Dechert LLP

Dechert LLP‘s litigators are often tasked with defending private equity funds and their directors in shareholder actions arising out of mergers, governance decisions and alleged breaches of fiduciary duties, tackling cases in state and federal courts, including the Delaware Court of Chancery. Joni Jacobsen, who spearheads the firm’s securities litigation group, represents listed companies and their directors in class actions and derivative disputes, and in 2024 defended PureCycle Technologies against a demand to inspect books and records in Delaware and a securities fraud allegation arising out of a de-SPAC transaction, which settled in October. Neil Steiner defended a special committee of Harvest Capital Credit Corporation’s board, against shareholder allegations that directors had breached their fiduciary duties in Harvest Capital’s merger with Portman Ridge Finance Corporation, while San Francisco’s Richard Horvath represented Barcoding, Inc. in a shareholder claim alleging its directors had made material misstatements in advance of its now-closed merger with DecisionPoint Systems. Unless otherwise specified, named lawyers are New York-based.