Drawing upon the firm’s ‘culture of excellence and teamwork’, Morrison Foerster’s bi-coastal team provides a very unified approach to corporates and executives (bringing in complementary areas of expertise if necessary), from a range of industry sectors facing down high-stakes securities law class actions and derivative actions. The team is also highly skilled at helping clients navigate their way through government investigations/enforcement actions, where it is able to call upon the expertise of numerous former high-ranking SEC officials, including Michael Birnbaum and Haimavathi Marlier in New York. For private litigation, San Francisco-based Jordan Eth has an impressive track record defending public companies, and their officers and directors, including those within the tech and life sciences sectors. Also based out of the firm’s San Francisco headquarters, Anna Erickson White is, along with up-and-coming partner and team co-head Ryan Keats, appreciated for her ability to ‘cut to the chase’ and ’deliver results’, both in a litigation setting, as well as for a risk management perspective for boards and management. Washington DC-based James Koukios adds credibility on matters with a white-collar component by virtue of his former high-ranking position at the DOJ. Jamie Levitt co-heads the team alongside Keats.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
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Profile
Position
Jordan Eth | Morrison Foerster
Jordan Eth is a partner in Morrison Foerster's Securities Litigation group. Jordan is one of the leading securities litigators in the United States, known for his success in handling complex, high-stakes cases. He has more than 30 years of experience representing public companies and their officers and directors in:
- Securities class actions
- SEC investigations
- Derivative suits
- Mergers and acquisitions litigation
- Internal investigations
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Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'The firm has a culture of excellence and teamwork.' 'They authentically care for their clients. As the seemingly never-ending legal proceedings take a life of their own, you can continue to focus on what is important to you.' 'Ryan Keats and Anna Erickson White deliver results. Ryan and Anna cut through the chase, stay above the fray, speak and write in plain English, and negotiate the best possible outcome for their clients.'
Key clients
- SoftBank Group Cloudera, Inc. Enakshi Singh (Former CFO of Zymergen Inc.) MaxLinear Canaccord Genuity Corp. Block, Inc. Rivian Automotive LLC Evolv Technologies Patrick Dillon (Former CFO of TuSimple Holdings Inc.) CCF Intermediate Holdings LLC YTP ICAP Yuen Kam, Former Chairman of Global Cord Blood Corporation GoDaddy Inc. ON24 Inc. Vidul Prakash (Former CFO of View, Inc.) Palo Alto Networks Unity Software Get Together Inc. (d/b/a “IRL”) Two Former Executives of a NASDAQ-listed Company, ZhouMin Ni (former chairman of the board and co-CEO) and Chan Sin Wong (former Chief Operating Officer and board director
Work highlights
Representing Cloudera and certain of its officers and directors in a securities class action arising out of Cloudera’s statements about its products’ cloud capabilities and its merger with its former rival, Hortonworks. The California Superior Court granted our motion for summary judgment as to all claims. The federal district court granted our motion to dismiss the second amended complaint, with prejudice. On November 19, 2024, the Ninth Circuit affirmed.
Representing Evolv Technologies and numerous current and former officers and directors in two securities class actions, including one arising out of an accounting restatement and two derivative actions, all pending in the District of Massachusetts.
Representing Canaccord Genuity LLC in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, defending against claims under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and New York state common law alleging a form of market manipulation called “spoofing.”