United States (National)

Firm overview

History: Pomerantz is the oldest law firm in the world dedicated to championing investor rights. Founded in 1936 by Abraham Pomerantz, the Firm’s work during the Great Depression to hold corporations accountable helped secure the rights of investors to bring class actions and derivative suits. Today the Firm’s global clients include more than 100 of the most influential public pension funds, asset managers, and private institutions. Honoring its founder’s legacy, the Firm continues to fight for defrauded shareholders while expanding the rights of global investors and championing transparent markets and good corporate governance.

Securities Litigation: Over the past eight decades the Firm has recovered billions of dollars for defrauded investors, with many settlements achieving new records. Notable matters include:

• A $3 billion settlement in litigation against Brazil’s state-run oil company Petrobras, involving an alleged decades-long corruption scheme that ensnared multiple former Brazilian presidents, among many others. The recovery stands as the fifth-largest securities class action settlement ever achieved in the United States (In re Petrobras Securities Litigation).
• A $225 million recovery for the Class in a suit against Comverse Technology, Inc., the second-largest recovery involving the backdating of stock options (In re Comverse Technology, Inc. Securities Litigation).
• A $110 million settlement with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. that opened new avenues for discovery in securities litigation (Pirnik v. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V., et al.).
• A $74 million settlement for investors in Arconic, whose insulation panels were implicated in the June 2017 fire at Grenfell Tower in London (Howard v. Arconic et al.).

A Tradition of Innovation: Pomerantz is a recognized leader in developing novel legal theories to address the evolving juridical, social, and corporate landscape. For example, the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Morrison v. National Australia Bank, Ltd (2010) barred investors in foreign securities from using U.S. courts to seek recovery. In the years since, Pomerantz has worked to win back these rights on behalf of investors. In a series of individual cases arising out of the 2010 BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill, Pomerantz convinced the court to allow, for the very first time post-Morrison, both U.S. and foreign investors seeking recovery for losses in a foreign company’s foreign-traded securities to do so in a U.S. court. In a securities class action against the global pharmaceutical company Perrigo Co., the Firm’s ground-breaking legal arguments led the U.S. court, for the first time since the Morrison decision, to certify a foreign purchaser class. Both decisions have significant precedential value, expanding the options available for domestic and foreign investors seeking recovery in cases of securities fraud.

Portfolio Monitoring: PomTrack®, the Firm’s proprietary portfolio monitoring system, tracks and evaluates suspicious market activity, as well as securities and antitrust class actions and settlements, covering both domestic and international events. This system empowers investment plan fiduciaries to fulfill their duty to preserve investments by quickly identifying fund losses that may have been caused by financial misconduct. Comprising attorneys, forensic economists, damages analysts, paralegals, and support staff, the PomTrack® team monitors assets valued at over $9 trillion, making it one of the largest systems of its kind in the U.S. 

ESG: Pomerantz partners are pioneering securities litigation as a means to address 21st century ESG concerns. The Firm achieved a settlement with Deutsche Bank AG that recoups nearly 50% of estimated damages for investors in a case alleging that the bank failed to adhere to its own due diligence policies for certain high-worth clients, including convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Pomerantz also recently won class certification in its case against Wynn Resorts Ltd., which alleges that former CEO Steve Wynn engaged in egregious sexual misconduct against the company’s female employees, while the company and its directors simultaneously covered up his behavior, assuring investors of the company’s commitment to high ethical standards. 

Corporate Governance: In addition to addressing corporate governance via securities litigation, the Firm’s Corporate Governance Practice Group has achieved significant corporate governance reform at numerous major corporations through shareholder derivative lawsuits. Areas of interest include workers’ health and safety, environmental compliance, pay and gender equity, excess executive compensation, and addressing corporate transactions that result in an unfair price for shareholders. 

Education: Pomerantz partners frequently speak on corporate governance at conferences around the world, and the Firm regularly hosts Corporate Governance Roundtables for institutional investors. The Firm also publishes The Pomerantz Monitor, a bi-monthly journal of attorney-authored articles on securities litigation, corporate governance, and related regulatory and government policies. 

