Drawing upon an ‘extremely deep bench of talented attorneys’ who have a ’strong understanding’ of the technology and life sciences sectors, in particular, Cooley LLP is a very popular choice for companies in those domains facing securities class action cases. The team continues to regularly secure victories in pre-trial motions often before discovery, including for a global biotech company when the appellate court recently affirmed a prior lower court decision to dismiss a case on the basis that the plaintiffs failed to adequately plead a false or misleading statement. Palo Alto-based team head Patrick Gibbs was pivotal to this success and is regularly at the forefront of the highest-profile matters handled by the practice, including its ongoing representation of core firmwide client NVIDIA, which recently saw an important ruling handed down by the Supreme Court regarding the pleading standard for scienter. New York-based Sarah Lightdale was also involved in the aforementioned matter and is a key member of the team that includes San Diego-based Koji Fukumura, who is highly skilled at representing life sciences companies, in particular, accused of securities fraud.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
- Profile
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'The team has a strong understanding of the industry with top notch legal minds.'
- 'The firm has an extremely deep bench of talented attorneys.'
- 'Unique (in my experience) combination of understanding of practical business implications of transactions/disputes and legal issues involved. Confident and incredibly accurate in their assessments and advice; unafraid to provide specific and educated predictions. They are the best litigation team I have ever worked with.'
- 'I consider Cooley to be a first-tier global litigation firm suitable for bet-the-company type disputes.'
Key clients
- American Infrastructure MLP Fund, L.P. (AIM)
- Aurinia Pharmaceuticals
- Beyond
- BioMarin Pharmaceutical
- Cantor Fitzgerald
- Dutch Bros
- Fibrogen
- Illumina
- Immunovant
- IonQ
Work highlights
- Defending NVIDIA in a long-running investor class action arising from a $25bn loss in NVIDIA’s market capitalization over a three-month period in late 2018. The case, which was argued before US Supreme Court in November 2024, is poised to resolve two circuit court splits about the allegations necessary to plead falsity and scienter under the heightened standards of the PSLRA.
- Secured a complete victory for online retailer Beyond (formerly known as Overstock.com) when the Tenth Circuit affirmed the lower court’s dismissal of all claims in a securities class action alleging the defendants made false and misleading statements related to financial guidance, and that they engaged in a scheme to manipulate the company’s share price by declaring an unregistered digital dividend, which ultimately led to a short squeeze of the company’s shares.
- Secured a complete victory for BioMarin Pharmaceutical, a global biotechnology company with a focus on rare-disease therapies, when the Ninth Circuit affirmed the lower court’s dismissal of a securities class action alleging the company made false and misleading statements relating to the safety of a gene therapy in a phase 1/2 clinical trial.
Lawyers
Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Next generation partners
Junior partners with significant recognition from clients and peers in the market and key roles on multiple matters.
Sarah Lightdale
Practice head
Patrick Gibbs
Other key lawyers
Luke Cadigan; John Dwyer; Shannon Eagan; Koji Fukumura; Sarah Lightdale; Aric Wu; Peter Adams; Ryan Blair