Francis P. Karam

Francis P. Karam has practiced law in Manhattan for more than 30 years. From the start of his career he has been fascinated by the underlying thinking process of cross-examination. He began his career as a civil defense lawyer in admiralty law. As an assistant district attorney in the Bronx homicide bureau, he learned that legal cases are not mostly about the law, but about facts and human nature, a realization that deeply changed his view of his profession. In the next phase of his career he practiced criminal defense, a job that is not mainly about defense, but attacking the prosecution s case using cross-examination.

In 2000, he became a securities-fraud class-action plaintiff's lawyer, another job that involves building a case through th

Francis P. Karam has practiced law in Manhattan for more than 30 years. From the start of his career he has been fascinated by the underlying thinking process of cross-examination. He began his career as a civil defense lawyer in admiralty law. As an assistant district attorney in the Bronx homicide bureau, he learned that legal cases are not mostly about the law, but about facts and human nature, a realization that deeply changed his view of his profession. In the next phase of his career he practiced criminal defense, a job that is not mainly about defense, but attacking the prosecution s case using cross-examination.

In 2000, he became a securities-fraud class-action plaintiff's lawyer, another job that involves building a case through the questioning of hostile and evasive witnesses. He has successfully litigated complex securities-fraud cases against corporations such as Xerox, Cigna, Fannie Mae, Pfizer, Enron, BellSouth, and large energy companies.

He was named Who's Who for Securities Lawyers in 2015 by Corporate Governance Magazine. Throughout his career as a cross-examiner, Francis Karam learned that if you take the obvious path, you won t be able to compete with big corporations, the government, and other powerful, smart adversaries. Seeking alternative strategies and ideas for trials and cross-examination, he came to draw on the history of ancient battles and dramas and the thinking of scientists, financiers, psychologists, and military strategists.