Securities Litigation
Paul, Weiss’s Securities Litigation group is widely recognized as one of the preeminent practices in the country. Combining extraordinary securities law expertise with formidable courtroom skills, our lawyers have guided many of the world's leading corporations, financial institutions, boards and executives through bet-the-company securities crises, reducing or eliminating the most damaging claims and negotiating favorable resolutions. From the outset of each matter, we develop creative, leverage-maximizing strategies that position our clients to achieve complete dismissal or, where appropriate, a favorable settlement—and we have repeatedly delivered those results.
Leading industry publications, including The American Lawyer, Law360 and Benchmark Litigation, have repeatedly recognized our achievements in the field, naming the practice a Securities Litigation Group of the Year and Class Actions Group of the Year on numerous occasions. We maintain the highest nationwide rankings from Chambers USA, The Legal 500 US and U.S. News Best Law Firms for both Securities Litigation and Securities Regulation, with Chambers recently lauding the group’s “unparalleled expertise in handling bet-the-company securities litigation.”
We defend clients across the full spectrum of securities-related challenges, including shareholder class actions, derivative suits, suits by large institutional investors, investment partnership disputes, government enforcement actions and securities opt-out claims. We handle cases at every stage, from motions to dismiss through trial, and have litigated under every major provision of federal and state securities laws. We also regularly appear before domestic and international arbitration bodies in securities-related matters. Our work has helped shaped precedent in this area.
We help issuers navigate complex litigation arising from public offerings, earnings disclosures, restatements and other adverse corporate developments; represent underwriters facing liability claims for registration statement disclosures; individual board members and executive officers targeted in securities suits; and non-U.S. issuers managing cross-border crisis situations where U.S. securities litigation accompanies international regulatory matters.
Our experience gives our clients an edge both in the courtroom and at the settlement table. We are skilled trial lawyers and strategists; we have tried a number of multibillion-dollar securities cases to verdict, collectively reducing our clients’ liability by scores of billions of dollars, and adversaries know that we are prepared to try cases. The team includes former federal prosecutors, skilled securities trial lawyers and other attorneys who have devoted their careers to the defense of securities litigations and enforcement matters.
“A dominant securities litigation practice that attracts leading financial institutions, alongside multinational corporates from a breadth of industries.”
- Chambers USA
Recent
Experience
Recognition
Benchmark Litigation: Securities Firm of the Year
- Ranked Band 1 in Securities Litigation by Chambers USA since 2005.
- Law360: Securities Group of the Year (2014-2017, 2020)
- Ranked Tier 1 by The Legal 500 US in Securities Litigation: Defense
Recent Engagements
- American International Group (AIG) in the successful settlement of a securities class action and derivative lawsuits seeking over $20 billion in damages related to allegations of anticompetitive market division, accounting violations and stock price manipulation under a former AIG CEO.
- Amazon.com, Inc. and several current and former executives in securing the dismissal, with prejudice, of a putative securities class action over its relationship with third-party sellers and the pace of growth in Amazon’s fulfillment distribution network.
- Coinbase Global in multiple separate putative class actions concerning the listing of certain algorithmic stablecoins, including in winning a motion to compel arbitration and stay a class action alleging that Coinbase and a subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate GMO Internet Group promoted the stablecoin GYEN as pegged one-to-one in value to the Japanese yen; and a class action alleging that Coinbase misrepresented the nature and stability of algorithmic stablecoin UST.
- Exxon Mobil Corporation and certain of its former executives in securities and ERISA litigation regarding statements about the company’s oil reserves, including in substantially defeating a class certification motion in a long-running putative federal securities class action alleging that the company made a series of false and misleading statements that artificially inflated the company’s stock price, costing stockholders billions of dollars.
- General Motors in securing the full dismissal of a securities class action over alleged misstatements and other conduct related to the autonomous vehicle technology of GM’s subsidiary Cruise LLC.
- Goldman Sachs Group as co-lead counsel in a billion-dollar, long-running securities class action filed in the wake of a 2010 SEC action alleging that Goldman Sachs helped a client short a collateralized debt obligation that the bank was simultaneously selling to customers, ultimately losing those customers $1 billion. After securing an important U.S. Supreme Court decision, Paul Weiss won a major victory at the Second Circuit when the panel unanimously reversed certification of the investor class action and instructed the district court to decertify the class. The plaintiffs subsequently declined a last chance to appeal Goldman’s resounding appellate win and voluntarily dismissed their case, bringing a decade of hard-fought litigation to a close.
