Overview
Participants in the securities marketplace operate under the constant scrutiny of government regulators and class action lawyers. Corporate reorganizations are commonly hammered out not only in the board room, but in the courtroom. Even in the absence of legitimate bases, securities litigation is common under any circumstances where there is the prospect of a lucrative settlement. Public allegations can result in immeasurable damage to a company and its management, and are an extremely costly and time-consuming business distraction.
That is why public companies, officers, directors, broker-dealers, investment advisors, accountants, law firms and investors rely on our Securities Litigation & Enforcement Group. We provide sophisticated legal advice to prepare our clients to do business in the heavily policed securities industry, conduct internal investigations and, when they arise, defend investigations, class actions, derivative actions, regulatory enforcement actions and criminal prosecutions.
Because many of our lawyers have served in senior positions within the U.S. Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission and various U.S. Attorneys’ offices, we understand how to defend effectively against government and private actions. Our litigators include a former U.S. Attorney for New Jersey and the Southern District of Illinois, chiefs of the Criminal and Civil Divisions of the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan, several Assistant U.S. Attorneys, former high-level SEC enforcement officials and other federal and state prosecutors, in addition to a former Attorney General of Massachusetts and Deputy Attorney General of New York.
The lawyers in our Securities Litigation and Enforcement Group are located strategically in our New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and Boca Raton offices, where they work across disciplines such as corporate, civil and criminal defense, broker-dealer, SEC enforcement and internal investigations in the pursuit of one goal: to hone insightful defense strategies that address all facets of this highly regulated field. Our multidisciplinary approach to securities litigation and regulatory defense also allows us to draw on the regulatory experience of lawyers in our Corporate Department, who offer assistance with complex tax and accounting matters, corporate securities, hedge funds and private investment funds as well as sophisticated scientific and technological issues
Areas of Focus
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Defense of Class Actions and Derivative Suits
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Financial Services
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Internal Investigations for Securities Issues
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SEC, SRO and State Enforcement
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Securities Industry Back Office Defense
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White-Collar Criminal Defense of Securities Matters
Key Representations
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The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, in the defense against claims that its systems facilitate naked short selling, resulting in dismissal on grounds of federal preemption and withdrawals in the face of our motions to dismiss
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24/7 Real Media, in defeating a shareholder class action to block the completion of a tender offer by WPP Group for $650 million or, alternatively, an unraveling of the deal and disgorgement of allegedly ill-gotten gains from the directors
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Take-Two Interactive Software in an options backdating action brought by the SEC
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Sun Companies in obtaining dismissal of an SEC action
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High-tech public company in defense of a purported securities fraud class action