Meredith Kotler > Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP > New York, United States > Lawyer Profile

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP
601 LEXINGTON AVENUE
31ST FLOOR
NEW YORK, NY 10022
NEW YORK
United States

Work Department

 Litigation

Position

Partner and Co-Head of Securities and Shareholder Litigation

Career

Meredith Kotler is co-head of the securities and shareholder litigation practice at Freshfields, where she specializes in high-stakes litigation, including securities, M&A, and shareholder disputes. Meredith regularly represents multi-national companies, financial institutions, and their boards and management in significant securities class actions, having secured important dismissals in both federal and state courts.  As major M&A transactions and board-level controversies continue to receive scrutiny, Meredith has defended companies, their management and boards, and their financial advisors in litigation relating to dozens of transactions with a cumulative value of over $100 billion in the last six years alone. She has played a leading role in many matters raising novel corporate governance issues, including the corporate control battle between National Amusements, Inc. and CBS Corporation, for which she was named “Litigator of the Week” by The American Lawyer for her successful representation of NAI and the Redstones.

From 1998 to 2004, Meredith served as an Assistant US Attorney in the Southern District of New York, including as Deputy Chief Appellate Attorney. Her writings on the latest developments in securities litigation have been published in the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and other outlets.

Education

  • JD, cum laude, Harvard Law School
  • BA, summa cum laude, Princeton University

Lawyer Rankings

United States > Dispute resolution > M&A litigation: defense

(Hall of Fame)

Meredith KotlerFreshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP‘s M&A litigation practice is one of the bright spots for English firms in the US litigation market. Thanks to standout partners and practice heads Meredith Kotler and Mary Eaton, the firm is able to handle market-leading matters for stellar corporate clients, among them Tesla, Google and Pinterest. For AstraZeneca, Kotler and Eaton are involved in matters in Delaware concerning challenges to the sale of spinoff company Viela Bio to Horizon. The case raises important issues of what constitutes a control by a major shareholder. Head of the US technology practice Boris Feldman, who works from the Silicon Valley office, has defended more than 250 shareholder class actions, derivative suits, and merger challenges during his long career, and he frequently works with up-and-coming partner Doru Gavril to handle shareholder inspection demands and major class actions against Tesla and its board of directors. Counsel Nicholas Caselli is an emerging talent whose work in securities and shareholder litigation includes class actions, derivative actions, section 220 books and records demands, and deal-related matters.

United States > Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense

(Leading lawyers)

Meredith Kotler – Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP

The New York office of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP continues to make big strides in the securities litigation arena, having built a high-calibre practice around highly regarded practice heads Meredith Kotler and Mary Eaton. They work in tandem with Boris Feldman, who also leads the firm’s global TMT practice, and up-and-coming partner Doru Gavril, both based in Silicon Valley. The practice, which continues to expand at associate level, now acts for known numerous global companies in high-stakes securities and shareholder matters, as well as regulatory investigations. A prime example is the work Feldman and Gavril are doing for Google’s parent company, Alphabet, in multiple matters including its first securities class action. Kotler’s work for 3M is equally impressive- she obtained a string of victories in cases arising from the company’s alleged failure to adequately reserve for and disclose billions of dollars of potential liability for environmental, mass tort, and other claims.