Todd A. Higgins, Esq.

(646) 452-2304

Todd A. Higgins, co-founder of Crosby & Higgins LLP, is a seasoned entrepreneur and managing partner of Crosby & Higgins LLP. Since co-founding the firm in 2005, Mr. Higgins has guided hundreds of businesses, boards and senior executives, seamlessly integrating with management teams to provide thought leadership and strategic counsel from start-up to exit. In addition to providing corporate counsel, Mr. Higgins has tackled many of the firm’s most difficult litigation matters and has prosecuted a number of cases through trial and judgment in state and federal court. Mr. Higgins has also co-founded and led numerous companies, including Clear Sight Analytics, where he served as the company’s Chief Operating Officer, and previously served as Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel of CoKinetic Systems Corp., a systems integration and interface technology company incubated with Deutsche Bank. Most recently, he co-founded Vent Multiplexor, where he is leading an emergency effort, in collaboration with Yale New Haven Hospital, to bring to market a patent-pending device for dual-patient ventilation that Mr. Higgins co-invented, which has recently secured emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration during the COVID-19 pandemic.

HIGHLIGHTS OF MR. HIGGINS' EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE

  • Multiple television appearances including on Fox Business, Bloomberg, and CNN
  • Numerous guest spots on WOR-AM (710) "Taxi Dave" radio show and Bloomberg Radio
  • Frequent interviews in national and local publications including the New York Post, Bloomberg, New York Business Journal, and the New York Daily News
  • Recipient of the Henry Wimpfheimer Award for extraordinarily meritorious service to a NYC based not-for-profit organization
  • Successfully resolving a $100 million lawsuit against a prominent department store chain based on the breach of an alleged exclusive distribution agreement
  • Serving as counsel on behalf of a coalition of New York City medallion taxicab interests in connection with multiple proceedings brought against the City of New York concerning medallion taxicab owners' exclusive, statutory right to hails amidst the proliferation of millions of on-demand electronic hails being solicited by companies such as Uber and Lyft
  • Successfully resolving a $20 million claim in connection with the alleged destruction of a marketing research business by a major media and consumer research company
  • Commencing a federal court action against a global supplier of in-flight entertainment equipment seeking damages in excess of $100 million on behalf of a leading software company
  • Obtaining a multi-million dollar judgment after bench trial in the commercial division of New York State Supreme Court in an action to pierce the corporate veil and recover damages for a breach of contract claim
  • Securing the first FINRA arbitration award against Merrill Lynch for an institutional client who was sold more than $100 million in Auction Rate Securities
  • Delivering the first FINRA arbitration award against Oppenheimer & Co. for clients holding Auction Rate Securities
  • Successfully resolving numerous arbitration actions filed before FINRA-DR against major investment firms including Merrill Lynch, Oppenheimer & Co., Inc., Morgan Keegan, UBS Financial Services, and E*Trade, arising from the marketing and sale of Auction Rate Securities
  • Assisting the plaintiff’s litigation team in a major high profile antitrust action brought by a professional football team against a large media and entertainment company alleging antitrust violations, including monopolization, tortious interference and deceptive business practices, and unfair competition, in connection with the construction of a new football stadium in New York City
  • Securing a federal jury verdict for $1.5 million for a European restaurant chain in a M&A finder’s fee case involving  claims for fraud and quantum meruit, arising out of an approximate $380 million acquisition
  • Defeating a motion for a temporary restraining order and subsequently resolving a trademark infringement and trade dress dispute on behalf of a Canadian distributor
  • Serving as counsel in numerous trademark and copyright disputes including before the World Intellectual Property Organization, Trademark Trial & Appeal Board, and federal courts
  • Successfully representing numerous senior executive officers in connection with employment agreement equity compensation disputes, including a former CEO of a high-profile company and former General Counsel of a multinational publicly traded company
  • Successfully negotiating a settlement in an employment dispute against a major clothing manufacturer in New York City alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, New York Labor Law, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, New York Human Rights Law, and breach of an employment contract
  • Securing substantial settlement on behalf of a marketing company in a multi-million dollar international arbitration dispute against well-known global corporation
  • Successfully opposing a motion for a preliminary injunction in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and subsequently securing voluntary dismissal of the action arising from the proposed construction of the largest water desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere, to be built on the Pacific Ocean in Rosarito, Mexico.

Prior to founding Crosby & Higgins LLP, Mr. Higgins worked in Washington, D.C. and in New York City with the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. At Gibson Dunn, Mr. Higgins gained valuable experience with sophisticated commercial disputes, alleged securities and antitrust violations, and other complex litigation. As a member of the appellate group, Mr. Higgins also spent significant time working on appellate matters, including a number of cases pending before various federal courts of appeal and the United States Supreme Court.

Mr. Higgins entered into the study of law in 1998, after graduating from the Fordham University School of Law where he was awarded the Fordham Law Prize (first in class) and was elected to the Order of the Coif for high attainment in the study of law. Mr. Higgins was also a member of the Fordham Law Review, was the co-author of a revised annual treatise on the antitrust law of vertical restraints, and was a research editor for a casebook on First Amendment rights. Deeply interested in politics and the field of constitutional law, Mr. Higgins has also served as an adjunct professor of political science for the University of Connecticut where he has taught courses in constitutional law since 2005.

Mr. Higgins is the proud father of six children. Mr. Higgins is admitted to practice law in the state and federal courts of New York and Connecticut as well as the federal court in Colorado. He is also a member of the New York State Bar Association and the Connecticut Bar Association. Mr. Higgins strives to be an active member of the community and has served as a volunteer attorney with Lawyers for Children America, a non-profit organization that provides guardian ad litem services for abused and neglected children in crisis situations.

EDUCATION

  • J.D., Fordham University School of Law, 2001
  • B.S., Political Science, Queens College, City University of New York

HONORS AND AWARDS

  • Fordham Law Prize (First in Class)
  • Order of the Coif
  • Fordham Law Review

PUBLICATIONS

  • Co-author of a revised annual treatise on the antitrust law of vertical restraints
  • Research Editor for a casebook on First Amendment rights

ADMISSIONS

  • State of New York
  • State of Connecticut
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
  • U.S. District Court- Eastern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court- Northern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court- Southern District of New York
  • U.S. District Court-District of Connecticut
  • U.S. District Court-District of Colorado

ASSOCIATIONS

  • New York State Bar Association
  • Connecticut Bar Association

Practice Areas