Experience Highlights

• Private companies and public issuers in navigating securities-related issues arising from the Trump administration’s Executive Orders.

• National accounting firm in investigations by the SEC and PCAOB involving auditor independence relating to the performance of non-audit services for audit clients and accounting firm entity theories of liability, and voluntary requests for information in SEC sweep of the accounting industry.

• Yelp and three of its senior officers in defeating a 10b-5 securities class action in the Northern District of California arising from allegations related to the company's revision of forward-looking guidance and related disclosures.

• Special board committee of a financial services public company both in conducting an internal investigation involving corporate governance, internal control and financial reporting issues, and in handling related SEC, DOJ, and other regulatory investigations and shareholder litigation.

• Independent directors of American Realty Capital-Retail Centers of America in successful defense of a securities class action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland arising out of the merger of two REITs with combined assets of $3.5 billion.

• JPMorgan Chase in successful defense and appeal of Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower case.

• Dunkin' Brands in investigation, litigation, and favorable settlement of a New York Attorney General’s lawsuit alleging the failure to protect consumer data security and privacy.

• International consulting firm in an SEC investigation in which valuation and disclosure issues of a public issuer client are at issue. 

• Software company in an SEC inquiry stemming from a cyberattack; following multiple attorney proffers, the SEC declined to pursue enforcement action.

• Special committee of the board of directors of a multinational publicly traded financial services company in an internal investigation involving whistleblower issues and breaches of duty relating to AML and fraud compliance. The investigation follows a series of settlements between the company and government regulators, including the state Attorney General, DOJ, and FTC.

• Coherus BioSciences in the strategic acquisition of Surface Oncology and in connection with threatened shareholder litigation concerning merger disclosures.