Updated Sep 2023

Firm overview

WilmerHale is a leading, full-service international law firm with more than 1,100 lawyers located throughout 13 offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. Our lawyers work at the intersection of government, technology and business, and we remain committed to our guiding principles of:

• providing quality, world-class legal and client services;
• developing diversity among our lawyers and staff;
• fostering an environment that promotes an entrepreneurial spirit, collaboration and collegiality by drawing on the exceptional talents and varied experience of our lawyers;
• encouraging lawyers and staff to perform public service and give back to the community through pro bono work, government service, service to the bar, teaching, and supporting public institutions and charitable organizations; and
• hiring and retaining exceptionally talented lawyers who possess the common trait of outstanding academic and personal achievements.

Litigation & Trial:

Our lawyers have played an integral role in many of the most significant cases across the globe over the past several years, including internal and governmental investigations; patent, copyright and trademark cases; regulatory, government and public policy disputes; securities class action lawsuits; and federal and state appellate cases. Clients rely on our strong understanding of their industries and business goals, pragmatic and clear advice—even in the midst of complicated issues, complex legal and regulatory regimes, and high-stakes decisions—and ability to deliver practical solutions to realworld problems. Our cases and achievements cut across the litigation spectrum, and we have experience across industries, including aviation; bankruptcy and commercial; communications; defense and national security; government contracts; energy, environment and natural resources; financial institutions; labor and employment; technology; and trade.

WilmerHale’s elite lineup of intensely smart, battle-tested litigators can face down any adversary in the courtroom and win. We combine a mastery of proven trial techniques with the intellectual depth to tackle the most novel and complex legal challenges. A client may face an intractable issue that requires pushing the law into new territory. A verdict may turn on the ability to make the most arcane technology compelling to a judge or jury. An individual company officer may need a winning defense in a first-of-its-kind prosecution. In trial after landmark trial, our gift for strategy and our ability to draw cogent themes and narratives from even the most impenetrable facts and points of law have won us countless victories. And the way we win has brought us the respect of judges, juries, clients and competitors across the United States and internationally.

Related Solutions:

• Antitrust Litigation
• Appellate and Supreme Court Litigation
• Class Actions
• Commercial Litigation
• Construction and Infrastructure
• Consumer Protection Defense and Compliance
• Environmental Litigation and Mass Torts
• Government and Regulatory Litigation
• Intellectual Property Litigation
• International Arbitration
• International Litigation
• Investigations
• Native American Law
• Securities Litigation
• State Attorneys General
• Trials
• White Collar Defense and Investigations
• WilmerHale Discovery Solutions

Locations:

• Beijing
• Berlin
• Boston
• Brussels
• Dayton
• Denver
• Frankfurt
• London
• Los Angeles
• New York
• Palo Alto
• San Francisco
• Washington DC

Please visit our website at wilmerhale.com to learn more about the firm.

Updated Sep 2024

Firm overview

A&O Shearman distinguishes itself by harnessing the intellectual strength and deep experience of its lawyers across its extensive global footprint. The firm represents many of the world’s leading corporations, financial institutions, emerging growth companies, governments, and state-owned enterprises. Those clients, in turn, continue to choose A&O Shearman for its ability to leverage the knowledge and judgment of one of the world’s largest and most accomplished cross-border legal teams—a team ideally situated to help clients on their complex business transactions.

Our lawyers have vast experience litigating, arbitrating, investigating, and resolving disputes across multiple jurisdictions. We have the depth of experience and breadth of knowledge to assist in any significant dispute, having served as counsel in high-stakes, complex cases for some of the world’s most recognizable companies. We focus on meeting our clients’ goals, whether litigating a matter through trial and appeal or negotiating a business resolution. We understand our clients’ immediate and long-term needs and consistently deliver successful results.

In an increasingly volatile world, our understanding of the different legal and political landscapes in which our clients operate drives our approach to dispute resolution. We provide our clients with sophisticated risk-management counsel, and trial-tested teams with a track record of success, who are ready to litigate aggressively to defend our clients’ interests at all costs.

A&O Shearman has experience in a wide range of substantive areas including:

Securities Litigation:
Our securities litigation practice is a core component of our market-leading litigation group. With a deep bench of attorneys focusing on this area of law, we are ready to handle any securities dispute. Through years of success, we have become the go-to counsel for numerous public companies and financial institutions, as well as their officers and directors. We recognize that every securities matter is also a business matter. Each case can potentially pose a significant threat, and – if not handled with the appropriate care and sensitivity – can cause major reputational and financial risks.

