Litigation

Securities Litigation

High-stakes securities litigation demands the attention of sophisticated counsel experienced with civil and criminal proceedings, internal investigations, and SEC and other federal and state regulatory actions. The outcomes of these cases can be vital to you and your company’s future.

Our team has an extraordinary record of success representing clients in securities class actions, derivative suits, litigation, and SEC or other regulatory investigations and enforcement proceedings. As a firm that has tried and won securities cases, we will not hesitate to take a case to trial when it is necessary and in your best interest. We believe that our reputation as excellent trial attorneys helps to force settlements on terms that are very favorable to our clients. 

As our track record demonstrates, we take an aggressive and cost-effective approach to defending securities suits by seeking dismissal as early as possible to avoid expensive and time-consuming discovery. In a number of cases, we succeeded in persuading plaintiffs to withdraw their claims even before the court issued a decision.

Quick Facts

  • Significant trial experience
  • National reputation as lead defense counsel in handling securities class actions, government investigations relating to allegations of financial misconduct, and regulatory enforcement proceedings
  • Successful track record resolving complex claims in parallel proceedings
  • Deep experience representing companies, directors and officers, special committees, investment advisors, funds, and broker-dealers with securities-related concerns
  • $3+ billion recovered for clients through our unique Institutional Investor Class Action Recovery Practice

Areas of Focus

  • Broker-dealer issues
  • Class actions
  • Complex derivatives issues
  • Contested mergers and acquisitions
  • Corporate compliance
  • Corporate control disputes
  • Financial fraud
  • Gifts and gratuities

Rankings & Recognitions

  • Attorneys recognized by Chambers USA, Benchmark Litigation, Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers, and Ethisphere Institute's Attorneys Who Matter
Sort by: Name  Title  Office

