The Legal 500

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP’s broad-based practice excels advising clients from all corners of the market, including issuers, underwriters and auditors. ‘Its expertise in litigation matters is deep and it is remarkably adept at wrapping its mind around highly technical problems. The firm is where I go with the most challenging questions and complex situations’. ‘Even though there is a general perception it is expensive, that’s true only if you evaluate the billing rates. But as it has an ability to get the job done efficiently and correctly, it is money well spent’. Clients comment that ‘one can count on solid and often exceptional work from most partners and senior associates’. Among the partners, the esteemed Evan Chesler is singled out as ‘the best trial lawyer I have ever seen’. The ‘excellent’ Antony Ryan is ‘knowledgeable, experienced, hard working and responsive’. Sandra Goldstein and Kevin Orsini are praised for their ‘responsiveness, knowledge and efficiency. They are also problem solvers. They are able to deliver this service because they have taken time to understand our company and what is important to us’. On the audit side, the firm is representing PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in litigation concerning its role as outside auditor of American International Group (AIG). The dispute is one of the largest class actions filed in recent years. In terms of financial institutions, one of its largest matters is its defence of Credit Suisse against several litigations filed throughout the US relating to mortgage-backed securities and mortgage-related debt. The firm has also been representing Vivendi, since 2002, in a major class action litigation that recently culminated in a four-month trial, one of the few securities class actions to reach the trial stage. The jury found in favour of the former CEO Jean-Marie Messier, and CFO, Guillaume Hannezo, but against the company, a finding that Vivendi intends to appeal.

Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP’s first-class practice is jointly headed by Joel Cohen and James Windels, and can draw on at least six top-notch litigators with excellent experience in securities litigation. The firm’s track record and client-base, which includes issuers, underwriters and auditors, speaks volumes. Recent highlights include serving as Morgan Stanley’s principal outside counsel in matters arising from the financial crisis. The firm has already achieved a number of significant victories on behalf of the bank, including defeating a motion for class certification in Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank et al v Morgan Stanley et al. This was the first significant decision to address whether class certification is appropriate in an action that is based on the alleged reliance on credit ratings. The firm is also representing the board of directors and certain officers of Bank of America in connection with the sprawling civil litigation and investigations relating to the bank’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch. On the audit front, the group is representing PwC, a major client of the firm, in all of its civil litigations relating to the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme. A major highlight was achieving a significant victory on behalf of Aetna in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals affirming the district court’s dismissal of a $9bn securities class action against the company and four of its current and former directors and officers.

Praised for its ‘invaluable experience in high-stakes cases’, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP has a superb reputation, particularly for representing financial institutions. ‘Excellent in all areas’, the ‘top-tier’ group, which includes the ‘very bright, incredibly responsive’ firm chair Brad Karp, boasts a string of first class litigators. Among them, Richard Rosen is ‘a brilliant analytical lawyer who consistently obtains outstanding results for his clients. A pleasure to work with’, while Dan Kramer is a ‘good writer, good oral advocate, well organised, and knows this area of the law backwards and forwards’. Unsurprisingly, given the firm’s client-base, the fallout from the financial crisis has dominated much of the workload. Highlights included representing Bank of America on claims brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in relation to the bank’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch. The settlement eventually achieved required the bank to pay $150m into a fair fund for distribution to shareholders and to undertake a number of remedial actions. The firm also achieved a significant victory for Citigroup, Citigroup Global Markets and former officers and employees in relation to investments made into a collateralized debt consolidation underwritten by the bank. The court ultimately dismissed all of the plaintiffs’ claims. The firm is also representing JPMorgan Chase on a range of major disputes arising out of the financial crisis, particularly relating to the mortgage-backed securities. Major issuer clients include Merck, Ericsson and Paramount Pictures Corporation.

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP has an excellent track record defending major corporate issuers and financial institutions against bet-the-company securities disputes and securities fraud allegations. Primarily working out of New York, the firm has eight partners spending over half of their time on securities-related litigation. Among these, Bruce Angiolillo and Michael Chepiga are particularly well regarded for major class actions, derivative actions and internal investigations. Other litigators, such as Barry Ostrager, benefit from strong followings in the financial services industry, where the firm is currently representing Washington Mutual in connection with federal and state government inquiries and investigations arising out of events that led up to its bankruptcy in 2008, the largest bank failure in American history. The litigations include claims under the Securities Act and Securities Exchange Act, and in 2009 the Western District of Washington dismissed without prejudice all securities fraud claims against the clients, which include former officers of the bank. The firm, which has a considerable private equity client base, successfully defended the Blackstone Group and several senior officers against putative class action litigation arising from the fund’s 2007 IPO. The plaintiffs claimed that Blackstone’s prospectus failed to disclose that certain portfolio companies were underperforming at the time of the IPO, and that certain negative trends might affect the fund’s real estate portfolio. The court dismissed the complaint in its entirety, although this has since gone to appeal.