White Collar Defense and Global Investigations:
Our preeminent white-collar defense and global investigations practice takes a holistic, coordinated approach to navigating our clients through criminal, regulatory and internal investigations. We have both local depth and global reach, and the majority of our work is cross-border. We bring a deep understanding of the laws of different jurisdictions and investigation practices across the globe, bolstered by the experience and insights from the more than 20 former prosecutors and regulators on our team.

Antitrust Litigation:
Our global antitrust team advises corporates, private equity and financial institutions on their most significant transactions, investigations, and litigation. The breadth and scale of our U.S., U.K., and EU practice together with our global network and industry knowledge makes us uniquely placed to advise on complex multijurisdictional matters involving parallel proceedings and inter-agency co-operation.

M&A Litigation:
We have unparalleled expertise in representing major international companies, investment banks, private equity firms, boards of directors, special committees, and other parties involved in high-stakes transactional litigation. We advise on all aspects of M&A disputes, from pre-deal due diligence, risk assessment and mitigation to post-closing claims and remedies, and shareholder disputes. Our deep expertise in M&A litigation across the globe, including in the Delaware Court of Chancery and state and federal courts across the U.S., distinguishes us in the market.

Complex Commercial Litigation:
We have represented corporations, partnerships, joint ventures, and other entities in a variety of business-related disputes relating to breach of contract, fraud, professional malpractice, business torts, and insurance and reinsurance matters.

Intellectual Property Litigation:
We represent the world’s leading businesses, helping them to invest in and protect their critical intellectual property as well as defending them when plaintiffs allege that they have violated intellectual property rights. Whether developing, acquiring, registering, licensing, or enforcing IP rights – or defending against alleged IP violations – we help our clients to navigate the legal and commercial challenges they face globally.

Employment Litigation:
We handle disputes arising from terminations, team moves, whistleblowing, and trade-restraint matters, as well as allegations of misconduct, discrimination and harassment. We have a track record of delivering successful outcomes whether via obtaining or defending injunctions, resolving claims through mediation or arbitration, or litigating in court or before employment tribunals.

Cybersecurity:
We help multinational organizations identify, mitigate, and manage cyber threats. We work with our clients to build their operational resilience and cyber-readiness with robust, tailored compliance programs and governance processes, which address both their own risks and those posed by their supply chain partners.

Arbitration:
We have decades of experience advising and representing clients in complex cross-border commercial arbitrations and investor-state disputes under the rules of all the leading institutions. We are known for our skill in arbitration-related court proceedings - including multijurisdictional enforcement strategies - ensuring we can take cases from inception to their ultimate conclusion. We also regularly advise on complex issues of public international law.

Updated July 2024

Firm overview

A National and International Litigation Practice: We have represented clients in some of the world’s largest and most complex disputes, including domestic and cross-border deal litigation, corporate governance disputes, white collar and regulatory defense, commercial litigation, securities litigation, bankruptcy litigation, complex settlements, appeals, and arbitration. Our litigators have a long history of handling cutting-edge merger litigation, including many of the most significant takeover defense battles in history. We are called upon to play a central role in high stakes and high profile matters generally, including litigation related to the tragic events of 9/11, the recent financial crisis, and other litigations with fundamental consequences for our clients. We also assist our clients with sensitive internal and law enforcement investigations. In addition, our litigators engage in significant pro bono activity at both the trial and appellate court levels, write and speak in areas of expertise, and teach at the nation’s top law schools.

Our Approach to Litigation: A tight-knit group of approximately 75 lawyers, we approach each matter with intensity, thoroughness and creativity and build teams appropriate to the circumstances. We approach our clients’ legal issues within the larger framework of their strategic, business, and financial goals. We specialize in matters that require careful attention, tested experience, and a high degree of expertise. We handle litigation at all stages, from pre-suit counseling and investigations through trials and appeals. Engagements undertaken by the Firm are at all times afforded the direct personal attention of partners possessing relevant expertise. Our approach is to achieve the best result for the client as quickly as possible. We regularly take cases to trial and win before judges, arbitrators and juries. But we also know when it makes sense to settle, and we have structured some of the largest and most complex litigation settlements to date.

