The New York office of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP continues to make big strides in the securities litigation arena, having built a high-calibre practice around highly regarded practice heads Meredith Kotler and Mary Eaton. They work in tandem with Boris Feldman, who also leads the firm’s global TMT practice, and up-and-coming partner Doru Gavril, both based in Silicon Valley. The practice, which continues to expand at associate level, now acts for known numerous global companies in high-stakes securities and shareholder matters, as well as regulatory investigations. A prime example is the work Feldman and Gavril are doing for Google’s parent company, Alphabet, in multiple matters including its first securities class action. Kotler’s work for 3M is equally impressive- she obtained a string of victories in cases arising from the company’s alleged failure to adequately reserve for and disclose billions of dollars of potential liability for environmental, mass tort, and other claims.
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Key clients
- AstraZeneca PLC and several officers
- Alphabet, Inc. and several officers
- 3M Company and several officers and directors
- Independent Directors of the Citigroup Board
- Tyson Foods and several officers and directors
- APYXMedical Corporation and several officers
- Li-Cycle and several officers
- Palantir and several officers and directors
- Amarin Corp. PLC and several officers and directors
- Rent the Runway, Inc. and its officers and directors
- Centessa Pharmaceuticals and several officers and directors
- Rivian Automotive, Inc. and several officers and directors
- J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and other financial institutions in the underwriting syndicate for InnovAge
- Stem, Inc. and several officers and directors
- Acelyrin, Inc. and several officers
- Lilium N.V.
- Society for Corporate Governance
- TriplePoint Venture Growth (TPVG)
- Lightning eMotors and several officers
- Origin Materials and several officers and directors
Work highlights
- Successfully defended AstraZeneca, its CEO, and several executives in a putative securities class action in the Southern District of New York, which challenged disclosures regarding the company’s COVID-19 vaccine, including alleged problems with its clinical trials and prospects for FDA emergency-use authorization. Dismissal with prejudice granted and affirmed on appeal.
- Obtained a string of victories for 3M and its executives and Board of Directors in the last few years, including most recently March 2023, in connection with various allegations stemming from the company’s alleged failure to adequately reserve for and disclose billions of dollars of potential liability for environmental, mass tort, and other claims based on 3M’s prior production of PFAS chemicals.
- Representing Alphabet and its board in multiple matters in federal and state courts involving (1) the purported failure to disclose a privacy bug affecting G+, (2) the operation of Google’s adtech business and dominance within the adtech market, and (3) Google’s support of online privacy regulation.
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Mary Eaton, Meredith Kotler