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP is praised by clients for its ‘very broad securities bench’, and in securities litigation head Jay Kasner, it has one of the best regarded litigators on the market. The firm acts for an impressive mix of major corporations, financial institutions and professional services firms on their related high-stakes matters, including securities class and derivative actions and federal investigations. Recent highlights include representing Deloitte & Touche in a settlement with investors, alleging it purchased inflated American Home Mortgage stock on assurances of the company’s well-being and scrupulous lending standards. Deloitte ultimately agreed to contribute $4.75m to the $37.25m fund established for investors. One of the firm’s largest clients is Merrill Lynch, which it has represented on numerous securities-related issues, and achieved a dismissal of a shareholder class action challenge to investments made in the Philadelphia Stock Exchange. Another key partner is Scott Musoff, who has worked alongside Kasner on most of the Merrill Lynch-related matters. Musoff also won a significant dismissal for Société Générale of a suit alleging that the bank knowingly understated its exposure to subprime mortgages through its CDO investments, and knowingly misstated the strength of its risk management controls after a French rogue trader put billions of euros at risk in unhedged trades. Other active partners include Susan Saltzstein, Seth Schwartz and Joseph Sacca.

Sullivan & Cromwell LLP’s top-notch securities litigation group boasts a highly impressive array of corporate and financial institution clients, most notably Goldman Sachs, which regularly chooses the firm as lead counsel. Recent matters for the bank include achieving a successful result as defendant in an action arising out of the eToys IPO. The action involved claims about the relationship between the IPO underwriters and issuers, which the New York Supreme Court dismissed in its entirety, requiring the plaintiff to pay 50% of the cost of certain electronic discovery from Goldman Sachs, including attorneys’ fees. Another major banking client is Barclays, for which the firm won a victory in the dismissal of a federal securities law class action brought against the bank and current and former members of the board. This related to four offerings of over $5bn worth of American Depositary Shares. The plaintiffs alleged that Barclays had provided an inaccurate description of its risk-management policies, and failed to disclose its holdings in various mortgage-related assets, which it had overvalued and failed to take timely write-downs. The Court ultimately granted the defendant’s motion to dismiss in its entirety and denied the plaintiffs leave to further action. The firm is also representing BP and its directors in derivative, securities fraud and ERISA litigation arising out of the recent Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The group, which works primarily out of New York, includes several first-class litigators, including Robert Giuffra, Gandolfo DiBlasi, David Braff, Stacey Friedman and Sharon Nelles.

Praised for its ‘very in-depth knowledge of the securities litigation area’, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP comes highly recommended by clients, who consider the firm to be ‘good value for money’. ‘It understands both the technical litigation aspects as well as the internal political or business aspects, such as dealing with internal clients or the board, and can provide advice and guidance for all sides’. Among the partners, clients single out Mitch Lowenthal, who ‘has a broad base of experience and is very well respected internally. Even though he is senior, he is always available if needed’. Meredith Kotler also attracts considerable praise. While the group has previously been seen as quite small compared to its rivals, it has invested significantly and in the past two years promoted two experienced securities litigators to partner: Victor Hou in 2010 and Roger Cooper in 2011. The firm has a particularly strong following among major financial institutions. Recent major highlights include winning a complete victory in a securities fraud action for the mortgage company Countrywide Financial Corporation. The action was filed by two hedge funds that purchased mortgage-backed securities, and who alleged that Countrywide misrepresented the percentage of owner-occupied properties underlying the MBS. The firm has also been representing Bank of America in connection with the litigation and investigations arising out of its acquisition of Merrill Lynch, and is also counsel to HSBC in matters arising from the Madoff fraud. Significant recent victories have also been achieved for non-financial services clients, including Sanofi Aventis and the Dow Chemical Company.

Latham & Watkins LLP’s ‘excellent’ securities litigation practice is one of the few that has deep bench strength on both the East and West Coast. Working out of Washington DC, New York and Silicon Valley respectively, the group is jointly headed by William Baker III, Jeff Hammel and Patrick Gibbs. While the firm covers all corners of the market, its auditor work is the real jewel in the crown, with California-based partners Miles Ruthberg and Peter Wald particularly well regarded. Highlights included representing Ernst & Young (E&Y) in multidistrict proceedings to emerge from the collapse of Lehman Brothers, to which E&Y had been independent auditor. The cases allege that various individuals and institutions, alongside E&Y, are liable under US federal securities laws for alleged misstatements in Lehman’s registration statements and financial reports. On the issuer side, the firm successfully defended Omnicom Group, and certain officers and directors, against a securities fraud class action claiming damages in the billions of dollars. Financial institution clients include Deutsche Bank Securities, which retained the firm to represent it in all current and future litigation related to its residential mortgage-backed securities business, including securities based on subprime mortgage loans. The firm is also representing Fannie Mae and its outside directors in nearly 20 shareholder class action suits.

