Michael P.
Addis

Mr. Addis has represented a wide range of clients, including 260 Twelfth Avenue Holdings LLC, Allied World Assurance Company, Biogen, Colgate‑Palmolive, Costamare, JPMorgan Chase, Mylan, Novartis, Qualcomm, Spirit AeroSystems and The Williams Companies.

Representative matters include:

• Represented Root and certain of its officers and directors in winning the complete dismissal, affirmed on appeal, of putative class action securities litigation filed in Ohio federal court alleging that defendants made false or misleading statements and omissions following Root’s IPO. On appeal, Mr. Addis argued and won a precedential Sixth Circuit decision creating new circuit law on the application of FRCP 9(b)’s heightened pleading standard to negligence claims brought alongside fraud claims.
• Represented 260 Twelfth Avenue Holdings LLC and other stakeholders in litigation to obtain just compensation for the taking of property through eminent domain by the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) in connection with the Hudson Tunnel Project in New York City, reaching a settlement shortly before a scheduled trial.
• Represented The Williams Companies in securing a judgment totaling more than $600 million—following wins at trial in the Delaware Court of Chancery and on appeal to the Delaware Supreme Court—in M&A‑related litigation against Energy Transfer, LP related to a planned $37.7 billion merger.
• Represented Truist Bank in securing a favorable settlement in patent infringement litigation brought by United Services Automobile Association (“USAA”) in Texas federal court concerning patents that relate to remote check deposits for mobile banking.
• Represented Costamare Shipping and related entities in connection with litigation filed in California federal court, including a consolidated putative class action, alleging various theories of liability concerning the October 2021 San Pedro Bay pipeline leak off the coast of California.
• Represented Biogen in a qui tam action alleging that Biogen caused the submission of false claims to multiple federal healthcare programs through purported kickback schemes related to certain of Biogen’s multiple sclerosis drugs, which settled.
• Represented Novartis Pharmaceuticals in two qui tam actions in New York federal court alleging violations of the False Claims Act and Anti‑Kickback Statute.
• Represented Qualcomm Incorporated in numerous high‑stakes disputes and investigations around the world relating to the company’s patent licensing and modem chipset businesses, including:
  • FTC v. Qualcomm Incorporated:  A suit filed by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in California federal court alleging violations of Section 5 of the FTC Act and seeking a permanent injunction against Qualcomm.  In August 2020, in a complete defense victory for Qualcomm, the Ninth Circuit unanimously reversed the district court’s prior judgment and vacated a permanent, worldwide injunction that had prohibited several of Qualcomm’s core business practices.
  • Apple Inc. v. Qualcomm Incorporated:  An action filed by Apple against Qualcomm in California federal court.  Following opening statements at trial in April 2019, the parties reached a global settlement that included a payment from Apple to Qualcomm; the companies also reached a six-year license agreement and a multi-year chipset supply agreement.
  • Qualcomm Incorporated v. Compal Electronics Inc., et al.:  An action filed by Qualcomm against four iPhone manufacturers for breach of contract, among other claims, which settled.
  • Represented Allied World Assurance Company in an adversary proceeding brought in New York bankruptcy court by successors to the estate of MF Global Holdings to recover on excess insurance policies. Following Cravath’s retention, Allied World secured an order compelling arbitration of the dispute in Bermuda.
  • Represented Colgate‑Palmolive in two product liability lawsuits in California state court concerning the company’s talcum powder products, which settled.
  • Represented JPMorgan Chase and related entities (including Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual) in multiple residential mortgage‑backed securities actions filed across the country asserting claims for, among other things, alleged violations of federal and state securities laws, common law fraud and negligent misrepresentations.

  Representative pro bono matters include:

  • United States v. Jermel Lewis: Argued before the Third Circuit en banc and helped achieve a ruling on an important issue of criminal constitutional rights law, representing amicus curiae Amachi, Inc., a nonprofit organization that tutors children of prisoners, in connection with Jermel Lewis’s appeal of his criminal sentence. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, sitting en banc, vacated Mr. Lewis’s sentence (reversing its own prior decision) and remanded for resentencing. The court followed the analysis set forth in Mr. Addis’s argument and Cravath’s amicus brief, holding that it was harmful error in violation of Mr. Lewis’s constitutional rights to sentence Mr. Lewis for a greater offense than that for which he had been indicted, tried, jury‑instructed and convicted.
  • Tevin Benjamin v. Mississippi: Argued before the Mississippi Supreme Court in the direct appeal of 14‑year‑old Tevin Benjamin’s capital murder conviction and life‑without‑parole sentence. The Mississippi Supreme Court vacated Mr. Benjamin’s conviction and sentence, finding that Mr. Benjamin was subject to interrogation after invoking his right to counsel, in violation of U.S. Supreme Court precedent Edwards v. Arizona.
  • Terry Hye, Jr. v. Mississippi: Filed a petition for writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court, asserting that by instructing the jury on the elements of an underlying offense to capital murder not charged in the indictment, and failing to instruct the jury on all of the elements of the underlying offense charged in the indictment, the trial court constructively amended the grand jury’s indictment in violation of 16‑year‑old Mr. Hye’s constitutional rights.

  Mr. Addis is a fellow of the American Bar Foundation. He has been repeatedly included on Benchmark Litigation’s “40 & Under List,” which recognizes the “best and brightest litigators across the U.S. and Canada.” The Legal 500 US has also recommended him for his work in general commercial and financial services litigation. He has additionally been included in Lawdragon’s “500 Leading Litigators in America” and “500 X – The Next Generation” lists.

  Mr. Addis was born in Kansas City, Missouri. He received an A.B. magna cum laude in English from Princeton University in 2005, where he received the English Department’s Senior Comprehensive Examination Prize. In 2007, while teaching for Teach for America in New York City, he received an M.S.T. in Teaching Secondary English from Pace University. Mr. Addis received a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2010, where he was the Assistant Managing Editor and a Senior Editor of the International Law Journal, the Captain of the Jessup International Moot Court Team, the teacher of a self‑advocacy seminar for juvenile offenders and a Harvard Teach for America Scholar. Following graduation, Mr. Addis practiced pro bono indigent criminal defense and civil rights law in Jackson, Mississippi and was an Adjunct Professor at the Mississippi College School of Law.

  Mr. Addis joined Cravath in 2011. In 2013, he served as a law clerk to Hon. Kermit V. Lipez of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Mr. Addis rejoined Cravath in 2014 and was elected a partner in 2019.