Subsumed within the firm’s broad-based litigation and arbitration practice group, which is headed from New York by Alexander Lees, Milbank‘s securities litigation offering is very well-placed to represent issuers, underwriters, individuals and an increasing number of accountants to advise on core rule 10-b 5 and section 11 fraud-related claims. Much of the work also regularly involves parallel regulatory scrutiny, which the firm is well-placed to handle by virtue of having a number of former agency officials in its ranks, including New York-based Gurbir Grewal, whose arrival in January 2025 from the SEC follows on the heels of his former colleague at the agency Olivia Choe, who joined the Washington DC office in October 2024. The team is also adept at handling work on the outskirts of core securities litigation, including 40 Act matters and ERISA-related class actions regarding fiduciary breaches, both areas that the well-respected New York-based litigator Sean Murphy handles as part of his broad-based securities/shareholder defense practice. New York-based attorney Scott Edelman combines his duties as chairman of the firm with a strong litigation practice that sees him regularly handle securities litigation matters and derivative actions. Also located in New York, Jed Schwartz continues to develop a very strong securities practice, including for underwriters on statements made in offering documents accompanying IPOs and secondary offerings.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Key clients

  • Alliance Bernstein
  • Edgio, Inc.
  • Gary Cohn
  • Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Company
  • Infinity Q Capital Management
  • PLDT, Inc.
  • Rabobank
  • Michael G. Sievert
  • Underwriters of NIO, Inc. (incl Morgan Stanley.; GoldmanSachs (Asia); J.P. Morgan Securities; Merrill Lynch, et al)
  • Universal Entertainment Corporation

Work highlights

  • Represents Michael Sievert, President and CEO of T-Mobile US, Inc., who has been sued in connection with breach of fiduciary duty claims concerning the 2020 merger between T-Mobile and Sprint Corporation and surrounding financial transactions.
  • Engaged to conduct an internal investigation into the circumstances surrounding elevated levels of capital expenditure commitments disclosed by PLDT to the market, with a focus on identifying whether there is any evidence of fraudulent conduct relating to investments in capital projects, accounting irregularities that would necessitate a restatement of PLDT’s historical financial statements, or any false or misleading statements by the Company relating to capital expenditures.
  • Represents Gary Cohn, previous President and Chief Operating Officer of the Goldman Sachs Group, in connection with a securities class action relating to Goldman's role in transactions involving the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad. The case alleges that Goldman and certain of its executives made false or misleading statements as news emerged concerning the illegal diversion of proceeds raised by the 1MDB bond issuances underwritten by Goldman.

Lawyers

Leading partners

The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.

Practice head

Alexander Lees

Other key lawyers

Scott Edelman; Sean Murphy; Grant Mainland; Jed Schwartz; Robert Hora; Gurbir Grewal; Olivia Choe