Alumnus/Alumna of the Month

Doug Liebhafsky (on right) being sworn in as Special Assistant District Attorney by DA Robert Morgenthau on March 28, 2005

Douglas Liebhafsky (’64)

Read an Interview with Douglas Liebhafsky.

Soon after retiring from Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz in 2004, Douglas Liebhafsky was appointed Special Assistant District Attorney in the office of New York County District Attorney Robert Morgenthau. With more than 35 years as a litigation partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, Mr. Liebhafsky's litigation experience has been broad and varied. Trials have ranged from accountants' liability to First Amendment "obscenity" issues and from corporate-control contests to bankruptcy-statute solvency determinations. Mr. Liebhafsky was lead counsel for the plaintiffs in a seven-and one-half month securities-fraud marathon, believed to be one of the longest civil jury trials ever conducted in the Southern District of New York. More recently, he was lead defense counsel in the litigation surrounding approval of the State of New York's participation in the nationwide settlement of the "Attorney General" cases against the tobacco industry. One of the most personally satisfying career highlights for Mr. Liebhafsky was a post-conviction proceeding that freed a wrongfully convicted felony-murder defendant (coupled with a follow-on 1983 action that made his client financially secure for life).

Prior to joining Wachtell Lipton, Mr. Liebhafsky served as law clerk to the Honorable Warren E. Burger from 1964 through 1965 at the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He then spent four years as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York (Criminal Division), during the last of which he was Assistant Chief Appellate Attorney (Criminal Appeals).

Mr. Liebhafsky received his B.A. magna cum laude from Harvard College , where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and was a Detur Prize recipient. As a Root-Tilden Scholar at NYU School of Law, Mr. Liebhafsky earned his LL.B. degree cum laude and was awarded the Order of the Coif. During his years at the Law School , Mr. Liebhafsky served as Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review, and received the Frank Henry Sommer award. Mr. Liebhafsky is a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York , and has twice served on the Association's Judiciary Committee. He is also a member of the New York State and American Bar Associations, and of the bars of several federal courts.