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Jacob W. Buchdahl

Jacob W. Buchdahl

Partner

Jacob W. Buchdahl

New York

(212) 336-8330

Direct

(212) 336-8342

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  • Overview
  • Notable Representations
  • Honors
  • Clerkships
  • Education
  • Memberships

Overview

Jacob W. Buchdahl is nationally recognized as a leading trial lawyer. The Chambers USA 2025 Guide calls him a “brilliant oral advocate,” and its 2024 Guide calls him “an exceptionally quick study of complicated cases” and praises his ability to understand “what will and won’t matter at trial.” The 2022 Edition notes that he “can come to a matter cold and in a short space of time master it and technically outsmart the other side.” Lawdragon has named Buchdahl among the 500 Leading Lawyers in America for several years in a row, and he has been identified as a New York Super Lawyer every year since 2013.

“In court, he has command of the room and can tell a complex story in a simple, elegant way.”

As Quoted in Chambers USA 2021 Rankings

A Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the preeminent organization of trial lawyers, Buchdahl represents both plaintiffs and defendants in commercial litigation across the United States. Buchdahl tries cases in every setting, from federal and state courts to AAA and FINRA arbitrations. Representative clients include Third Point, Memorial Sloan Kettering, and NBCUniversal.

Before joining Susman Godfrey, Buchdahl was a federal prosecutor in the Public Corruption Unit of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. Buchdahl obtained the convictions of sixteen defendants after jury trials, including the former highest-ranking Russian at the United Nations on money-laundering charges.

Buchdahl is a graduate of Yale College and Yale Law School. He is married to Angela Warnick Buchdahl, the Senior Rabbi of Central Synagogue; they have three children and live in New York City. Buchdahl is a member of the Board of Directors of Lawyers for Children and the Board of Trustees of the Abraham Joshua Heschel School.

Notable Representations

  • Won a $1.6 billion trial verdict in October 2024 for client BML Properties in New York’s Commercial Division on fraud and breach of contract claims arising out of the development of the Baha Mar resort. The judgment was affirmed in full on appeal by the First Department in April 2025.
  • Secured a preliminary injunction for Saba Capital precluding a closed-end mutual fund from enforcing a bylaw enacted during a shareholder proxy contest. The bylaw substantially raised the voting threshold required to elect trustees, and the injunction allowed Saba Capital’s replacement slate of trustees to prevail.
  • Won an appeal reversing a judgment against a subsidiary of NBC Universal after its insurance carrier refused to pay for relocation costs of a television series following a terrorist attack. After obtaining summary judgment on liability issues, the damages and bad faith portions of the case settled favorably on the eve of trial.
  • Won a $6 million FINRA arbitration award against an algorithmic trading company on behalf of a former employee, based on breaches of the non-disparagement provision of his separation agreement.
  • Won a civil rights case on behalf of the NYU Law Review against an organization alleging that the Law Review discriminates against white men. After a successful motion to dismiss, we continue to represent this pro bono client on appeal to the Second Circuit.
  • Won a jury trial in the Eastern District of Texas defeating patent infringement claims brought against a manufacturer of spinal implants.
  • Won an arbitration on behalf of a leading New York hospital alleging breach of a licensing agreement against one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies.
  • Won an administrative trial before the SEC defeating antitrust claims brought against an exchange over its pricing of market data.
  • Won a bench trial in the Southern District of New York on breach of contract claims brought by a bond insurance company against Flagstar Bank over nearly a billion dollars of RMBS.
  • Won at arbitration against Morgan Stanley in which FINRA rejected the bank’s attempt to recover on promissory notes extended to two of its former brokers and instead awarded over a million dollars in lost commissions to the brokers.
  • Won a summary judgment in California state court granting our client the exclusive right to develop a promising cancer treatment and rejecting all of the plaintiff’s claims for damages.
  • Won a summary judgment in Manhattan federal court defeating all of the plaintiff’s claims for trademark infringement.
  • Won a summary judgment in New Jersey state court ending a multi-billion dollar lawsuit asserting state RICO and other claims against a prominent hedge fund relating to short-selling.
  • Won a multi-million dollar New York state court judgment (subsequently upheld by the Appellate Division) against Ron Perelman on behalf of a movie development company.
  • Won a AAA arbitration on behalf of a client seeking to enforce a finder’s fee contract against a company following its acquisition by a multi-billion dollar financial institution.

Honors & Distinctions

Honors and Awards

  • Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers
  • Lawdragon Legend (2025)
  • Ranked as Band One in Chambers USA Guide to America’s Leading Lawyers in New York for Litigation: General Commercial (2014 – 2025)
  • Named a Litigation Star by Benchmark Litigation (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 Euromoney)
  • Included in the Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America (2016 – 2025)
  • Included in the Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America (2022 - 2024)
  • Included in the Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers in America (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)
  • Recommended Lawyer, General Commercial Disputes, The Legal 500 (2023, Legalease)
  • Named among “Super Lawyers,” New York Metro Edition (Law & Politics Magazine, Thomson Reuters, 2013 – 2024)
  • Assistant United States Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York (2002-07)

Clerkships

  • Honorable Charles S. Haight, Jr., United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, 1997-1998
  • Honorable John M. Walker, Jr., United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, 1998-1999

Education

Education

  • Yale Law School (J.D., 1997)
  • Yale University (B.A., magna cum laude, 1994)

Leadership & Professional Memberships

Associations

  • Member of the Federal Bar Council

Wins

  • 4.15.2025

    Susman Godfrey Secures Affirmation of $1.6 Billion Win for BML Properties
  • 10.22.2024

    Susman Godfrey Secures $1.6 Billion Judgment for BML Properties in Baha Mar Fraud Case Against China Construction America
  • 12.19.2023

    Delaware Chancery Court Finds in Favor of Private Equity Partner In High Stakes Compensation Dispute
  • 4.02.2020

    Susman Godfrey Scores Pro Bono Win on Behalf of New York University
  • 8.22.2016

    Susman Godfrey Secures Complete Defense Victory for Globus Medical in Spinal Device Patent Infringement Suit
  • 2.19.2015

    Lightning Strikes Twice: Susman Godfrey Scores Victory for Brokers in FINRA Dispute with Barclays
  • 2.23.2013

    Susman Godfrey LLP Wins Precedent-Setting Arbitration Against Morgan Stanley
  • 2.06.2013

    Susman Godfrey LLP Wins Landmark Trial Over $1 Billion of Mortgage-Backed Securities
  • 6.30.2011

    Susman Godfrey L.L.P. Client Obtains Total Victory Against Guggenheim Partners Subsidiary

News & Awards

More News & Awards
  • 6.10.2025

    News

    Susman Godfrey Leads Lawdragon’s Top 500 Plaintiff Financial Lawyers List for the Seventh Year in a Row
  • 6.09.2025

    News

    Susman Godfrey Partners and Practices Are Recognized with Top Rankings in Chambers USA
  • 2.12.2025

    News

    Partners Jacob W. Buchdahl, Shawn Rabin, and Kalpana Srinivasan Named Legends by Lawdragon
More News & Awards

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