Lynn Neuner > Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP > New York, United States > Lawyer Profile

The ‘calm, yet authoritative demeanor’ of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP‘s M&A litigators allows them to secure favorable results for companies, their directors and officers and private equity sponsors in pre-merger suits and post-closing appraisal proceedings and claims for damages. Spearheading the firm’s efforts are Jonathan Youngwood, who represented Paramount Global in defense of a suit brought by Employees’ Retirement System of Rhode Island, which suspected breaches of fiduciary duty in the former’s proposed merger with Skydance Media, and Lynn Neuner, who was able to secure a settlement between Pfizer and former Mylan shareholders in relation to Mylan’s merger with Pfizer’s Upjohn division. Fraud specialist Peter Kazanoff assisted the Special Committee of General Growth Properties in reaching a settlement with shareholders who alleged the Special Committee had breached its fiduciary duties while overseeing the company’s sale to Brookfield Property Partners. Palo Alto’s Stephen Blake merges expertise in M&A and regulatory litigation, and in 2024 represented Microsoft against a claim launched by a stockholder who alleged that Microsoft aided and abetted breaches of fiduciary duty by Activision and certain directors in the companies’ 2023 merger. All lawyers named are New York-based unless otherwise specified.

The team at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is a regular fixture in a number of state supreme courts and courts of appeals. Leadership is shared between New York-based duo Lynn Neuner and Jonathan Youngwood. Neuner recently represented the estate of M. Richard Robinson in connection with trust and probate-related disputes in a First Department Appeal. Youngwood, who acts as co-chair of the firm’s global litigation department, has significant experience representing corporations and boards of directors in securities, corporate control, ERISA, and antitrust-related appeals. A recent highlights saw Youngwood represent BOC International Holdings Limited and successfully obtain the dismissal of a proposed class action in the Southern District of New York.

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP offers representation across a broad range of financial services issues, with particular proficiency in securities, bankruptcy and antitrust matters. The group is well-versed in litigating highly complex matters with examples including defending TD Bank through discovery, trial and settlement in litigation concerning the TelexFree Ponzi scheme. Lynn Neuner and Jonathan Youngwood are co-heads of the practice in New York – Neuner has a distinguished reputation as a trial lawyer in commercial and securities litigation, whilst Youngwood focuses on disputes concerning corporate control, EIRSA and antitrust. Craig Waldman broadens the firm’s expertise by representing private equity and corporate clients in transaction-related and corporate control litigation alongside corporate governance matters. Joseph McLaughlin and Steve Blake are also key strengths within the field.

Leveraging a deep bench of trial and appellate lawyers, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is well-equipped to represent a myriad financial services entities and blue-chip corporates in big-ticket securities litigation/derivative shareholder matters, in many cases often also involving complex parallel government investigations/enforcements. The scope of the work is broad, including 10b-5 and section 11 cases, as well as M&A litigation and more general corporate governance-related disputes. Vastly experienced team head Jonathan Youngwood is as comfortable acting for large public companies (including within the media and entertainment field) facing down potentially financially ruinous securities fraud class action allegations and on ERISA stock drop litigation, as he is for underwriter banks in the aftermath of IPOs. As well as a vibrant securities litigation and derivative shareholder practice for corporates from a range of industry sectors, Craig Waldman also has tangential expertise regarding litigation arising from strategic and financial sponsor-led transactions. Lynn Neuner, who co-heads the overarching litigation group alongside Youngwood, is also a skilled trial lawyer, with many of her cases falling in the securities litigation ambit. Palo Alto-based Stephen Blake is also a highly proficient securities class action litigator (in relation to conventional public IPOs as well as with regard to SPACs), whose expertise not only covers private litigation but also overlapping SEC regulatory enforcement/investigations. All named practitioners are based in New York unless otherwise indicated.

Operating out of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP‘s New York office, Lynn Neuner boasts an impressive track record in insurance litigation, representing major American and foreign insurers in high-profile matters. Recent work includes the representation of Chubb, AXA XL and Swiss Re in coverage claims brought by aircraft lessors following the detention of their assets in Russia, securing settlements in a number of these. Travelers has also retained Neuner’s services in defending a claim brought by BASF, which seeks coverage for legal costs incurred in litigation arising out of PFAS-related injuries.

Led by ‘fierce and talented’ trial lawyer Lynn Neuner and flexible commercial litigator Jonathan Youngwood, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP counts a large chunk of the largest insurers and reinsurers in the market as clients, who turn to them to handle a range of high-stakes and high-value coverage disputes, bad faith suits, class actions, and more. The team litigates and arbitrates a broad range of substantive issues across the US, UK, and Bermuda, taking on cases connected to some of the country’s key areas of coverage disputes, from PFAS and environmental liabilities, to the opioid crisis, to war risks and sexual abuse. The bench is filled by veteran litigator Bryce Friedman, who has seen the full spectrum of insurance disputes, with particular expertise in fraud and the False Claims Act, Joshua Polster, who is notably adept at navigating actuarial matters that arise during disputes, and new partner Summer Craig, who is trusted by a range of insurers to handle coverage disputes at the trial and appellate levels. All lawyers mentioned are in New York.

Composed of ‘excellent technical lawyers, advocates and counselors’, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP‘s litigation department represents high-profile clients in an impressive range of commercial disputes and government and internal investigations. The team is adept at handling conflicts related to commercial contracts, bankruptcy, business torts and insurance. It also has a strong track record in class actions stemming from commercial disputes. Lynn Neuner is global co-chair of the litigation department, alongside Jonathan Youngwood, who also heads the civil securities litigation practice, representing corporations and boards of directors in litigation, arbitration and investigations. Bryce Friedman remains a go to for C-suite executives, governments and quasi-governmental entities, focusing his practice on fraud allegations and False Claims Act violations. He leads the business litigation practice alongside Michael Garvey, who boasts an active cross-border practice that encompasses shareholder, antitrust and M&A litigation, as well as trademark infringement and insurance matters. All individuals mentioned are based in New York.