Hall of Fame
The lawyers at the very top of the profession, widely known and respected by peers and clients for their longstanding involvement in market-leading work.
Robert H. Baron has handled major commercial cases brought as individual and class actions in federal and state courts, including the representation of major domestic and foreign issuers and financial institutions in litigation related to securities offerings and trading, complex structured financing transactions and mergers and acquisitions.
Sandra has a broad practice, with a particular focus on securities, M&A and commercial disputes. Recently, she has represented clients in litigation relating to more than 30 transactions with a cumulative value of $500 billion+, and she has secured numerous pretrial wins, including a major summary judgment victory in a multibillion-dollar securities class action. Sandra frequently argues as lead courtroom counsel, winning over a dozen favorable decisions after oral argument before trial and appellate courts. Since 2020, she has defended over 20 major companies, including 3G, ArcLight Capital Partners, Constellation Brands, GrubHub, Honeywell, Taubman Centers, and Xerox, in more than 30 lawsuits filed across the country. Recent wins include: for Pitney Bowes, argued and won precedent-setting PSLRA discovery stay, the first defense attorney to do so in over two decades, and then case dismissal. Also won motions to dismiss for: the Murdochs and Fox Corporation of shareholder derivative suit over $73B Walt Disney merger; Six Flags and ArcLight Capital of securities class actions in Texas and New York; Amcor and Bemis of SDNY class action relating to $6.8B merger.
Partner focusing on M&A, securities, and derivative litigations. M&A representations include private equity transactions involving KKR, such as Del Monte, Gardner Denver, and HCA, as well as strategic transactions involving Change Healthcare, First Data, GGP, Microsoft, Convey Health, Tyco, CorpBanca, Eaton, Xerox, and Mars. Securities and derivative representations including Dollar General, Fairfield Greenwich in Madoff-related matters, TD Bank in Stanford-related matters, Envision, Ubiquiti Networks, and PAAMCO Prisma in Kentucky pension litigation.
Partner and Co-Head of Securities and Shareholder Litigation
Morris Nichols partner Ken Nachbar focuses on cases involving mergers and acquisitions, control contests, shareholder class and derivative actions, and contractual disputes. He advises corporate clients and boards of directors with respect to litigation and transactional matters including structuring of corporate transactions, defensive mechanisms and representation of special negotiating committees and special litigation committees. As both lead and co-counsel, Ken has litigated many of the seminal cases involving Delaware corporate law. He has also advised special committees of the boards of companies. For more, visit his bio at https://www.morrisnichols.com/lawyers-kenneth-j-nachbar.
Yosef Riemer is a litigation partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, which was named "Litigation Department of the Year" by The American Lawyer. He has extensive experience as lead trial and appellate counsel for a broad group of clients, handling their most significant disputes including: breach of contract claims; antitrust cases; litigation over M&A and corporate control matters; securities, fraud and class action litigation; trade secret cases; RICO actions; and contested restructuring matters. He has achieved consistently strong results, whether by winning litigation on pretrial motions, in victories at trial in Federal and State courts and before arbitrators, or in negotiating favorable settlements.
Next Generation Partners
Junior partners with significant recognition from clients and peers in the market and key roles on multiple matters.
Stefan works on a range of complex litigation matters in the United States and abroad, including securities, M&A and antitrust suits. He also regularly counsels companies and their directors on issues of corporate governance and litigation, often in connection with major strategic transactions. Stefan’s clients have included 3G Capital, Barnes & Noble, H.J. Heinz, Mylan, Pitney Bowes, Qualcomm, Starwood Hotels, Vitamin Shoppe, The Williams Companies and Xerox.
Steve Blake is a Litigation Partner in our Palo Alto office. Steve has extensive experience resolving high-stakes shareholder litigation and securities regulatory matters. Steve regularly advises corporations, financial institutions, funds and their advisors in connection with mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings, legal compliance and commercial disputes. Steve also regularly represents entities and individuals before the SEC, FINRA and stock exchanges. Steve frequently writes and lectures on shareholder litigation, fiduciary duties and issues under the Securities Act, Exchange Act, Investment Company Act and Investment Advisors Act. Steve is the author of the quarterly “Stock Block” column in The Recorder. His recent columns “Along Came SPACs, and Then SPAC Litigation,” “Challenges to Corporate Decision-Making in the Face of Increasingly Polarized Responses to ESG Initiatives,” and “Burgeoning ‘Caremark’ Claims Likely to Drive Stockholder Demands” have been widely read. Steve is Co-Head of the Firm’s Asia Litigation Practice and is also Co-Chair of the Firm’s Knowledge & Innovation Committee. Recognized as a 2021 Law360 “Rising Star” in Securities, Steve is also recognized by Euromoney’s Benchmark Litigation as a “Future Star,” and was a repeat honoree on their “40 & Under List.” Steve was named among the Daily Journal’s “Leading Commercial Litigators” for 2024. He was selected as part of Bloomberg Law’s “40 Under 40” in 2022, and by the Daily Journal as one of the “Top 40 Under 40” lawyers in California in 2018. Steve is consistently recognized by The Legal 500 in both M&A Litigation and Shareholder Litigation, and as a “Rising Star” in Northern California securities litigation by Super Lawyers.