Herbert Washer and Adam Hakki jointly head the quality securities litigation team at Shearman & Sterling LLP. The firm has a particularly strong practice representing financial institutions, a fact that is reflected in its current ongoing matters. The firm has been retained by Galleon Management in connection with all matters arising from the major insider trading case filed against its founder, including representing the company in all regulatory investigations and SEC litigation. Countrywide Financial is another major client, which the firm is representing in securities litigation filed in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Indianapolis by Federal Home Loan Banks and hedge funds related to the purchase of billions of dollars in mortgage-backed securities. The group has also achieved significant results for clients such as Boston Scientific, which was granted summary judgment in a securities class action brought against it by Mississippi Public Employees Retirement Systems. The plaintiffs alleged that the client withheld material information and made misleading statements about some of its coronary stent systems, which after they were recalled led to a 10.3% drop in the stock value. The firm’s West Coast practice has also been involved in a number of matters for the firm’s significant Asian client base. Among the partners, Stuart Baskin has an excellent market reputation.

‘As good as they come’, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz has an outstanding reputation based on its ‘invaluable experience in high-stakes cases’, not only among clients but with rival law firms. While the firm doesn’t have a structured securities litigation group, the ‘very talented’ partners who focus on this area are among the very best. George Conway III has an excellent reputation, and his recent work on behalf of National Australia Bank has had a huge impact on securities litigation. Morrison v National Australia Bank ultimately went to the US Supreme Court, where Conway argued on behalf of the respondent. The Court ruled that Section 10 (b) of the Securities Exchange Act does not apply extraterritorially to claims of so-called ‘foreign-cubed’ plaintiffs (foreign investors who purchased securities of foreign issuers on foreign exchanges). More recently, he also won a case for European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. which dismissed ‘foreign-squared’ claims by American plaintiffs who purchased foreign company shares on foreign exchanges. These precedent-setting cases have had a huge impact on subsequent disputes. Other experienced partners at the firm include Lawrence Pedowitz and Eric Roth, who between them share over 55 years of experience in complex securities litigation. The practice is particularly well regarded in securities-related disputes emanating from company takeovers.

Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP ‘is the epitome of the “bet the farm” litigation firm. If price is no object you go to it’. The firm’s ‘outstanding’ securities litigation partners ‘are extremely commercial in their advice and know when to fight hard and when to do a deal. They are extremely thorough and will leave no rock unturned.’ The ‘extremely efficient’ practice is ‘extremely well versed in the different angles associated with complex shareholder litigation’. ‘You are not going to find a stronger team than the one led by Joseph Allerhand ’, who is commended for being ‘quick on his toes and has excellent judgment. He sees the big picture’. Scott Cohen is ‘one of the best lawyers I know’. The ‘excellent’ James Quinn also comes highly recommended. Recent highlights for the firm include obtaining a victory for AIG in the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which affirmed the dismissal of all claims in a shareholder derivative action, which asserted breach of fiduciary duty and mismanagement claims arising out of subprime credit default swap losses that led to the federal rescue in 2008. The firm also secured a complete victory on behalf of clients Tishman Speyer Development Corporation, Archstone-Smith Operating Trust, Archstone-Smith Trust and former officers and trustees in a securities class action based on the $22bn LBO of Archstone by affiliates of Tishman Speyer and Lehman Brothers; the case alleged securities violations, which were ultimately dismissed.

WilmerHale has a superb reputation for securities litigation and is particularly well regarded for the regulatory and enforcement side. Washington DC-based co-chair Harry Weiss has an excellent track record in SEC enforcement matters, thanks in part to his 11 years spent working at the SEC. Other key partners include co-chair Jeffrey Rudman and William Paine in Boston, and Lori Martin in New York. Given the firm’s high-tech and life sciences client base, the firm represents numerous issuers in the technology sector. In this area, the firm has recently achieved the dismissal of open market fraud and derivative actions against software companies and a medical devices company. The firm also has considerable experience defending investment banks, broker-dealers and other clients in the financial services and securities industries on related matters. Recent highlights include successfully representing an investment adviser in a major ERISA class action connected to the management of a cash collateral pool for the securities lending program provided to a trust fund in which the plaintiff invested. Major recent clients include Credit Suisse Securities, Citigroup Global Markets, State Street Corporation, Boston Scientific, PwC, Bear Stearns Asset Management and the mutual fund adviser Pax World Management Corporation.