- The outside directors of JPMorgan Chase in securing the dismissal of multiple separate shareholder derivative lawsuits, including a lawsuit stemming from the bank’s 2020 resolutions with various regulators over various financial “spoofing” trading violations; a lawsuit asserting breach of fiduciary duty claims in connection with the bank’s prior relationship with former client Jeffrey Epstein; and a lawsuit asserting breach of fiduciary duty claims and alleging that the directors ignored alleged “red flags” regarding purported violations on the Zelle payments platform of the EFTA and related regulations.
- Kirkland Lake Gold and its former CEO in defeating class certification and winning summary judgment in a putative securities fraud class action arising from alleged misrepresentations about its strategy for future acquisitions of gold mining companies.
- The Kraft Heinz Company and certain current or former Kraft Heinz officers and directors in multiple lawsuits arising from the company's financial performance and cost-cutting efforts, which resulted in a $15.4 billion non-cash impairment charge and a steep decline in its stock price. Paul, Weiss obtained the dismissal of a federal consolidated stockholder derivative action, the dismissal of an ERISA class action, the dismissal of a Delaware consolidated demand-refused stockholder derivative action, the dismissal of a Delaware stockholder derivative action challenging a $1.2 billion stock sale by 3G Capital affiliates, which was upheld on appeal by the Delaware Supreme Court, and the dismissal, with prejudice, of a Delaware stockholder lawsuit seeking to reopen claims related to the $1.2 billion stock sale.
- Merck & Co.:
- along with its former subsidiary Medco Health Solutions, Inc. and five of the company’s officers and directors in securing the dismissal with prejudice, affirmed on appeal, of a securities class action and derivative action alleging the misstatement of company revenues by billions of dollars;
- in the successful resolution of SEC and DOJ investigations, class action and individual shareholder lawsuits arising from the sale, marketing and voluntary withdrawal of Vioxx. After four years, the SEC closed its investigation into the company’s public disclosures concerning the drug without taking any action. The DOJ investigation, class action and individual shareholder suits favorably settled thereafter; and
- along with Schering-Plough and certain of the companies’ current or former directors and officers in several securities, derivative, ERISA and opt-out complaints arising out of Merck’s cholesterol-lowering drug Vytorin. Paul, Weiss settled the main action before trial and obtained dismissal of the securities fraud claims asserted in the opt-out cases
- NextEra Energy, Inc., the world’s largest public utility company, and certain current and former executives in a putative securities class action alleging misstatements about the political activities of Florida Power and Light (FPL) and its former outside political consulting firm.
- Restaurant Brands International (RBI), 3G Capital, and certain of their executives and board members in the dismissal on appeal of a ’33 Act securities class action in New York state court alleging that the company misrepresented and/or failed to disclose that several Tim Hortons initiatives were not having a positive impact on sales in the quarter of the offerings. The New York Supreme Court Appellate Division directed the Supreme Court to enter judgment dismissing the complaint after unanimously reversing the order denying RBI’s motion to dismiss.
- Riskified, Ltd., a fraud detection company, and its officers and directors in securing the dismissal, with prejudice, of a putative securities class action based on purported omissions and misleading statements issued in connection with Riskified’s IPO, specifically alleging that its IPO registration statement failed to disclose that it had been taking on riskier customers with higher chargeback rates which allegedly led to lower gross profit margins.
- Snap, Inc. and several of its directors and executives in the favorable resolution, following three motions to dismiss, of a securities class action in the Central District of California concerning Snap’s preparation for Apple’s rollout of new privacy changes.
- Teladoc Health, Inc. and certain current and former executives and directors in:
- the dismissal of a securities lawsuit in the Southern District of New York concerning Teladoc’s integration with Livongo Health following its merger;
- the dismissal of a securities class action in New York Supreme Court alleging that the registration statement and prospectus issued in connection with Teladoc’s merger with Livongo Health contained material misstatements and omissions about Teladoc’s potential membership growth after the merger; and
- the dismissal of a securities class action and related shareholder derivative action in the Southern District of New York arising out of alleged misconduct by the company’s former CFO.