Partner Deputy Department Chair - Litigation (Firmwide) Practice Group Chair - Securities & Shareholder Litigation (Firmwide)
Litigation Partner with extensive trial experience who frequently represents issuers, individuals, and underwriters in high-profile securities litigation, including class and derivative actions, in courts throughout the country. Also has considerable experience representing corporate clients, including public companies and leading private equity firms, in transaction-related litigation, corporate governance matters, and corporate control litigations.
Leading lawyers
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Gary A. Bornstein is Co-Head of Cravath's Litigation Department. He handles a wide range of high‑stakes commercial disputes, with particular focus on antitrust, M&A and securities litigation. Mr. Bornstein also represents clients in investigations and frequently provides antitrust, fiduciary duty and other transaction-related advice. Consistently recognized as “one of the best lawyers in this space,” and “simply stellar” (The Legal 500 US), Mr. Bornstein has handled some of the country’s most challenging and transformative M&A litigation, often involving novel and complex issues of law.
Partner and Co-Head of Securities and Shareholder Litigation
Michele Johnson, a member of the firm’s Executive Committee and the former Managing Partner of the Orange County office, is consistently recognized as a leading California litigator. She represents financial institutions, Fortune 500 companies, boards of directors and individuals in securities, M&A and other complex commercial litigation.
Morris Nichols partner Bill Lafferty has spent more than 30 years focusing on Delaware corporate and commercial litigation, with an emphasis on cases involving mergers and acquisitions, proxy contests and consent solicitations, and shareholder class and derivative actions. His litigation practice concentrates on cases pending in the Delaware Court of Chancery and Delaware Supreme Court as well as matters in the federal court both in Delaware and in other jurisdictions. He also advises corporate clients and boards of directors with respect to litigation and transactional matters including representations of special negotiating committees, shareholder demand review committees, and special litigation committees. Bill has acted as lead or co-counsel in numerous significant litigations involving Delaware corporate law issues. He also has represented numerous private equity firms in litigations in Delaware arising from M&A transactions and a number of investment banks in transactional matters and litigation. For more, visit his bio at https://www.mnat.com/attorneys/william-m-lafferty.
Please see https://www.willkie.com/professionals/m/mundiya-tariq
Kevin J. Orsini is Co-Head of Cravath's Litigation Department. He regularly plays a central role in major corporate battles that redefine the law. With substantial first‑chair trial experience, he is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and has been named Benchmark Litigation’s “Trial Lawyer of the Year” and “General Commercial Litigator of the Year.” Mr. Orsini’s practice focuses on complex litigation, including antitrust, mass torts, mergers and acquisitions, securities and other commercial disputes.
https://www.winston.com/en/who-we-are/professionals/smith-james-p.html#full-bio James Smith chairs Winston & Strawn’s Securities Litigation Practice, leading what The Legal 500 US describes as a “fabulous, ... first-rate” “cadre of lawyers in New York who continue to impress in the M&A litigation space—they are as good as anyone in the industry.” He is ranked in the area of New York Litigation: Securities by Chambers USA in 2017–2019 and 2021–2023, where “impressed interviewees” praise him as “an exceptionally good trial lawyer and excellent strategic thinker.” He is recommended by The Legal 500 US in the areas of M&A Litigation and Securities Litigation—Defense as a “great lawyer with excellent judgment.”
Matthew Solum is a senior litigation partner in the New York office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Having tried more than twenty cases to decision, he handles all manner of high stakes disputes, including securities, M&A and complex commercial matters. Matt has tried and litigated cases in state and federal courts across the United States and before arbitration tribunals throughout the world. His clients have included ABM Industries, The Blackstone Group, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Chipotle, Frontier Communications, Sycamore Partners, Teva Pharmaceuticals, TPG Capital, Vista Equity Partners and Wynn Resorts.
Mr. Luftglass is a litigation partner and focuses on representing corporations, boards of directors, special committees, financial advisors, senior management, and private equity funds in connection with corporate governance matters, significant corporate transactions, hostile and friendly takeovers, shareholder and derivative litigation, and crisis management. Mr. Luftglass also represents clients in complex civil litigation, internal investigations, and regulatory matters.