Primarily working out of its Palo Alto headquarters, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati has the best West Coast securities litigation practice in the market. Given its western bias, it is unsurprising that the firm has a superb track record for representing issuers. Among these, major corporations such as Boeing, Dell Computer, Fluor, 3Com and Hewlett-Packard have all benefited from the firm’s expertise. Recent highlights include successfully defending Guidant Corporation and some of its former officers and directors against a securities class action that alleged the clients had issued false and misleading public statements concerning certain products and a proposed merger with Johnson & Johnson. In a major derivative action, the firm successfully defended Hewlett Packard against a claim relating to the departure package given to former CEO Carleton Fiorina in 2005. The lower court’s decision was ultimately upheld by the Ninth Circuit at the end of 2009. Among the partners, Boris Feldman has represented companies and their officers in over 160 shareholder class actions and derivative suits throughout the US. Steven Schatz, who divides his time between Palo Alto and New York, is also highly recommended, having been lead counsel in over 80 shareholder class actions and derivative suits in the past 20 years.

Praised for its ‘excellent results’, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP offers its clients a ‘highly effective, smart legal team’, which has ‘more collective knowledge of mortgage-backed securities litigation than any other firm I’m aware of’. Overall, the practice is praised for the ‘depth of resources it can bring to bear on a CMBS litigation matter, including top senior litigators and highly competent and well-trained associates’. Among the partners, group head Gregory Markel and Jason Halper ‘make a formidable team. They are thoughtful knowledgeable and insightful’. Markel ‘is highly effective at leading large litigation efforts and in providing wise counsel to clients’, while Halper ‘is extremely good in the court room’. Highlights included successfully defending Morgan Stanley in securities and derivative actions relating to auction rate securities. The firm is also defending Bank of America and its LaSalle Bank subsidiaries in five litigations relating to CMBS securitisations. Beyond the world of financial services, the firm has been defending Pfizer, which is a major client against claims of knowingly or recklessly misrepresenting facts regarding the safety and marketability of Celebrex and Bextra. It is also defending the pharmaceutical giant against ERISA and derivative suits. Other active clients include UBS, Wells Fargo Bank, MBIA and Xstrata.

Testament to Cahill Gordon & Reindel’s standing in the market is the fact that it is regularly instructed by law firms when they themselves face securities-related actions. The firm has over 16 partners well-versed in major bet-the-company securities-related disputes, including Thomas Kavaler, Floyd Abrams, Charles Gilman and Peter Sloane. One of the biggest instructions that the firm has received was from The McGraw Hill Company and its Standard & Poor’s subsidiary in all matters relating to its rating of securities backed by subprime mortgages across the country, as well as coordinating with counsel in foreign jurisdictions on such matters. This has included over 50 domestic and foreign jurisdictions, and involves private and class actions, as well as pending government and congressional investigations. Ten of these, involving claims for more than $311bn, were dismissed in 2010. The firm is also defending Household International and some of its former officers in one of the largest securities fraud class actions to reach the trial stage. Following a five-week jury trial, a mixed jury verdict exonerated the defendants on the majority of the 40 allegedly false statements and adopted a controversial measure of loss causation, which is currently the focus of post-verdict motions. Other major clients include HSBC, Deutsche Bank and XL Capital.

‘The overall quality of service is exceptional’ at Debevoise & Plimpton, whose lawyers ‘demonstrate true professionalism in all areas’. Overall ‘the partners work to achieve the highest level of client satisfaction while at the same time maintaining objectivity and independence in their actions and legal advice’. The firm is particularly well known for its white-collar crime and regulatory investigations practices, and its partners have a versatile and broad-base of expertise that they bring to major securities-related actions, both from the SEC investigatory side and in securities fraud and derivative actions. Among them, Washington DC-based litigator Colby Smith is noted for his ‘integrity, objectivity, passion for client service, and stature and reputation with the US regulatory agencies’. The ‘outstanding’ Bruce Yannet is also commended for his ‘overview, strategy, and ability to avoid conflicts in an area of conflicting jurisdictions’. New York-based partners Jeffrey Jacobson, Gary Kubek and Edwin Schallert are also highly recommended. Major work highlights included representing MetLife in an $8bn shareholder challenge to the company’s demutualisation, which was settled after the jury selection in a trial was expected to last at least two months. The firm also defended Hewitt Associates in a shareholder litigation related to its $4.9bn merger with a subsidiary of Aon Corporation. Hertz Corporation also retained the firm in a shareholder litigation relating to its $1.2bn acquisition of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group.

