Donald Lee Flexner

Donald Lee Flexner, 81, a titan of antitrust law and a founding partner of Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, passed away on March 12th after a long illness. In a career that spanned more than 55 years, Flexner was involved in some of the most high-profile antitrust cases on record, argued at the Supreme Court, and represented many notable clients including ALCOA Inc., AT&T, American Express Company, Chevron Corporation, DuPont de Nemours & Co, Delta Air Lines, Hillenbrand, Hill-Rom Holdings, Honeywell, Northwest Airlines, and Southwestern Bell Telephone Company. Longtime friend and partner David Boies recently described him as "a giant of the antitrust bar. He was both a rock for his firm, friends, and family, and a hard place for those that wished them ill."

A graduate of NYU School of Law, Flexner began his legal career in the Justice Department's Antitrust Division, eventually becoming Deputy Assistant Attorney General. Flexner joined Crowell & Moring in 1980, heading the Antitrust Department and ultimately serving as its Managing Partner. In 1999, David Boies and Jonathan Schiller invited Flexner to join their burgeoning firm, to form Boies Schiller Flexner. Over the next two decades, Flexner helped grow BSF into an American Law 200 powerhouse. He was a lead lawyer representing American Express in their landmark case against Visa and MasterCard, in which they recovered an unprecedented four billion dollars. Reporting on Flexner's practice, Inside Counsel dubbed him "the miracle worker" whom countless clients called to "survive life-or-death" antitrust emergencies.

Donald Flexner was a beloved and esteemed member of his community of friends and colleagues in Washington, D.C. and New York City. Flexner is survived by his wife, Lynne Daynard Flexner, daughter, Jennifer Flexner Reinhardt, his sister, June Carrera, and three granddaughters: Eleanor Rose Reinhardt, Mary Claire Reinhardt, and Charlotte Leigh Reinhardt. In 1987, he was tragically preceded in death by his beloved daughter, Leigh Kirsten Flexner, age 20.

A Service of Remembrance will be held on April 1st, at 11:00 am, at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church at 80th and Lexington Avenues, NYC.