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.
North America - United States • Dispute resolution
Kirkland & Ellis LLP
Kirkland & Ellis LLP in New York has ‘a pre-eminent M&A defense litigation practice and has done a great job recruiting young talent from Delaware’. Advising on deal structures and strategies at the pre-litigation stage to achieving successful outcomes at trial, the firm has extensive experience handling cases arising from mergers and acquisitions, shareholder activism issues, proxy contests, tender offers, leveraged buyouts, and special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) transactions. The firm is known for its presence in the private equity market, but it also advises many financial sponsors and corporates in key industries such as pharmaceuticals on transaction-related cases. Standout partners Sandra Goldstein, Matthew Solum (who is known for ‘great presence, outstanding judgment and comprehensive knowledge’) and Yosef Riemer are highly regarded; ‘their breadth of experience gives them exceptional judgment’. Up-and-coming partners Stefan Atkinson and, in Washington DC, Joshua Rabinovitz also have outstanding reputations in deal-related litigation. Atkinson helped secure a trial victory in Delaware for private equity house Antin Infrastructure Partners in a matter concerning the purchase of middle-market Florida telecom company OpticalTel.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Kirkland has a pre-eminent M&A defense litigation practice and has done a great job recruiting young talent from Delaware.’
‘Matt Solum has a great presence, outstanding judgment, and comprehensive knowledge of the space. Josh Greenblatt is expanding his practice into Chancery and is a wonderful guy. The Kirkland team has snapped up a number of young lawyers who are super talented, including Mike Rusie.’
‘Exceptionally strong team with incredible experience in Chancery. They have a deep bench of tenacious litigators able to take on any type of dispute.’
‘Their breadth of experience gives them exceptional judgment. They are very thoughtful in their approach to issues and have an unusually strong sense of the Court and its judges. Matthew Solum and Martin Roth are particularly strong.’
Key clients
- Antin Infrastructure Partners
- EQT Corporation
- ArcLight Capital Partners
- BC Partners
- Stable Road Capital
- AbbVie Inc.
- Vista Equity Partners
- Hecla Mining
- American Rail Partners
- Avalara Inc.
Lawyers
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.
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.
Leading lawyers
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.
Next Generation Partners
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.