‘A great team to have on your side in difficult times’, the securities litigators at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP receive excellent feedback from clients. ‘The firm has tremendously talented professionals and operates in a cutting edge environment, particularly in the corporate, finance and hedge fund arenas’. Among the partners, clients praise the ‘excellent’ Douglas Flaum, the ‘very knowledgeable and accessible’ David Hennes and William McGuinness, who is also group head, while the ‘outstanding’ Gregg Weiner is noted for his ‘strategic advice and relationship management with opposing counsel’. The firm is currently representing Wells Fargo, Wachovia Corporation and its former directors and officers in six consolidated class actions brought on behalf of Wachovia stock and bond holders alleging breaches of directors’ fiduciary duties, fraud and negligent misrepresentation. Ultimately the Court approved a settlement that required no payment by the defendants to the shareholders. The firm is also defending a group of underwriters, including Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, UBS, RBS and Citigroup against a claim relating to the issuance of approximately $36bn in mortgage-backed securities by Wells Fargo. The lawsuit claims that the bank and its officers and directors failed to make proper disclosures concerning the bank’s alleged exposure to the subprime mortgage market.

Gibson Dunn’s ‘excellent’ securities litigation group impresses on the back of some impressive recruits, (four partners led by Mark Kirsch joined from Clifford Chance in 2009), as well as a series of critical results on behalf of its clients. The group, which works out of California, New York and Washington DC, is jointly headed by Wayne Smith in Orange County, and Jonathan Dickey and Robert Serio in New York. The broad-based team covers all areas of securities litigation, regularly representing issuers, underwriters and accountants. In the latter, the firm’s successful defence of Ernst & Young, led by Lawrence Zweifach, in a class action arising from Bernard Madoff’s ponzi scheme, was a major highlight. The plaintiffs had sought to hold Ernst & Young liable for losses in the ponzi scheme, but the Court dismissed all claims. Another highlight was persuading the Department of Justice and the SEC to drop their investigations into the former AIG executive Joseph Casanno. The former CEO of AIG Financial Products was targeted by the authorities following the financial crisis, who wanted to investigate whether Cassano had misled his superiors, the outside auditors and the public regarding losses in AIGFP’s credit default swap portfolio. The authorities ultimately found Cassano to be factually and legally innocent and decided not to pursue criminal and civil proceedings. The group is also backed up by a first-class appellate practice, and the specialist appellate litigator Mark Perry has an extremely strong track record in securities-related appeals.

Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP’s securities litigation team, which works largely out of the firm’s New York office, has a very good reputation in the market. Well regarded for highly technical bet-the-company disputes, the firm regularly represents issuers, under-writers, broker-dealers (for which it has a very strong dedicated regulatory team), accounting firms, and individual officers and directors. The firm is also backed up by a strong group of white-collar crime specialists and a dedicated mutual fund litigation practice. The firm’s hugely experienced litigation chair, James Benedict heads the team, which includes 15 partners and counsel. Recent highlights include achieving a major victory for Capital Research and Management Company, the world’s largest mutual fund adviser, and American Fund Distributors in a securities action that challenged the more than $15bn in fees paid by eight of the largest American Funds between 2003 and 2009. This was the first securities case to go to trial in the mutual fund industry in more than 20 years. The firm also scored a significant victory for Legg Mason in the Court of Appeals, which affirmed the dismissal of a securities class action brought against the client, its CEO and CFO, and Citgroup Global Markets. The plaintiffs alleged that following the $435m swap of Legg Mason’s brokerage business for Citigroup’s asset management division, the defendants failed to disclose facts in connection with a secondary offering of 8m shares of Legg Mason stock. Firm vice-chairman Scott Edelman is also highly recommended.

Headed by Jeff Kilduff , O’Melveny & Myers LLP’s quality securities litigation group has made a big impression on the market in the past few years, both on the East Coast, which focuses more on financial institutions, and the West Coast. With top-notch litigators working at every level of the court system, the firm recently represented Matrixx Initiatives and some of its officers and directors in a consolidated securities fraud action argued before the US Supreme Court. The plaintiffs allege that Matrixx’s failure to disclose adverse information regarding its homeopathic cold remedy, Zicam, led to an artificially inflated stock price. The action was initially dismissed without prejudice by the district court, though this was reversed on appeal by the Ninth Circuit. While the firm has long represented major issuers, more recently it has landed several significant matters for underwriters and financial institutions in general. Bank of America, which is a major client of the firm, has also retained the securities litigation group on a number of critical matters. Most notably, the team scored a major victory for the bank in the Countrywide Financial Corporation Shareholder Derivative Litigation that was launched against officers and directors of Countrywide, which is a subsidiary of the client. The highly experienced Jeffrey Kilduff has also been leading the defence of Fannie Mae against securities class actions, individual securities actions, shareholder derivative actions and an ERISA class action. Other key partners include Matthew Close in Los Angeles, Seth Aronsen and Bill Sushonin New York, and Robert Stern in Washington DC.

