Ms Sandra Goldstein > Kirkland & Ellis LLP > New York, United States > Lawyer Profile
Kirkland & Ellis LLP Offices

601 LEXINGTON AVENUE
NEW YORK, NY 10022
NEW YORK
United States
- Firm Profile
- Go to...
Ms Sandra Goldstein

Position
Sandra Goldstein is a litigation partner in Kirkland’s New York office and was a member of the Firm’s Executive Committee. She has a broad litigation practice, with a particular focus on securities, M&A, and commercial disputes. Her clients have included 3G Capital, Barnes & Noble, Constellation Brands, CrowdStrike, Grubhub, Honeywell, IBM, J. Crew, Novartis, Pitney Bowes, Qualcomm, Starwood Hotels, Target, United Airlines and Xerox.
Sandra represents clients, including corporations and their boards, in all manner of securities litigation—stock drop class actions, shareholder derivative suits, litigation demands—often securing pretrial wins, including a major summary judgment victory in a multibillion dollar securities fraud class action lawsuit. She has also regularly represented clients in contemplated or hostile transactions, with a cumulative value of hundreds of billions of dollars, and has aided clients in navigating complex corporate governance issues. Sandra is lead courtroom counsel, winning dozens of favorable decisions after oral argument at both the trial and appellate court levels concerning dispositive motions, motions for preliminary injunctions and expedited discovery. Recently, Sandra had two major victories for Constellation Brands. First, in March 2023 she secured a unanimous verdict after a two-week trial against Grupo Modelo, which is owned by Anheuser-Busch, by persuading the jury that hard seltzer is beer under the applicable contract. Then, in March 2024, Sandra successfully argued the defense of the Second Circuit appeal in that matter, which the Court affirmed in full. She also routinely advises boards, in house counsel and company executives on litigation and corporate governance considerations at various stages of a deal, in collaboration with the Firm’s transactional attorneys.
Career
Previously Cravath’s Head of Litigation (2010-2016) and Litigation Managing Partner (2005-2010).
Education
NYU Law School, J.D.; Barnard College, B.A., summa cum laude.
Lawyer Rankings
United States > Dispute resolution > M&A litigation: defense
(Hall of Fame)In addition to representing clients in court, Kirkland & Ellis LLP also advises them on strategies to mitigate the risk of M&A-related litigation when conducting acquisitions. The team is experienced in handling suits initiated by activists and stockholders in the wake of both completed transactions and busted deals before both the New York courts and the Delaware Court of Chancery. Sandra Goldstein is sought after by clients facing shareholder-led derivative suits and in the wake of hostile takeovers, notably defending TKO Holdings chairman Vince McMahon alongside Stefan Atkinson following a suit launched by former WWE stockholders in relation to the merger between WWE and Endeavor Group to form TKO Holdings. Matthew Solum was able to defeat a federal securities complaint brought against Zendesk, Inc. after its acquisition by Hellman & Friedman and Permira Advisers. The highly experienced Yosef Riemer
offers decades of experience in handling securities class actions and fraud allegations made against directors and officers. All lawyers mentioned here are based in New York.
United States > Dispute resolution > Financial services litigation
Kirkland & Ellis LLP assists various leading clients within the financial services sector with litigation involving shareholder derivative actions, ESG practices and M&A class actions. Mark Filip is a key authority operating between Chicago and Washington who has long-standing experience resolving disputes between financial institutions and government bodies. In New York, Sandra Goldstein is a strong litigator focusing on securities, M&A and commercial disputes whilst Zachary Brez defends securities matters and derivative financial products before the DOJ, SEC and CFTC. In Washington, Reginald Brown regularly counsels financial clients facing significant regulatory and enforcement issues. Jeremy Dresner is also an active partner involved in government and internal investigations. Nader Salehi splits his time between the two offices as a leading securities enforcement defense lawyer.
