Biography
Greg Silbert is Co-Head of Weil’s global Complex Commercial Litigation practice and Co-Head of the Firm’s Appellate practice. A former judicial clerk in both the Ninth and D.C. Circuits and a former Assistant Solicitor General of New York State, Mr. Silbert has successfully argued dozens of appeals, and briefed many more, in federal and state appellate courts around the country.
Mr. Silbert has a diverse practice. He has represented foreign sovereigns in the D.C. Circuit and the Seventh Circuit, and is currently doing so in certiorari proceedings in the U.S. Supreme Court. He successfully obtained certiorari and a Supreme Court reversal in a significant False Claims Act case. He also has represented prominent amici curiae in the Supreme Court, such as the European Union in a case involving the construction of international law, and Vivendi S.A. in a case examining the presumption of reliance in securities fraud class actions. Mr. Silbert also has successfully litigated high-profile cases before state appellate courts, including for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in its appeal to the highest court in New York State in a case surrounding the 1993 terrorist attack at the World Trade Center, and for the National Restaurant Association before the same court in a successful constitutional challenge to New York City’s “soda ban.”
Mr. Silbert is widely recognized for his expertise in appellate advocacy. From 2010 to 2011, he served on then California Attorney General Kamala Harris’s transition committee, advising on issues relating to appellate litigation. Since 2013, he has been recognized as a “recommended” lawyer by The Legal 500 for Appellate: Court of Appeals. He also has been recognized for his work in the Appellate space by New York Super Lawyers.
Experience
- Representing a major technology company in a successful appeal before the Ninth Circuit upholding the dismissal of a putative consumer class action regarding a Wi-Fi feature in its operating system.
- Securing a victory for Credit Suisse AG before the Ninth Circuit affirming the dismissal of billions of dollars in claims related to the development of four luxury resort properties across North America and the Bahamas.
- Representing Air Methods Corporation in an appeal to the California Court of Appeals of a significant adverse lower court decision that presents an issue of first impression in the state of California and carries industry-wide ramifications.
- Representing C&S Wholesale Grocers, one of the largest private companies in the United States, in an ongoing appeal before the Eighth Circuit of a complete defense jury verdict Weil obtained in a multi-hundred million dollar antitrust class action brought by more than 300 retail grocers.
- Representing Discovery Communications and Animal Planet in an appeal before the Fourth Circuit upholding a bench trial decision in a multi-million dollar breach of contract suit brought by a former television distributor involving rights under a licensing agreement for various Discovery channels.
- Convincing the Eleventh Circuit, on behalf of Farmers Insurance, to grant a rare en banc rehearing of a consolidated appeal in an industry-wide antitrust multi-district litigation involving the market for auto body repairs, following which the full Eleventh Circuit sustained a lower court victory on a motion to dismiss.
- Representing Pandora Media in defeating the record industry’s appeal to the D.C. Circuit of a Copyright Royalty Board ruling that resulted in resoundingly favorable sound recording royalty rates for Pandora and other “non-interactive” webcasters for the 2016-2020 license period.
- Representing Simon & Schuster (S&S) in two successful appeals before the Second Circuit that sustained the dismissal of cases brought by e-book retailers against S&S and other major publishers alleging antitrust violations.
- Obtaining a critical appellate victory for Credit Suisse before the Texas Court of Appeals that affirmed a trial court’s ruling granting summary judgment dismissing the last remaining claim brought by hedge fund entities in Texas state court.
Mr. Silbert maintains an active pro bono practice, providing legal assistance to organizations such as the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Center for Constitutional Rights, Citizens Union of the City of New York, the Innocence Project, the Legal Aid Society, Muslim Advocates, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, among others. He serves on the board of directors of Citizens Union and of the Delancey Street Foundation in San Francisco.
Mr. Silbert graduated from Yale Law School in 1999, where he was Symposium Editor of the Yale Law Journal.