Sidley Austin LLP’s already strong practice was given a significant boost by the recruitment of the former co-chair of Howrey LLP’s litigation group Gary Bendinger, plus two more partners: Gregory Ballard and Kevin Burke. Bendinger is particularly well known for his track record in advising accountancy firms on securities-related actions, and therefore adds weight to a group which already has a good track record advising issuers and underwriters. Bendinger also helps beef up the New York team, which works closely with litigators in the Chicago, Washington DC and Los Angeles offices. Overall, the lawyers ‘provide top-notch work,’ and are ‘very good at coming up with creative legal theories’. Securities litigation co-chair Bob Pietrzak is singled out for being ‘good on the papers and in oral advocacy. Bob has excellent contacts within the securities industry and at law firms on both sides, which are helpful in multi-party disputes’. Recent highlights include representing JPMorgan Chase & Co and various affiliated entities and individuals in three securities actions brought by investors in mortgage and asset-backed pass-through certificates issued by the defendants. The firm also successfully represented a major telecoms company against a multimillion-dollar class action alleging securities fraud, common law fraud and breaches of fiduciary duty in connection with its dealings with an internet company. The accountancy side of the practice has also been involved in several major disputes, including one related to the Madoff fraud.

Linda Goldstein and C William Phillips jointly head Covington & Burling LLP’s well regarded five-partner securities, derivative and transactional practice. The firm regularly represents issuers, underwriters, indenture trustees, investment managers, and corporate officers and directors in shareholder class action law-suits and related litigations. The firm also has an excellent reputation for SEC enforcement and investigations where it draws upon the unrivalled experience of New York partner David Kornblau, who was Chief Litigation Counsel for the SEC between 2000 and 2005. In addition, Washington DC-based partner Bruce Baird was formerly an assistant US attorney in Manhattan, where he was Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division and Chief of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. On the West Coast, San Francisco partner David Bayless also has considerable experience, having spent five years as head of the SEC’s San Francisco office. One of the largest matters the firm has been involved in recently was as lead counsel to Bank of America in the multi-district securities litigation arising from the Parmalat fraud. The bank, which served as Parmalat’s placement agent for over $1bn private debt transactions, has been sued by multiple institutional investors, alleging that the bank knew or should have known that Parmalat overstated its assets and understated its liabilities.

Praised for its ‘extraordinary client service, superior knowledge, and thoughtful yet practical advice’, Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP impresses on the back of some excellent client feedback and mandates. The ‘extremely experienced and talented team of securities lawyers’ are ‘as creative and hard-working as they come’, and are commended for their ability to ‘excel in big picture strategy yet do not miss any detail’. Among the partners, Washington DC’s Ann Ashton ‘is by far the best attorney in the United States in the field of shareholder litigation. She combines extraordinary knowledge, customer service with a calm and practical manner that provides the utmost client satisfaction. She is truly without peer’. Alan Salpeter is singled out for his ‘great judgment and business litigation skills’, and his ‘expertise on how to handle complex litigation against auditors. He is one of the top, possibly the very top, Chicago expert in this area. His performance has been brilliant, and, to my surprise, reasonably priced’. The ‘clever and energetic’ Ralph Ferrara is a ‘quick thinker, very creative and top notch within this area’ and ‘should be at the top of anyone’s list for securities litigation’, while Jonathan Richman is an ‘excellent legal writer’. A major recent highlight was achieving an appellate victory for Omnicare in the affirmance of the dismissal of federal securities class action claims. Other major recent clients include Wachovia Capital Markets, Royal Dutch Shell, Zurich Financial Services and Alimentation Couche-Tard.

With highly experienced partners working out of its Chicago, New York, Washington DC and San Francisco offices, Kirkland & Ellis LLP’s securities litigation group offers, according to one client, ‘the smartest, most dedicated large firm litigation team we have used’. Among the partners, Washington DC-based litigator Andrew Clubok is singled out for being ‘an exceptional lawyer who is at ease in the courtroom and well-received by judges’. In Chicago, Robert Kobecky is noted for his expertise defending major corporations and professional firms, as well as their officers, directors and partners, against securities class actions and shareholder derivative suits. San Francisco partners Elizabeth Deeley and James Lico are also recommended for their experience in complex securities fraud transactions and breach of fiduciary cases. Recent highlights include defending Bain Capital Partners against an ongoing putative nationwide class action alleging that several of the leading private equity firms and investment banks conspired to fix prices in violation of the Sherman Act. The plaintiffs are former shareholders of public companies that the private equity firms took private. Another major highlight was the firm’s representation of Morgan Stanley in the district court and the court of appeal, which upheld a ruling to dismiss 30 securities derivative suits, and directed that an additional 24 cases be evaluated for dismissal on the same basis. The firm represented Morgan Stanley and acted as liaison counsel for the underwriter defendants, which included Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs. The firm also handled the appeal.

