Joseph R. Sahid is a litigator with more than 40 years’ experience handling commercial disputes. He was a Consultant, Litigation Partner, and Associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore from 1972 through 1997, after which he established his own practice focusing on commercial litigation. One of his cases was a lengthy class action antitrust litigation that led to fundamental changes in managed healthcare. The defendants were all the major health insurers in the country then offering mental health coverage. Over the years, he has dealt with issues involving other class actions, private actions, arbitrations and mediations, particularly in the business, commercial and securities areas.
While at the Cravath firm, Mr. Sahid conducted major complex litigations. In one of his last cases, he led a 40-member team from five law firms nationwide in presenting the defense in a billion dollar commercial fraud case to a jury over a four-month period on behalf of Holiday Inns/Harrah’s. He successfully protected the favorable verdict on appeal. He defended IBM against antitrust charges, including those brought by competitors, the U.S. government, and the European Economic Community, while leading teams of up to 100 professionals. Mr. Sahid represented five domestic steel companies in the early 1980s in enforcing unfair trade laws against foreign steel manufacturers. He helped devise successful anti-takeover strategies for several major corporations. He successfully led a litigation against Donald Trump, which resulted in the dissolution of a partnership that owned an Atlantic City casino. He has also performed assignments for other well-known clients such as CBS and Time Magazine.
Mr. Sahid prepared for the threatened trials of the U.S. hostages held by Iran in 1979-1981.
Public Interest Positions
Mr. Sahid was a staff member of the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence (the Eisenhower Commission) created by President Johnson following the assassination of Robert Kennedy. He was a consultant to the President’s Commission on Campus Unrest (the Scranton Commission). He authored several books and articles as a result of these assignments, among them “Rights in Concord” (U.S. Government Printing Office) and “Games Politically Violent People Play,” and co-authored “Law and Order: Reconsidered” (U.S. Government Printing Office and commercial publishers). He has lectured at the U.S. Naval Academy and elsewhere.
Mr. Sahid is a Mediator for the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, and the Commercial Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York (New York County), and an Arbitrator for the New York City Small Claims Court. He has been an arbitrator for the Financial Industry National Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
Military Service
Mr. Sahid was a Law Specialist on active duty at U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters in the Office of the Chief Counsel.
Education
Mr. Sahid received his B.S. in Engineering from Rutgers University in 1965 and his L.L.B. from the University of Virginia Law School in 1968, where he was first in his class each semester and a member of the Law Review Editorial Board.
Bar Admissions
Mr. Sahid is a member of the bars of the State of New York, the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd and 3rd Circuits, and of the U.S. Supreme Court. He has been admitted to the bars of federal courts throughout the country on a case-by-case basis.
Professional Affiliations
Mr. Sahid is a member of the American Bar Association, New York State Bar Association, and Association of the Bar of the City of New York. He has been a member of a number of committees dealing with professional discipline, professional responsibility, children’s rights, mediation, and legal referrals.
Other Listings
Who’s Who in America. Mr. Sahid is rated as a pre-eminent lawyer, the highest rating given by Martindale-Hubbell, the oldest and largest lawyer rating agency in the U.S.