Dispute resolution
Freshfields‘ national securities and shareholder litigation practice defends clients across technology, life sciences, and electric vehicle sectors. The team focuses on complex cases, including novel theories of corporate control, COVID-19 shareholder litigation, scheme liability, and SPAC litigation. Practice head Meredith Kotler, based in New York, represents public companies and their boards in securities, corporate governance, and M&A litigation, including the full dismissal of a securities class action against Centessa Pharmaceuticals and Amarin. Fellow New York co-head Agnès Dunogué joined from A&O Shearman in July 2025. Co-head Mary Eaton’s recent cases include defending BuzzFeed in two mass arbitration cases arising from de-SPAC transactions, and she acted as lead counsel for Tyson Foods in a Section 220 book and records action. Silicon Valley-based TMT lawyer Boris Feldman specializes in SPAC deals and has represented Tesla and Rivian in shareholder derivative matters. Doru Gavril represented Instacart in the dismissal of all shareholder lawsuits, while Rebecca Lockert focuses on securities and shareholder litigation matters. Both lawyers are based in Silicon Valley.
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Profile
Work Department
Litigation
Position
Partner and Co-Head of Securities and Shareholder Litigation
Career
Mary Eaton is co-head of the securities and shareholder litigation practice at Freshfields, and has extensive experience in complex commercial litigation, with a focus on securities class actions, shareholder derivative claims and other complex business disputes. Mary regularly represents issuers, boards of directors, board committees and senior management across a broad spectrum of industries (including financial services, private equity, asset management and technology) in a wide variety of disputes in federal and state courts across the country. In addition to her substantial trial experience, Mary regularly counsels clients on litigation avoidance and corporate governance matters.
Among her many accolades, Mary is perennially ranked among leading litigators by Chambers USA, Legal 500 US and Best Lawyers in America. In 2019, the American Bar Association awarded Mary the Stonewall Award for her contributions to the advancement of LGBT individuals and issues.
Education
- LLB, Queen’s University
- JD, Columbia Law School
- LLM, Columbia Law School
Content supplied by Freshfields
Key clients
- AstraZeneca PLC
- Tesla
Work highlights
Represented AstraZeneca and two of its executives in a stockholder class action in Delaware’s Court of Chancery, challenging Viela’s US $3 billion sale to Horizon Therapeutics.