David J. Grais | Partner
David J. Grais is a prominent advocate for investors in structured finance securities, especially mortgage-backed securities. American Banker calls Mr. Grais the “new nemesis” of the mortgage-backed securities industry.
Mr. Grais was one of the first litigators to focus on securities backed by subprime and Alt-A mortgage loans. He is the author of “‘I Can Resist Everything Except Temptation’: Undisclosed Effects of Moral Hazard in Recent Subprime-Backed Securities,” presented at the Mealey’s Subprime-Backed Securities Litigation Conference in March 2008, which Mr. Grais chaired, and of the widely discussed article “Not ‘The World’s Shortest Editorial’: Why the First Amendment Does Not Shield the Rating Agencies from Liability for Over-Rating CDOs,” published in Bloomberg Law Reports.
In his three decades of practice, Mr. Grais has won several dozen trials and arbitrations, involving mainly reinsurance and the performance of complex computer, satellite, telecom, and other technical systems. Chambers USA describes Mr. Grais as an “aggressive and proactive lawyer and a brilliant thinker.” He is a member of the American Law Institute.
Outside the office, Mr. Grais is a director of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Westchester and Hudson Valley chapter, and a former director of the Musica Sacra Chorus and Orchestra and the Battery Dance Company.
Education
- The Yale Law School, JD 1978
- Balliol College, University of Oxford, MPhil 1975
- Princeton University, AB 1973
Previous Employment
- Dewey Ballantine LLP, Partner, 2003-2007
- Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Partner, 1998-2003
- Grais & Phillips LLP, Partner, 1990-1998
- Grais & Richards, Partner, 1983-1990
- Sole Practitioner, 1982-1983
- Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, Associate, 1979-1982
Judicial Clerkships
- Late Honorable Milton Pollack, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York,
1978-1979
Bar Admissions
- New York, 1978
- Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, SDNY, EDNY