (2d Cir. 1979) (case of first impression on criminal tax venue); Richardson Greenshields Securities, Inc. v. Lau, 825 F.2d 647 (2d Cir. 1987) (stay of jury trial and establishing principle that judge may not use own rules to prevent parties from filing motions).

Mr. Devorkin has represented a wide spectrum of United States and foreign individuals and corporations in a broad array of domestic and international matters involving contracts, corporate ownership and governance disputes, insurance claims, securities and other frauds, antitrust, and bankruptcy litigation, RICO, intellectual property, and technology. He has also defended against criminal and regulatory investigations and prosecutions and supervised corporate internal investigations and monitorships.

Representative matters handled by Mr. Devorkin include:

• Representation in civil RICO cases, for example, involving defense against claims for submitting inflated invoices to public company; and of plaintiff to recover $6 million dollars embezzled from client.
• Representation of French public company involving claims concerning purchase of foreign company for arbitration in International Court of Arbitration in Europe and South America.
• Representation of individual defendant and his company in an S.E.C. and grand-jury investigation of insider trading and accounting fraud involving public company.
• Representation of plaintiff businessman in antitrust action in local insurance industry. Bogan v. Hodgkins, 953 F.Supp.532 (S.D.N.Y. 1997), aff'd, 160 F.3d 509, cert. denied, 528 U.S. 1019(1999).
• In a case of first impression, representation of foreign owner of 50% of BVI company to obtain N.Y. court order to take jurisdiction over BVI company to wind up affairs and distribute $8 million of New York assets.
• Numerous representations of Bankruptcy Trustees to recovers funds for Estates including, for example, current cases seeking to recover $150 million taken by former owner of debtors, and representation of Chapter 7 Trustee in Bankruptcy of Paolo Gucci. In re Gucci, 309 B.R. 670 (S.D.N.Y. 2004), on remand to, 2005 WL 3150709 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 28, 2005), aff'd, 197 Fed. Appx. 58 (2d Cir. 2006).
• Representation of loan syndicate member in successful defense of suit for $2.5 million in attorneys' fees and attachment under indemnification agreement.
• Representation of president and owner of the former foreign government airline and assets thereof in dispute with investors concerning purchase and ownership of aircraft and control of airline.
• Representation of plaintiff to recover $3 million, including attorneys' fees, on a complex maritime insurance law claim after four week bench trial and appeal. Ingersoll Milling Machine Co. v. M/V Bodena, 619 F. Supp. 493 (S.D.N.Y. 1985), aff'd, 829 F.2d 293 (2d Cir. 1987) cert. denied, 484 U.S. 1042 (1988).
• Representation of estate in numerous litigations involving majority stock in a public company and to recovery more than $3 million.
• After bifurcated jury trials of approximately 20 weeks, obtained a $6.5 million judgment against the City of New York.
• Representation of publisher of artist in a dispute concerning the ownership of multiple prints and right to sell work.
• Defense of antitrust action involving major railroads, which allegedly agreed on prices for twenty years. See, e.g., Pinney Dock and Transportation Co. v. Penn Central Corp., 838 F.2d 1445 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 880 (1988).
• Representation of Government as plaintiff in major employment discrimination cases. E.E.O.C. and Patterson v. Newspaper and Mail Deliverers' Union, 384 F.Supp. 585 (S.D.N.Y. 1974), aff'd, 514 F.2d 767 (2d Cir. 1975), cert. denied, 427 U.S. 911 (1976); E.E.O.C. v. Locals 14 and 15, Intern'l Union of Operating Eng., 415 F. Supp. 1155 (S.D.N.Y. 1976).