Daniel J.
Kramer

Daniel J. Kramer is a leading trial lawyer and litigator. Called “one of the stars of his generation” by Chambers, and a “quiet giant” by Lawdragon, Dan routinely handles complex litigations and regulatory matters for the world’s largest companies, represents boards of directors on corporate governance issues and leads special committees in internal investigations. In 2025, following more than four decades of handling securities law matters, Chambers noted that Dan is “the godfather of the entire field.”

Dan is a senior partner in Paul, Weiss’ Securities Litigation and Enforcement Group. The Group has been named Securities Litigation Department of the Year by The American Lawyer, The New York Law Journal, Benchmark Litigation, Law360 and U.S. News and World Report. The American Lawyer called the practice “big, powerful and swaggering,” noting that “no other firm matched the number and magnitude of headline making securities litigation.” For two decades Chambers has ranked Paul, Weiss’ Securities Litigation Department in Band 1, stating that the Group has “a truly enviable securities litigation practice,” a “dazzlingly deep bench” and “some of the most cutting-edge securities cases.” And Legal 500 has given the Group its highest rating, noting that “its excellent, wise counselors combine deep legal knowledge with a practical and business-like view.”

Dan is ranked as a “Star” securities lawyer by Chambers and is recognized as a “Hall of Fame” securities lawyer by The Legal 500. He has been named one of America’s leading lawyers handling “Bet the Company” litigation by Best Lawyers in America, one of New York’s “Top 10 Lawyers” by Super Lawyers, one of the “500 Leading Lawyers in America” by Lawdragon and “one of the most influential people in corporate governance and the boardroom” by Directorship Magazine. The National Law Journal named Dan a “Legal Trailblazer.” Best Lawyers in America named Dan “2017 Lawyer of the Year” for Securities Litigation and “2016 Lawyer of the Year” for Securities Enforcement Litigation. Dan also lectures and writes extensively on securities litigation, corporate governance and regulatory issues. He is the co-editor of Corporate Internal Investigations: An International Guide (Oxford University Press), and co-author of Federal Securities Litigation: A Deskbook for the Practitioner (Data Press) and of Regulation of Market Manipulation (Matthew Bender).

Dan’s matters include representation of:

• General Motors, in class action litigation and an SEC investigation concerning Cruise, GM’s self-driving car subsidiary.
• Apple, in class action litigation involving statements about its business in China.
• Amazon, in litigation regarding its alleged use of third-party sellers’ data.
• PayPal, in a securities class action regarding the company’s regulatory compliance.
• Snap, in a class action and derivative actions concerning its preparation for Apple’s rollout of new privacy changes.
• IBM, in a securities class action alleging that the company improperly characterized revenue. 
• Novo Nordisk, in class actions challenging disclosures relating to its diabetes and weight loss drug Ozempic.
• Vanguard’s independent directors, in a class action challenging the company’s calculation of its funds’ net asset value, and in a class action filed by shareholders in Vanguard’s target retirement funds.
• World Wrestling Entertainment, in multiple matters arising out of Vince McMahon’s return to WWE and WWE’s sale to Endeavor, and in class action and derivative actions concerning its media rights agreements in the Middle East and North Africa.
• Alexion Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of AstraZeneca, in litigation concerning its marketing of Solaris.
• NextEra Energy, the parent of Florida Power & Light, in a class action and derivative litigation concerning political contributions.
• The Collegiate Churches of New York, in litigation concerning a real estate project adjacent to the site of the Marble Church.
• Point72, in litigation arising out of Robinhood’s decision to restrict trading in GameStop and other “meme” stocks.
• Tesla’s independent directors, in investigations and litigation arising out of Elon Musk’s “going private” tweets.
• ExxonMobil, in securities and ERISA litigation regarding the Company’s statements about its oil reserves.
• Kraft Heinz, in class action, derivative and ERISA litigation arising from its $15 billion write down of its Kraft and Oscar Meyer brands.
• 21^st Century Fox, in the internal investigations of Bill O’Reilly and Roger Ailes.
• Steven A. Cohen and SAC Capital, in criminal and regulatory proceedings and litigations arising out of claims of insider trading.
• Omega Advisors and Leon Cooperman, in SEC proceedings alleging insider trading. 
• Bank of America, in litigations by shareholders, the SEC and New York Attorney General arising out of its $50 billion merger with Merrill Lynch.
• AIG, in litigation with its former Chairman and CEO, Hank Greenberg, and in class action, ERISA and derivative lawsuits concerning allegations of accounting fraud and bid rigging.
• Merck, in litigation and regulatory investigations relating to Vioxx and Vytorin.
• UBS, in the Detroit bankruptcy.
• Credit Suisse, in litigation concerning the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas.
• Swiss Re, in class action litigation concerning its write down of credit default swaps.
• Ericsson, in class action litigations involving its telecom business.
• Fannie Mae’s Board of Directors’ Special Review Committee, in an internal investigation into accounting and governance issues.
• JP Morgan Chase’s Bank One mutual funds, in litigation arising out of allegations of market timing and late trading in the mutual fund industry.
• Hollinger International (now Sun Times Media Group), in litigation against its former CEO, Conrad Black, for improper self-dealing transactions.
• The CEO of Kidder Peabody, in litigation and investigations concerning trader Joe Jett’s phony treasury bond trades.

Dan also is Board Chair and Executive Director of the Paul, Weiss Center to Combat Hate, an organization dedicated to fighting hate-driven violence and intimidation through impact litigation and advocacy. He has teamed up with the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights under Law, in representing the historic Metropolitan AME Church in a case against the Proud Boys for trespass and damage relating to the Church’s support of the Black Lives Matter movement, where the court issued a $1 million punitive damages award against the Proud Boys and awarded the Church control over the Proud Boys’ trademark; the Southern Poverty Law Center, on behalf of Tanya Gersh, who was severely harassed by Andrew Anglin, the neo-Nazi publisher of the Daily Stormer; the Lawyers’ Committee, in a case against the Patriot Front for vandalizing a public park in Richmond, Virginia, celebrating the tennis great Arthur Ashe; the Anti-Defamation League, on behalf of the City of Springfield, Ohio, in a case against the nazi group Blood Tribe for harassing persons who supported the City’s Haitian community; and the Legal Aid Society, in a case that brought relief to all of the blind prisoners in New York State’s prisons.

In 2024, the American Lawyer named Paul, Weiss Law Firm of the Year and shortlisted Dan for Attorney of the Year, noting the launch of the Center to Combat Hate; Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law honored Paul, Weiss with its Robert F. Mullen Pro Bono Law Firm Award, and the Financial Times rated the Center as “highly commended” in the category Innovative Lawyers in Pro Bono. In 2023, Paul, Weiss was named Pro Bono Firm of the Year by Chambers and awarded the “Outstanding Achievement Award” by the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs for its landmark victory on behalf of the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church against the Proud Boys. Dan received the ADL’s Human Relations Award in 2016.

Dan is a past Board Chair of The Kenyon Review, an international literary journal, and serves as a Director of NYU Law School’s Center on Civil Justice, Hudson Valley Shakespeare, Scenic Hudson, and the Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail.