Gregory Starner

Partner, New York

Biography

Greg Starner has significant experience in a broad range of litigation and arbitration proceedings involving complex business disputes.

Overview

Greg Starner, Office Executive Partner of White & Case’s New York office, handles disputes on behalf of international clients in cases involving complex contracts, business torts, securities, intellectual property and class actions. In addition to extensive trial and appellate work, he has significant arbitration experience, including in proceedings conducted according to ICDR, AAA, JAMS, and FINRA rules.  

Greg’s litigation practice is focused on domestic and international clients in a range of contentious commercial disputes. His significant track record led to his selection as one of the New York Law Journal's' ‘Rising Stars', a title intended to recognize some of the profession's breakout legal practitioners.

Clients benefit from Greg’s extensive experience handling cross-border disputes for international clients and his ability to navigate the complexities of legal systems in the US and abroad. Greg regularly represents non-US clients in cases involving the extraterritorial application of US state and federal laws.

Notable clients benefiting from Greg’s knowledge and experience include sovereign wealth funds, major US and foreign financial institutions, global pharmaceutical companies, a global consumer electronics company and numerous clients in the oil and gas space. 

Greg has also represented major debtors and creditors in high profile bankruptcies. These include a number of high profile cases connected to parallel proceedings in the United States and overseas.

Committed to equal access to justice, Greg has performed extensive pro bono work on behalf low-income women in family law disputes in partnership with the non-profit organization Her Justice.

Bars and Courts
District of Columbia
New York
US District Court for the Eastern District of New York
US District Court for the Northern District of New York
US District Court for the Southern District of New York
US District Court for the Western District of New York
US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
US Supreme Court
Education
JD
Georgetown University Law Center
BA
College of William & Mary
Languages
English

Experience

Anthem Inc.
Representation of Anthem as trial counsel in its case against Cigna for breach of their merger agreement at a two-week bench trial in Delaware Chancery Court.

Major Foreign Bank
Representation of a major foreign bank in securities fraud class action involving claims under Section 10(b) of the Securities Act of 1933 and SEC Rule 10b-5.

Global Consumer Electronics Company 
Representation of a global consumer electronics company in a SIAC arbitration and related U.S. litigation.

Major US Financial Institution
Representation of a major U.S. financial institution in multiple FINRA arbitrations.

Private Equity Funds
Representation of private equity funds in M&A related litigation, including post purchase price adjustment disputes.

Pilot Travel Centers LLC, Pilot Flying J
Representation of Pilot Travel Centers LLC, d/b/a Pilot Flying J, the largest over-the-road diesel provider in the US, as national co-ordinating counsel in more than 20 putative class actions.  We successfully obtained approval of a nationwide settlement that resolved all the putative class actions. We were also successful in obtaining an order from the Joint Panel on Multidistrict Litigation that consolidated and transferred all the remaining opt out federal cases to a single court in the Eastern District of Kentucky.

Sovereign Wealth Funds
Representation of sovereign wealth funds in a variety of cross-border disputes, including fund mismanagement.

OAS
Representation of OAS, one of Brazil's largest companies, in its restructuring, including chapter 15 proceedings in New York bankruptcy court, litigation in New York state court and provisional liquidation proceedings in the British Virgin Islands.

Major League Baseball
Representation of Major League Baseball in the chapter 11 cases of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball franchise and in connection with the sale of the team.  Ultimately successful in forcing the then-owner to sell the team through a court-supervised sale process, which resulted in a sale of the club to new owners (a group including Guggenheim Partners and former Los Angeles Lakers star Magic Johnson) for an unprecedented US $2.150 billion.

Charter Communications Bankruptcy
Representation of senior bondholders in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of Charter Communications Inc.

Washington Mutual Bankruptcy
Representation of senior bondholders in Washington Mutual's chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Rangers Baseball Express LLC
Representation of investor group led by Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan in its purchase of the Texas Rangers major league baseball team out of bankruptcy.

Fortune 500 Company
Representation of a Fortune 500 Company in a securities fraud class action involving claims under Section 10(b) of the Securities Act of 1933 and SEC Rule 10b-5.

Turkish Conglomerate, Cukurova Group
Representation of the Cukurova Group in long-running litigation concerning the ownership of Turkcell Iletisim A.S., Türkiye's largest mobile phone company, and in related arbitration and litigation in multiple jurisdictions.

Major Foreign Bank
Representation of a major foreign bank in an arbitration involving US securities fraud claims under Sections 11 and 12(a)(2) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Speaking Engagements

"US Class Action Litigation and Collective Actions in Europe," October 2018

"American Import? The Growth of Securities and Class Action Litigation in the UK," December 2017

"Critical Organizational Threats Facing General Counsel", June 2014: General Counsel Conference

"Recent Trends in Securities Enforcement and Regulation", April 2014: Law360 Roundtable

Publications

'ParkCentral v. Porsche': The Second Circuit Signals New Line of Defense to Extraterritorial Securities Fraud Claims, August 2014

'City of Pontiac': Second Circuit Further Limits When US Securities Laws May Reach Non-US Securities and Issuers, May 2014

Raising the Bar: HUD Issues New Rule Imposing More Demanding Standard for Defending Against Discrimination Claims Under the Fair Housing Act, March 2013

A Mountain Too High: The Challenge of Setting Aside an Arbitral Award on the Basis of Fraud in Different Jurisdictions, SchiedsVZ, January 2013

Does It Walk Like a Duck? New York Appellate Court Adopts Delaware "Common Sense" Standard to Distinguish Direct and Derivative Claims, August 2012

'Absolute Activist Value Master Fund Ltd. v. Ficeto': Second Circuit Decision Further Defines the Extraterritorial Limits of US Securities Laws, March 2012

New York Court of Appeals' Clarification of the Martin Act Opens Door for Common Law Claims in Securities Cases, January 2012

Taking a Constitutional Look: NAFTA Chapter 11 as an Extension of Member States' Constitutional Protection of Property, Law and Policy in International Business, Vol. 33, No. 2, Winter 2002
 

Awards and Recognition

2013 Rising Star, New York Law Journal

inMotion Commitment to Justice Special Team Award, 2005

TD Bank Champion of Justice Award, Brooklyn Volunteer Lawyers Project, 2015