A partner in the Litigation Department, Caroline Hickey Zalka is one of the country’s leading securities litigators. A trusted adviser to public companies, boards and senior executives, as well as private equity firms, Caroline defends clients in securities class actions and shareholder derivative proceedings, and also frequently handles deal-related litigation and investment management disputes, including acquisition-related, LP/GP and fund-level matters.
Caroline has successfully represented parties in litigation arising from some of the largest mergers of the past decade. She has secured early dismissals in cases involving emerging areas of shareholder litigation and has handled matters through trial and appeal in courts across the country. She also has led multi-week international arbitrations, including one resulting in a nine-figure recovery for a financial institution, and has secured appellate decisions shaping the standards governing federal securities litigation.
In addition to her litigation practice, Caroline advises boards, board committees and senior management on securities law, corporate governance, disclosure and regulatory matters. She has extensive experience conducting internal investigations and handling proceedings involving the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, New York Attorney General’s Office and Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
Caroline has been widely recognized for her accomplishments as a litigator. Chambers USA has repeatedly recognized her for Securities Litigation in New York (2021–2026), with clients describing her as “a brilliant lawyer, not only a great strategist and a great writer, but a very, very commanding personality in an adversarial setting” who “stands out for how she understands the business objectives and how to get there in the least painful way.” Forbes named Caroline one of “America’s Top Lawyers” and “America’s Top Women Lawyers” in 2026, and Women in Business Law Americas Awards honored her as “North America Securities Lawyer of the Year.” Benchmark Litigation listed Caroline as a “Local Litigation Star” in New York for Securities Litigation (2026), while Legal 500 ranked her as a national “Leading Partner” for Securities Litigation: Defense and also recommended her for M&A Litigation: Defense, based on her “incredible practical advice” (2026). Caroline was also named to the 2026 Lawdragon 500 lists for “Leading Lawyers in America,” “Leading Litigators in America” and “Leading Global Litigators.”
Caroline’s significant representations in securities litigation and complex commercial disputes include:
- lululemon athletica, its senior officers and directors in multiple securities, shareholder derivative and consumer class actions, including ongoing securities and related derivative litigation; in securing dismissal of earlier securities litigation concerning product quality and controls; and in securing dismissal of a nationwide greenwashing class action, one of the first such claims tested at the motion to dismiss stage.
- Warner Bros. Discovery in the successful defense of a putative securities class action arising from the $43 billion merger between AT&T’s WarnerMedia and Discovery.
- Digital Currency Group and certain executives in a securities fraud class action arising from an alleged scheme to conceal an impending loss, and in a related action challenging representations concerning a subsidiary’s solvency.
- The Carlyle Group in a material adverse effect dispute in the Delaware Court of Chancery arising from Carlyle’s proposed investment in American Express Global Business Travel, defeating a motion for an expedited trial seeking to compel Carlyle to close the transaction amid COVID-19-related financial turbulence.
- BTG Pactual in securing a $270 million settlement following a multiweek arbitration hearing before a Swiss tribunal in a cross-border dispute arising from its acquisition of a Swiss bank that was later alleged to have served as a conduit for fraud linked to 1MDB.
- JBS USA, the second-largest U.S. poultry producer, in securities class action and shareholder derivative proceedings arising from an alleged industry-wide antitrust conspiracy, and in related appellate litigation before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.
- Sanofi, its Genzyme subsidiary and certain senior executives in federal securities class actions, resulting in a Second Circuit decision interpreting the Supreme Court’s Omnicare standard for opinion liability.
- Her additional representations include Blackstone, Morgan Stanley, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Marathon Digital Holdings, Archstone-Smith, Ascena Retail Group and Aéropostale.
Caroline is a member of the Leadership Advisory Committee of the National Women’s Law Center, with which she submitted an amicus brief to the Sixth Circuit in support of former Ohio State University students who were victims of sexual abuse. She also serves on the board of the New York Legal Assistance Group, one of New York City’s largest legal aid providers.