‘One of the best of the best’, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP’s ‘excellent’ securities litigation group is extremely popular with clients and is ‘exceptionally responsive, knowledgeable, careful, thorough and cost-effective. Its approach to staffing avoids the needless overleveraging so often encountered at large firms.’ The ‘very knowledgeable, thorough, experienced and approachable’ Michael Dell is an ‘extremely effective litigator’, who is praised for his ‘excellent judgment’ and ‘combining excellent legal advice with a great deal of industry knowledge’. Alan Friedman is ‘knowledgeable, thoughtful and exceptionally diligent’. Stephen Sinaiko is praised for his ‘very fine appellate writing’, while name partner and group head Gary Naftalis ‘brings a wealth of experience and perspective to the matters we have worked on’. Recent highlights include defending United Rentals, the world’s largest equipment rental company, in a class action litigation relating to its failed merger agreement with an affiliate of Cerberus Partners. The lower court’s dismissal of the case was ultimately affirmed in the Second Circuit in August 2010. The firm is also representing Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu against a class action and other claims arising from the Parmalat Bankruptcy. So far, three of the cases against the client have been dismissed and another has been settled. The firm has also been representing Bear Sterns in parallel regulatory and civil proceedings focusing on the collapse of two of its investment funds following the subprime mortgage crisis. Since the bank’s takeover by JPMorgan Chase, the firm has continued to represent them in federal derivative lawsuits and in a multibillion-dollar lawsuit brought by Bank of America, the first major bank-to-bank litigation arising out of the financial meltdown.

Morrison & Foerster LLP’s securities litigation group is considered ‘excellent all round’, and praised for its ‘very good analysis’ and for providing ‘a good outline of its strategy and being open to suggestions and ideas’. Another client adds that it is ‘reasonably priced for a firm of its experience, depth and reputation’. The New York-based co-head Jack Auspitz is ‘a great leader of the team and strategic thinker’, Jamie Levitt is ‘an absolute workhorse and excellent on strategy and execution’, while the ‘excellent’ Joel Haims ‘always has good ideas and is very succinct in getting to the point. His experience is extensive and is very reassuring in the way he goes about dealing with the case. It is easy to have confidence that he is doing the right thing’. One of the largest roles the firm has had is as court-appointed liaison for over 300 issuers and 1,000 individual defendants, as well as directly representing over 35 issuers and 200 individual defendants, in the case In re Initial Public Offering Securities Litigation. This relates to the allegation that prominent securities underwriters and high-tech firms illegally pumped up post-IPO stock prices by requiring initial purchasers to acquire more shares at higher prices after trading commenced. Ultimately, the firm successfully negotiated the issuers’ position both with the plaintiffs and underwriters’ counsel, as well as agreeing with the issuers’ insurance companies that their share of the settlement and the defence costs would come under their D&O policies. The firm also advised 11 of the 13 Countrywide Financial Corporation’s outside directors named in the securities class action and related litigation.

DLA Piper LLP’s ‘very responsive’ and ‘very competent’ securities litigation team offers ‘good levels of service, very good drafting’ as well as ‘good strategy and good value for money’. Among the partners, the ‘outstanding’ Robert Brownlie, who co-chairs the practice with Perrie Michael Weiner, comes highly recommended, while ‘the highly organised and structured’ Rich Hans is ‘good at handling complex litigations’. The firm recently strengthened its enforcement capabilities through the recruitment of Lou Mejia, who formerly served as Chief Litigation Counsel in the SEC’s enforcement division. Recent highlights include successfully defending E*Trade Financial Corporation and E*Trade Securities LLC against a securities class action on behalf of individuals who purchased auction rate securities from E*Trade between 2003 and 2008. After a three-week bench trial, the firm also obtained a defense decision for KOR Electronics and members of its board against derivative and direct claims made by minority shareholders. The case is now on appeal.

The securities litigation team at Dechert LLP has a solid reputation for representing clients in civil securities fraud and disclosure cases, including class actions, multi-district litigation and derivative actions. The firm, which is commended for its ‘top-notch work’, also boasts a strong team of investigations and securities enforcement lawyers. The firm’s chairman-elect Andrew Levander is praised for his ‘experience handling very high-stakes cases’ as well as being a ‘skilled negotiator and strategist’. The ‘extremely organised and diligent’ Neil Steiner is also singled out by clients. Recent highlights for the firm include defending J Ezra Merkin and Gabriel Capital Corporation in numerous litigations arising from losses incurred by hedge funds they managed in Bernard Madoff’s ponzi scheme. It is also defending Family Management Corporation and its principals in securities class actions brought by clients who invested in hedge funds that made losses due to Madoff. The firm will miss its former co-chair David Howard, who left to become deputy general counsel at Microsoft, although the highly experienced William Dodds remains in sole charge.