Eoin P. Beirne

Eoin P. Beirne

Associate

Boston

617.348.1707

Robert I. Bodian

Robert I. Bodian

Managing Member

Boston
New York

212.692.6726

Peter A. Chavkin

Peter A. Chavkin

Member

New York
Stamford
Washington, DC

212.692.6231

Michael F. Connolly

Michael F. Connolly

Member

Boston

617.348.4448

John M. Delehanty

John M. Delehanty

Member

New York

212.692.6703

Francis J. Earley

Francis J. Earley

Member

New York

212.692.6230

Steve Ganis

Steve Ganis

Of Counsel

Boston

617.348.1672

Seth R. Goldman

Seth R. Goldman

Member

New York

212.692.6845

Jerome Gotkin

Jerome Gotkin

Member

Boston
New York

212.692.6712

Narges M. Kakalia

Narges M. Kakalia

Member

New York

212.692.6215

Breton Leone-Quick

Breton Leone-Quick

Member

Boston

617.348.4832

Joseph D. Lipchitz

Joseph D. Lipchitz

Member

Boston

617.348.3030

John S. Terry McMahon III

John S. "Terry" McMahon III

Associate

New York

212.692.6855

Andowah A. Newton

Andowah A. Newton

Associate

New York

212.692.6848

A. W. Chip Phinney III, PhD

A. W. "Chip" Phinney III, PhD

Member

Boston

617.348.3061

Dominic J. Picca

Dominic J. Picca

Member

New York

212.692.6859

R. Robert Popeo

R. Robert Popeo

Chairman

Boston

617.348.1716

Peter M. Saparoff

Peter M. Saparoff

Member

Boston

617.348.1725

Laurence A. Schoen

Laurence A. Schoen

Member

Boston

617.348.1764

Jessica C. Sergi

Jessica C. Sergi

Associate

Boston

617.348.1766

Jonathan A. Shapiro

Jonathan A. Shapiro

Member

Boston
San Francisco

415.432.6116

Adam L. Sisitsky

Adam L. Sisitsky

Member

Boston

617.348.1689

John F. Sylvia

John F. Sylvia

Member

Boston

617.348.1820

Michael J. Ticcioni

Michael J. Ticcioni

Associate

Boston

617.348.3035

Aaron M. Tidman

Aaron M. Tidman

Associate

Washington, DC

202.434.7392

McKenzie E. Webster

McKenzie E. Webster

Associate

Boston

617.210.6856

Alec Zadek

Alec Zadek

Associate

Boston

617.348.4434

Representative Experience

  • Successfully represented a former employee of a pre-eminent financial services industry firm charged by the SEC with violations of the securities laws in connection with the firm's sale of funds invested in subprime securities. Our team tried the case for three weeks in March 2011 before the SEC’s Chief Administrative Law Judge, who ruled in favor of our client on all charges.
  • Represented a company and its officers and directors in shareholder derivative litigation in Massachusetts and the Delaware Court of Chancery. The shareholder class challenged the sale of the company alleging that the officers and directors breached their fiduciary duties in not securing a better sale price. We successfully closed the transaction and plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed the complaint after oral argument on our motion to dismiss.
  • Represented a biotech company and the company’s directors in two shareholders derivative cases (filed in New Jersey and the Delaware Court of Chancery) alleging breach of fiduciary duty and a federal class action alleging breach of fiduciary duty and violation of Section 14 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 arising out of a pending acquisition of the company. Once our client announced the transaction, plaintiffs sued seeking to enjoin the transaction. We opposed the preliminary injunction in Delaware and won at both the trial and appellate levels. We successfully moved to stay the New Jersey state action. The New Jersey federal plaintiff voluntarily dismissed his complaint after receipt of our motion to dismiss papers.
  • After a lengthy SEC investigation with respect to a public company’s financials (which were restated after a Special Committee investigation), we achieved a settlement for the public company that did not require the payment of any penalty. We also represented the CEO who had provided Sarbanes-Oxley Certifications of the initial financial statements and who also signed various representation letters to the auditors. Because of the Wells submission made on behalf of the CEO, while the SEC’s complaint named the company and other individuals as defendants, it did not name our client, the CEO.
  • Successfully persuaded the Commission not to follow the staff’s recommendations for an enforcement action against our clients, an investment advisor and its principal.
  • The SEC charged our client, a former CEO of a semiconductor company, with securities fraud related to alleged stock options backdating. The US Attorney’s Office simultaneously unsealed an indictment charging our client with criminal tax evasion relating to the same stock option exercises challenged by the SEC, and civil plaintiffs brought, on behalf of the company where our client served as CEO, a short-swing insider trading liability case against him in federal court in Delaware. After extensive pretrial briefings and hearings — followed by a six-week jury trial — the jury acquitted our client in the criminal case.
  • Won a jury verdict defending a global public biotechnology company in a $68 million securities fraud class action suit. In the pretrial phase, Mintz Levin obtained dismissal of the majority of the plaintiffs’ claims. After an eight-day trial, the jury needed just three hours to reach a verdict completely absolving both the company and its chairman of any wrongdoing. The National Law Journal featured the victory as one of the top defense verdicts in the country.
  • Obtained a defense jury verdict representing the officers of a high-tech company accused of fraud in a Section 10(b) case arising from a complex PIPE transaction.
  • A technology company and its officers, directors, and outside accountants were sued under federal securities laws, and we represented the accounting firm in the matter. The crux of the plaintiffs’ claims focused on inappropriate accounting practices. Because the company was financially troubled, the plaintiffs and the company reached a prompt settlement, intending to leave our client with the lion's share of the exposure. We stepped in, blocked the settlement, and forced the parties to come back to the table to work out a settlement that included our client and ensured that the accountants were not funding the bulk of the settlement.
  • We represented the chairman and majority shareholder of a technology company sued under the federal securities laws. The plaintiffs claimed that the company had improperly booked revenues on contingent sales, and the company could not survive protracted litigation. The chairman, the only deep-pocketed defendant (other than the accountants), was adamantly opposed to any settlement that involved payment of any money. Given these constraints, and utilizing a series of presentations concerning the company’s financial condition and the value of the technology, we were able to convince the plaintiffs’ counsel to accept a settlement consisting primarily of stock and warrants. In addition, we were able to secure a settlement for the chairman in which he paid the plaintiffs no money
  • Regularly represent several major mutual fund complexes, as well as a variety of investment advisors, in evaluating and participating in settlements. Our clients have thus far received in excess of $3 billion from these settlements.
  • Won a significant jury verdict in favor of a high-profile and well-known investment manager, who had been sued for securities fraud under the Massachusetts Uniform Securities Act. At the end of a two-week trial, the jury found our client had made no misrepresentation in connection with an investment in a hedge fund.
  • In a case featured in the National Law Journal as one of the top defense verdicts in the country in that year, we obtained a defendant’s verdict for our client and the client’s CEO, in the only securities class action case tried to a jury verdict in Boston in over 10 years.

Who We Serve

  • Publicly traded companies
  • Companies looking to publicly list
  • Corporate officers and directors
  • Issuers, auditors, and underwriters
  • Investment banks, mutual funds, broker-dealers, hedge funds
  • Investment advisors
  • Special committees

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