Ms Carol C. Villegas > Labaton Keller Sucharow LLP > New York, United States > Lawyer Profile
Labaton Keller Sucharow LLP Offices
140 BROADWAY
NEW YORK, NY 10005
NEW YORK
United States
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Ms Carol C. Villegas
Work Department
Securities Litgation
Position
Partner
Career
Carol C. Villegas is a Partner in the New York office of Labaton Keller Sucharow LLP. Carol focuses on prosecuting complex securities fraud and consumer cases on behalf of institutional investors and individuals. Leading one of the Firm’s litigation teams, she is actively overseeing litigation against Lordstown, PayPal, Oak Street Health, DocuSign, Flo Health, Amazon, and Hain, among others. In addition to her litigation responsibilities, Carol holds a variety of leadership positions within the Firm, including serving on the Firm’s Executive Committee, as Chair of the Firm’s Women’s Networking and Mentoring Initiative, and as the Chief of Compliance.
Carol’s development of innovative case theories in complex cases, her skillful handling of discovery work, and her adept ability during oral arguments has earned her accolades from Chambers & Partners USA as well as Law360 as a Class Action MVP, The National Law Journal as a Plaintiffs’ Trailblazer, and the New York Law Journal as a Top Woman in Law, New York Trailblazer, and Distinguished Leader. Business Today named Carol one of the “Top 10 Most Influential Securities Litigation Lawyer in New York.” The National Law Journal “Elite Trial Lawyers” has repeatedly recognized her superb ability to excel in high stakes matters on behalf of plaintiffs and selected her to its class of Elite Women of the Plaintiffs Bar and as a finalist for Plaintiff Attorney of the Year. She has also been recognized as a Litigation Star and shortlisted for Plaintiff Litigator of the Year by Benchmark Litigation and a Next Generation Partner by The Legal 500, where clients praised her for helping them “better understand the process and how to value a case.” Lawdragon has named her one of the country’s Leading Lawyers, Leading Litigators, Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers, and Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers. Additionally, Crain’s New York Business selected Carol to its list of Notable Women in Law. The Women in Business Law Awards also shortlisted Carol for Securities Litigator of the Year, Privacy and Data Protection Lawyer of the Year, and Thought Leadership Lawyer of the Year, and Chambers and Partners selected Carol as a finalist for Diversity & Inclusion: Outstanding Contribution, and New York Law Journal’s New York Legal Awards selected her as a Lawyer of the Year finalist.
Notable recent successes include In re Nielsen Holdings PLC Securities Litigation ($73 million settlement) and City of Warren Police and Fire Retirement System v. World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. ($39 million settlement). Carol has also played a pivotal role in securing favorable settlements for investors, including in cases against DeVry, a for-profit university; AMD, a multi-national semiconductor company; Liquidity Services, an online auction marketplace; Aeropostale, a leader in the international retail apparel industry; Vocera, a healthcare communications provider; and Prothena, a biopharmaceutical company, among others. Carol has also helped revive a securities class action against LifeLock after arguing an appeal before the Ninth Circuit. The case settled shortly thereafter.
Prior to joining Labaton Keller Sucharow, Carol served as the Assistant District Attorney in the Supreme Court Bureau for the Richmond County District Attorney’s office, where she took several cases to trial. She began her career as an Associate at King & Spalding LLP, where she worked as a federal litigator.
Languages
Spanish
Memberships
Carol is an active member of the New York State Bar Association’s Women in the Law Section and Chair of the Board of Directors of the City Bar Fund, the nonprofit 501(c)(3) arm of the New York City Bar Association. She is also a member of the National Association of Public Pension Attorneys, the National Association of Women Lawyers, and the Hispanic National Bar Association. In addition, Carol previously served on Law360’s Securities Editorial Board.
Education
New York University School of Law
J.D., 2002
New York University
B.A., English and Politics, with honors, 1999
Lawyer Rankings
United States > Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: plaintiff
(Leading partners)The securities litigation practice at Labaton Keller Sucharow LLP in New York has undergone many changes in the last year, as the mantle of leading the practice has been passed on a younger generation. Firm chair Christopher Keller and head of litigation Jonathan Gardner still oversee the practice, but the leadership role is now in the hands of highly respected litigators Carol Villegas and Michael Canty. Clients note that they are ‘very responsive to any questions that arise, and handle matters in a very professional manner’. Villegas, is currently leading a securities class action against PayPal Holdings, Inc., which alleges that the company touted strong growth to get new accounts but was fueling this growth by essentially paying people to sign up, and that ‘bot farms’ were used to create fake accounts. Working with Eric Belfi, Villegas also secured a $73m recovery in a case against data analytics company Nielsen, which was alleged to have misrepresented the strength of its consumer purchasing measurement business, and the impact of European data privacy regulations. Canty’s recent track record includes working with Michael Rogers to secure a $125m settlement in a case against Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Up-and-coming partner James Christie also plays a key role in the practice. Thomas Dubbs and James Johnson recently retired from the firm.
Lawyer Rankings
- Leading partners United States > Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: plaintiff
- Securities litigation: plaintiff United States > Dispute resolution