King & Spalding LLP’s ‘excellent’ securities litigation team is very well regarded by clients, who praise the firm’s ‘engaged and responsive’ lawyers. Robert Thornton and the ‘responsive and easy to talk to’ Warren Pope are commended for ‘their knowledge in the area and good judgment’, while Michael Smith is praised for his ‘good sense of big picture strategy’. For representation in Georgia, ‘its knowledge of local judges, rules, opposing counsel and general practices is excellent’. Michael Malone is also highly recommended. The firm’s practices in Washington DC and New York were boosted by the arrival of a team of six partners, including Diana Weiss and James Cusick from Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP. Recent highlights include winning a major jury trial victory for Jean-Marie Messier, the former chairman and CEO of Vivendi Universal, who was facing one of the largest securities class actions to be brought to verdict. The firm has also been representing PwC in several major securities class actions.

The ‘very responsive’ securities litigation team at Morgan Lewis is ‘very knowledgeable in both the procedural and substantive areas of the law’, has ‘superior class action acumen’ and is praised for its ‘good brief writing’. Among the partners, Mark Sonnenfeld and Joseph Faye are ‘very knowledgeable, good strategists, with good powers of persuasion’. A major highlight has been the firm’s representation of Hewlett-Packard in seven derivative actions arising out of the separation from former CEO Mark Hurd. The firm also helped CardioNet dismiss securities fraud claims made against it and certain senior executives. In early 2010, the firm also boosted its California team by recruiting the experienced securities litigators Robert Gooding and Scott Garner from Howrey LLP.

Michael Torpey heads a quality practice at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, which draws from over 20 partners, most of whom are based on the West Coast, albeit with sizeable teams in New York and Washington DC. The firm has achieved a number of significant victories, including on its representation of NovaStar Financial, where it obtained a Court of Appeals ruling affirming the dismissal of all securities claims. This is the first such dismissal for a subprime lender. The firm has a significant client base within the life sciences and high-tech industries, including Citrix Systems, eBay and Molina Healthcare. The firm also has good experience representing underwriters such as Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers. Daniel Tyukody and Michael Tu are well regarded by clients.

Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP’s ‘outstanding’ securities litigation team is praised for its ‘extremely knowledgeable, business-savvy and customer focused’ attorneys, who can be reached ‘any time of day or night’. Headed by the Los Angeles-based litigation chair William Sullivan, the team also has a strong presence on the East Coast. Recent highlights include representing UBS on a range of matters, including the defence of seven securities actions concerning $4.9bn-worth RMBS transactions, as well as cases concerning auction rate securities arising out of the global credit crisis. In other matters, the firm is representing former executives of Countrywide Financial Corporation, including the former CFO against a federal securities class action. The firm also defended Marvel Entertainment and its board of directors against several shareholder class actions relating to its acquisition by The Walt Disney Company.

Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP is a good choice for complex securities litigation, particularly cases involving parallel SEC and regulatory proceedings. Primarily based in New York, the firm opened an office in Washington DC, where Richard Morvillo has a particularly good track record for securities and white-collar crime litigation. The firm has been involved in several high-profile securities trials in recent years, most notably it successfully defended Guillaume Hannezo, the former CFO of Vivendi Universal, against thousands of federal securities fraud class action, 15 of which went to trial. Hannezo was fully exonerated after a four-month trial and seven years of litigation. The firm is also defending Dr Edward Scolnick, the former president of Merck Research laboratories against a federal securities class action relating to the cardio-vascular drug VIOXX, as well as related ERISA and shareholder derivative actions. Other recent clients include ABN AMRO, Hansen Natural Corporation, and TD Ameritrade. The hugely experienced Martin Perschetz heads the well regarded team.

‘The overall level of service’ at Winston & Strawn LLP ‘is unmatched by any law firm that I have worked with in the past 25 years of business’, says one satisfied client. ‘The understanding of the law and ability to strategise towards desired outcomes is unmatched’. The Chicago-based chairman and star trial lawyer Dan Webb and Robert Michels are described as ‘very tenacious and excellent strategists’. A major highlight was scoring a victory for Cisco Systems in a securities class action relating to Scientific-Atlanta, which the client acquired in 2006. The Court ultimately dismissed all claims against the client. The highly regarded Bruce Braun and Catherine Joyce have also been leading the defence of Grant Thornton, the auditors of Refco, which collapsed in 2005 after fraud was discovered in its financial statements. The Court of Appeals eventually reaffirmed the lower court’s decision to dismiss all claims against the auditor. Thomas Frederick heads the highly regarded team, which is largely based in Chicago, but also has top-notch litigators in New York and Washington DC.