Who

The most famous First Amendment attorney in the country, Abrams is the lawyer who many prominent New Yorkers call when they get in trouble for something they've said or written. He's the father of MSNBC's Dan Abrams.

Backstory

A New York native and Yale Law grad, Abrams joined Cahill Gordon & Reindel in 1963, making partner seven years later. His career-making case came in 1972, when he successfully defended the New York Times over its publication of the Pentagon Papers. The landmark decision remains one of the most significant events in the history of modern media, and changed the way reporters cover politics. Abrams has since represented a slew of major media organizations against charges of libel or disclosing confidential information. He defended CNN after it accused the U.S. government of using nerve gas in Laos; he defended NPR after the network "leaked" information during confirmation hearings for Clarence Thomas; and he came to NBC's aid after Wayne Newton sued the network for libel in 1986 after news reports linked him to the Mafia. More recently, he represented the New York Times's Judy Miller and Time's Matt Cooper in their efforts to avoid revealing their confidential sources. In addition to his legal practice, Abrams also teaches a class on First Amendment issues at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism.

Of note

Abrams considers himself something of a First Amendment absolutist, which has earned him enemies on both sides of the political aisle over the past three decades. He was bashed by conservatives for defending the Brooklyn Museum after it clashed with Rudy Giuliani in 1999 over the "Sensation" exhibit; right-wingers also took him to task for defending Al Franken in connection with a 2003 lawsuit brought by the Fox News Channel to prevent Franken from using the phrase "Fair and Balanced" in the title of his book. But he's also rankled liberals, too, most notably for his efforts to defeat the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill. Now in his early 70s, some legal observers say Abrams's best days are behind him. Following his McCain-Feingold defeat (which the Washington Post attributed to the fact that Abrams and co-counsel Kenneth Starr "were simply outperformed as lawyers"), Abrams lost the battle to prevent the Times' Judy Miller and Time's Matt Cooper from revealing their confidential sources in connection with the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame in 2005. Norm Pearlstine of Time Inc. caved, Miller went to jail, and Slate suggested that the septuagenarian Abrams was "manhandled" in the courtroom.

In print

In 2005, Abrams published a memoir, Speaking Freely: Trials of the First Amendment, which recounted some of his most notable cases over the years.

Personal

Abrams and his wife, Efrat, have two children. Their daughter Ronnie is a federal prosecutor; their son, Dan Abrams, is an attorney and the host of his own show on MSNBC. Floyd and his wife live in a Fifth Avenue apartment in Carnegie Hill.