Mr. Holcomb is a litigator with a focus on the resolution of complex, high-stakes business disputes through litigation in federal and state courts, arbitration and mediation. He counsels both plaintiffs and defendants in sectors ranging from financial services to alcoholic beverages to art in a wide variety of matters, including disputes relating to commercial contracts, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, insurance, intellectual property, securities, antitrust, employment, copyright, and defamation.
Mr. Holcomb is adept at navigating difficult and cutting-edge legal issues before both trial-level and appellate courts. Highlights include:*
- Commercial Disputes. Mr. Holcomb has significant experience in commercial disputes, including representing the founder of beauty brand in an earnout dispute with a private equity purchaser, a global diamond sightholder and jewelry company in a dispute with a major US retailer, and a principal investor in a dispute with the founder and CEO of celebrity-endorsed moonshine whiskey company.
- Time-Tested Trial and Appellate Experience. Mr. Holcomb can go to trial and win. He was a key member of a trial team in a bench trial over a failure to close an acquisition in the financial services industry, winning the dispute after nearly five years of litigation. He also appears regularly as appellate counsel, including to provide appellate expertise on matters previously litigated by other counsel.
- Art Law Matters. Mr. Holcomb has regularly represented artists, collectors and galleries in art-related controversies. He was also one of the two lawyers who defended the former president of a leading art gallery in a jury trial of fraud claims arising from the sale of a forged artwork previously attributed to Mark Rothko, dubbed the “The Art Trial of the Century” by ArtNews. Mr. Holcomb has also represented an investor in a contract dispute relating to the purchase of work attributed to Andy Warhol.
- Defamation and Copyright. Mr. Holcomb is well-versed on matters of defamation and copyright, having served as lead counsel for a bestselling author suing an international news magazine on the basis of defamation and for a prominent artist and art gallery in litigation involving both copyright and defamation claims.
For many years following his clerkship, Mr. Holcomb has represented pro bono clients as a member of the pro bono panel for the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. As court-appointed counsel, he obtained successful outcomes for clients including an asylum applicant and a plaintiff pursuing a civil rights claim arising from a police stop.
* Referenced experience includes experience at other law firms.
Services
M: +1.646.819.0303
E: nholcomb@tjonghsia.com
Education
Harvard College
A.B., Philosophy, 1999
magna cum laude
Oxford University
D.Phil., Philosophy, 2003
Harvard Law School
J.D., 2006
Cum laude
Notes Chair, Harvard Law Review
Winner (Team Member), Ames Moot Court Competition
Professional Background
Counsel
Boies Schiller Flexner LLP
New York
Partner
Freedman Normand Friedland LLP
New York
Associate
Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP
New York
Law Clerk
Honorable Pamela Ann Rymer
U.S. Court of Appeals
Ninth Circuit
Pasadena, CA
Bar Admissions
New York
Massachusetts
U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of NY and the District of MA
U.S. Courts of Appeal for Second Circuit and Ninth Circuit
Languages
German