United States > Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense
(Hall of Fame)The ‘highly strategic, commercial, and efficient’ team at Kirkland & Ellis LLP provides formidable representation of corporates, private equity firms and individual officers across the panoply of securities class actions, shareholder derivative matters and M&A disputes. As well as handling its fair share of traditional 10-b 5 stock drop and IPO-related class actions, the team, which has a particularly pervasive presence on the East coast and Midwest of the country, has been at the vanguard of recent trends informing actions brought by the plaintiff bar, including with regard to ESG and SPACs. New York-based attorney Sandra Goldstein combines superb substantive legal knowledge with courtroom expertise and regularly prevails on behalf of defendant companies at both the trial and appellate court levels concerning dispositive motions, motions for preliminary injunctions and expedited discovery. Drawing upon vast expertise in private practice and as a high-ranking justice department official, Chicago-based Mark Filip is very skilled at guiding companies through DOJ probes, including with regard to potential securities fraud, and is skilled at handling parallel governmental investigations and private class action litigation. In New York, Stefan Atkinson has a broad-based securities litigation practice that includes a considerable amount of recent work arising in the aftermath of de-SPAC mergers.
United States > Dispute resolution > Leading trial lawyers
(Leading trial lawyers)Sandra Goldstein, a specialist in securities and M&A disputes based in Kirkland & Ellis LLP‘s New York office, handles a range of shareholder and derivative suits, including class actions, including before the Delaware Court of Chancery. Honeywell relied on Goldstein to fight derivative claims arising out of the handling of the company’s asbestos liabilities, which plaintiffs alleged constituted a breach of fiduciary duty, securing a dismissal with prejudice in February 2024.
Lawyer Rankings
- Hall of Fame United States > Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense
- Hall of Fame United States > Dispute resolution > M&A litigation: defense
- M&A litigation: defense United States > Dispute resolution
- Securities litigation: defense United States > Dispute resolution
- Financial services litigation United States > Dispute resolution
- Leading trial lawyers United States > Dispute resolution
- Leading trial lawyers United States > Dispute resolution > Leading trial lawyers
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Media, technology and telecoms > Advertising and marketing: litigation
- Finance > Capital markets: high-yield debt offerings
- International trade and national security > CFIUS
- Antitrust > Civil litigation/class actions: defense
- Finance > Commercial lending
- Intellectual property > Copyright
- Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense
- Labor and employment > Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: transactional
- Energy > Energy litigation: oil and gas
- Energy > Energy transactions: electric power
- Energy > Energy transactions: oil and gas
- Environment > Environment: transactional
- Dispute resolution > General commercial disputes
- Tax > International tax
- Dispute resolution > M&A litigation: defense
- M&A/corporate and commercial > M&A: large deals ($1bn+)
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (full coverage)
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (International Trade Commission)
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Private equity buyouts: large deals ($500m+)
- Investment fund formation and management > Private equity funds (including venture capital)
- Dispute resolution > Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: consumer products (including tobacco)
- Dispute resolution > Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: pharmaceuticals and medical devices
- Real estate > Real estate
- Energy > Renewable/alternative power
- Finance > Restructuring (including bankruptcy): corporate
- Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Shareholder activism
- Finance > Structured finance: securitization
- Media, technology and telecoms > Technology transactions
- Intellectual property > Trade secrets (litigation and non-contentious matters)
- Intellectual property > Trademarks: litigation
- Tax > US taxes: non-contentious
Firm Rankings
- Finance > Capital markets: debt offerings
- Finance > Capital markets: equity offerings
- Antitrust > Cartel
- Dispute resolution > E-discovery
- Energy > Energy regulation: electric power
- Antitrust > Merger control
- Investment fund formation and management > Mutual/registered/exchange-traded funds
- Media, technology and telecoms > Outsourcing
- Intellectual property > Patents: licensing
- Dispute resolution > Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: automotive/transport
- Dispute resolution > Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: toxic tort
- Real estate > Real estate investment trusts (REITs)
- Government > State attorneys general
- Tax > US taxes: contentious
- Dispute resolution > Appellate: courts of appeals / Appellate: supreme courts (states and federal)
- Transport > Aviation and air travel: litigation and regulation
- Finance > Commercial lending > Advice to direct lenders/private credit
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Corporate governance
- Environment > Environment: litigation
- Dispute resolution > Financial services litigation
- Insurance > Insurance: non-contentious
- Media, technology and telecoms > Media and entertainment: litigation
- Media, technology and telecoms > Media and entertainment: transactional
- International trade and national security > National Security
- Finance > Project finance
- Intellectual property > Trademarks: non-contentious (including prosecution, portfolio management and licensing)
- International trade and national security > Customs, export controls and economic sanctions
- Healthcare > Life sciences
- Dispute resolution > Leading trial lawyers
- Dispute resolution > Leading trial lawyers
- Dispute resolution > Leading trial lawyers
- Government > Government relations