Litigation heavyweight Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP is well-placed to provide excellent insight to defendant companies in securities class actions. The team integrates trial and appellate specialists at an early stage of the litigation life-cycle, ensuring that it is well-equipped for both trial or appeals, should they arise. This approach notably helped secure a high-profile victory in a rare securities jury trial (subsequently affirmed on appeal) on behalf of Tesla and Elon Musk. New York-based practitioners Andrew Rossman and the ‘incredibly smart’ Jesse Bernstein had a pivotal involvement in the aforementioned case, with Rossman also noted for his broader M&A litigation expertise. The firm’s Los Angeles headquarters also houses numerous high-profile securities litigators, including team head Harry Olivar and the ’exceptional’ Brian Timmons, who is particularly skilled at handling cases involving private investment funds. Michael Swartz joined the team in March 2025 from Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP.
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- Profile
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'The team is top notch. They are extremely knowledgeable securities litigators, but they do not just try to take a playbook and run it every time. They are creative about ways to fight cases, and it resulted in a very favorable dismissal with prejudice for us.'
- 'Jesse Bernstein is incredibly smart, with a great demeanor in dealing with clients and educating them on what can be a complicated area of the law.'
- 'Brian Timmons is exceptional. His superior judgment has proven to be always right. He can understand complex situations, and make the right trade-offs.'
Key clients
- Tesla, Inc., Elon Musk, Brad W. Buss, Robyn Denholm, Ira Ehrenpreis, Antonio J. Gracias, James Murdoch, Kimbal Musk, and Linda Johnson Rice
- Maiden Holdings, Ltd., Arturo M. Raschbaum, Karen L. Schmitt, and John M. Marshaleck
- Mammoth Energy Services, Inc.
- Match Group, Inc., Sharmistha Dubey, Bernard Kim, and Gary Swidler
- Michael Levitt, Michael Trzupek, Denise Sterling, Darin Feinstein, Brian Neville, Jarvis Hollingsworth, Matt Minnis, Stacie Olivares, Kneeland Youngblood, Patrick C. Eilers, Theodore J. Brombach, Paul Gaynor, Paul Dabbar, Colleen Sullivan, and Scott Widham
- Sequoia Capital Operations, LLC and SC US SSF 2013 (TTGP), LLC
- C3.ai, Inc., Tom Siebel, Edward Abbo, David Barter, and Lorenzo Simonelli
- Softbank Entities: SVF Endurance (Cayman) Ltd., SVF Excalibur (Cayman) Ltd., Softbank Vision Fund (AIV M1) LP
- Tesla, Inc., Elon Musk
- Citadel Securities
Work highlights
- Represented Tesla and Elon Musk in a securities class action trial alleging $12bn in losses, obtaining the first complete defense-side victory in a securities class action against a company in over 15 years, which was recently affirmed by the Ninth Circuit on November 6, 2024.
- Obtained summary judgment for Maiden Holdings Arturo M. Raschbaum, Karen L. Schmitt, and John M. Marshaleck in securities class action alleging billions in investor losses from alleged misrepresentations concerning insurance loss reserve.
- Obtained motion to dismiss victory for Match Group, Sharmistha Dubey, Bernard Kim, and Gary Swidler in securities class action alleging misrepresentations concerning Match’s integration of Hyperconnect, which Match acquired for $1.72bn.
Lawyers
Practice head
Harry Olivar
Other key lawyers
Jesse Bernstein; Andrew Rossman; Jonathan Pickhardt; Avi Perry; Brian Timmons; Manisha Sheth; Ellison Ward Merkel; Blair Adams; Valerie Roddy; Heather Christenson; Aly Olson; Michael Swartz