Our Securities Litigation Practice handles a broad spectrum of securities actions arising under the federal and state securities laws, as well as litigating securities-related issues arising under other statutory and regulatory schemes and rules, such as the Bankruptcy Code and FINRA rules. We regularly handle securities matters in multiple forums, respond to SEC inquiries and investigations, and other regulatory matters, including enforcement proceedings.
We have been retained to represent numerous public and private corporations and business entities, their directors, partners, officers, principals, and employees, as well as broker-dealers, financial institutions, registered representatives, and other individuals in connection with securities litigation matters. Our matters include the following representative areas of dispute: defense of shareholder class action and derivative lawsuits based on claims of fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and other securities or regulatory violations; defense in complex parallel proceedings in multiple forums based on securities fraud claims; merger, acquisition and proxy-contest related claims; actions arising from the sale of limited partnership interests; SEC inquiries, investigations and enforcement actions; internal investigations; defense of broker-dealers and their representatives in actions and arbitrations commenced by customers, former employees, representatives or competitors, including injunction, raiding and restrictive covenant cases under FINRA rules; and defense of FINRA disciplinary and enforcement proceedings. In addition to financial institutions, we represent clients in securities-related litigation from a wide span of industries, including pharmaceutical, biotech, software, real estate, retail and technology. We also have advised boards of directors and special committees in investigations of shareholder demands, accounting-related issues and other corporate governance matters that raise possible securities issues or violations.
We draw upon our litigators’ breadth of securities and business experience as well as the knowledge of our corporate securities attorneys. At Morrison Cohen, we recognize that each securities litigation presents its own challenges and must be evaluated based upon its relevant facts and issues, the risks and exposures, the client’s concerns and goals and other factors that may impact the cost, timing and ability to achieve the client’s goals. In collaboration with our clients, we seek early on to develop an integrated, comprehensive and fundamentally grounded strategy to achieve the litigation goals. We then seek the best means to implement the strategy, while maintaining the flexibility to refine or alter the strategy where circumstances warrant.
Our proactive client communication and collaboration continues, and benefits from our experience, at all stages of the litigation, from early motions to dismiss to summary judgment motions, trials and appeals. At each stage, we actively consider with our client alternative dispute resolution routes, settlement possibilities, and other cost effective means of resolving the dispute.