Takeover and Merger Litigation: We are known for trendsetting takeover, transactional, and corporate governance litigation. We litigated the Revlon, Household, and other cases in the 1980s that set the doctrinal framework for all subsequent deal litigation. And the Firm continues to lead in the area — year after year, Wachtell Lipton handles the most important corporate governance and takeover cases in the nation, from the seminal case Corwin v. KKR Financial, which recognized the merger ratification defense to the successful Airgas trial (in which the court reaffirmed the “poison pill” takeover defense against a generation of attack) to the successful Vulcan trial (in which the Firm secured an unprecedented order enjoining a hostile takeover bid) to the successful Sotheby’s defense of the company’s shareholder rights plan against an activist investor attack; to Allergan’s closely watched takeover battle with Valeant and Pershing Square, resulting in a groundbreaking preliminary injunction that set new federal precedent against unfair tactics in takeover bids. Other leading merger cases the firm has litigated include: Paramount Communications, Inc. v. Time, Inc.; Paramount Communications, Inc. v. QVC Network, Inc.; and IBP, Inc. v. Tyson Foods. In recent years, our litigators also have led the charge against appraisal arbitrage litigation, securing post-trial victories in the appraisals of Ancestry.com, SWS Group, PetSmart, and AOL. And we have been the thought leaders behind innovative corporate litigation developments in books-and-records suits and stockholder forum-selection bylaws.

Complex Commercial and Securities Litigation: Our approach to complex commercial and securities litigation also exemplifies our focus on fresh thinking and creative solutions and the fact that we are called upon to handle some of the nation’s biggest and most complex cases. We represented National Australia Bank in the landmark Morrison case, in which the United States Supreme Court held that Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act and SEC Rule 10b-5 apply only to purchases and sales of securities in the United States. The decision overturned 40 years of lower-court precedent and eradicated a burgeoning species of securities litigation (so-called “foreign-cubed” and “foreign-squared” class actions) along with billions of dollars in potential liability for foreign securities issuers. We successfully defended Goldman Sachs in Baker v. Goldman Sachs, a five-week jury trial in federal court in which co-founders and major shareholders of a speech-recognition software company, Dragon Systems, were challenging Goldman’s investment banking advice and seeking over half a billion dollars in damages. We helped Bank of America contain its mortgage exposures arising from the financial crisis, including by negotiating Bank of America’s landmark $8.5 billion settlement of claims involving more than 500 trusts for mortgage-backed securities issued by Countrywide and in resolving multibillion dollar claims arising from the foreclosure crisis with the federal government and 49 state attorneys general. Following the tragic events of 9/11, we were called upon to represent the leaseholder of the World Trade Center in two jury trials with its property insurers that ultimately helped it secure enough money to rebuild the site. And we continue to represent Philip Morris USA in arbitrations and litigation that have arisen under the landmark 1998 settlement between the major tobacco companies and 52 states and territories. Wachtell Lipton previously had the lead role structuring and negotiating this more than $200 billion settlement.

Bankruptcy and Restructuring Litigation: We have a long and successful record representing major parties in litigation relating to bankruptcy cases and other debt-related issues. We have represented major companies in the successful defense of actions brought by bankruptcy trustees and creditors. We represented JPMorgan Chase in: (1) the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, where the Firm obtained summary judgment dismissing $8.6 billion of estate claims; (2) the Bernard Madoff liquidation, where the Firm obtained dismissal of claims by the trustee seeking $18 billion in damages; and (3) the General Motors bankruptcy, where we successfully defended the bank at trial from fraudulent transfer claims seeking $1.5 billion. We represented Campbell Soup at trial and on appeal in defeating a fraudulent transfer challenge to the spin-off of Vlasic Pickles. On behalf of Education Management, the Firm defeated an attempt to enjoin the company’s $1.5 billion restructuring and won a precedent-setting appeal from a judgment under the Trust Indenture Act. We have represented private equity firms, hedge funds, and other clients in significant contested matters arising in chapter 11 cases, including Toys “R” Us and Energy Future Holdings. We also represent companies in defending litigation and default claims by activist debtholders.

White-Collar and Regulatory Enforcement: We have a leading white-collar criminal and regulatory practice. We have represented major financial institutions and multinational corporations, as well as their boards of directors and senior executives, in a broad range of the most complex and typically high-profile white-collar criminal and regulatory enforcement matters, both nationally and internationally. In the past few years alone, our litigators have handled both U.S. and foreign governmental investigations focusing on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, criminal tax evasion, criminal transfer pricing, the False Claims Act, insider trading, securities fraud, accounting fraud, criminal antitrust, and export control violations. In addition, we regularly represent boards, audit committees, and special committees charged with conducting special investigations in response to whistleblowers or governmental inquiries.

Updated Sep 2023