Floyd Abrams

Floyd Abrams is a Partner and First Amendment Lawyer at Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP. In addition, Abrams is the William J. Brennan Visiting Professor at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Abrams has defended numerous clients in freedom of speech and press cases and served as counsel to the Brooklyn Museum of Art in its case against Rudolph Giuliani. He also published Speaking Freely, a memoir, in 2005. Floyd has a national trial and appellate practice and extensive experience in high-visibility matters, often involving First Amendment, securities litigation, intellectual property, public policy and regulatory issues. He has argued frequently in the Supreme Court in cases raising issues as diverse as the scope of the First Amendment, the interpretation of ERISA, the nature of broadcast regulation, the impact of copyright law and the continuing viability of the Miranda rule. Most recently, Floyd prevailed in his argument before the Supreme Court on behalf of Senator Mitch McConnell as amicus curiae, defending the rights of corporations and unions to speak publicly about politics and elections in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. Floyd's clients have included The McGraw-Hill Companies in a large number of litigations around the country involving claims against its subsidiary, Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC, The New York Times in the Pentagon Papers case and others, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, Time Magazine, Business Week, The Nation, Reader's Digest, Hearst, AIG, and others in trials, appeals and investigations.