Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP has a strong track record in securities litigation, having achieved notable victories in both securities fraud class actions and derivative litigation, as well as having a strong regulatory enforcement practice. The firm is particularly strong in busted IPO cases, though it handles a broad spectrum of work for both major financial institutions and large corporates. Litigation chair Tariq Mundiya and co-chairs of securities litigation Todd Cosenza and Antonio Yanez in New York are the principal practitioners. Cosenza recently succeeded in resolving a high-stakes securities class action against CBS, which was accused of making false or misleading statements related to sexual misconduct by its former CEO. The firm’s IPO work includes the on-going representation of underwriters to Uber’s $1bn listing. Litigation partners Charles Dean Cording in New York and Laura Leigh Geist in San Francisco also feature in high-profile cases.
Key clients
- CBS Corporation and its executives
- GWG Holdings, Inc.
- Underwriters to Uber’s $8.1 billion IPO
- Cloopen Group Holding Ltd. (“Cloopen”) and its underwriters in U.S. IPO
- Goldman Sachs & Co., LLC, Morgan Stanley & Co., LLC, and eight remaining members of an investment banking syndicate (Oscar Health)
- L-5 Healthcare Partners, LLC
- Nine underwriters in Farfetch Limited’s initial public offerings
- The underwriter group of Casper’s February 7, 2020 IPO
- Former SEC Officials and Law Professors (Arkansas Teacher)
- Directors and Officer of Spruce Power Holding Corporation f/k/a XL Fleet Corp. f/k/a Pivotal Investment Corporation II
- AdaptHealth Corp. and its current and former officers
- Underwriters of Vroom Inc.’s June 9, 2020 IPO
- SMBC Nikko Securities America Inc
- CareDx, Inc. and current and former company executives
- Barclays Capital Inc., Credit Suisse Securities USA LLC, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, JMP Securities LLC, KeyBlanc Capital Markets Inc., Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Piper Sandler & Co., Telsey Advisory Group LLC, Wells Fargo Securities LLC
- Board Members of Wells Fargo & Co.
- Union Square Ventures
- Resideo
Work highlights
- Successfully resolved a major securities class action brought against CBS and several of its officers and directors, including former CBS CEO Les Moonves, pending before Judge Caproni of the Southern District of New York.
- Represented the underwriting syndicate of Farfetch Ltd.’s 2018 IPO, led by Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and J.P. Morgan, in securing a unanimous Second Circuit affirmance of the dismissal of a shareholder class action filed in the wake of a decline of almost 45% in Farfetch’s stock price and a market cap drop of nearly $2 billion.
- Representing Goldman Sachs & Co., LLC, Morgan Stanley & Co., LLC, and eight remaining members of an investment banking syndicate in a putative securities class action lawsuit arising out of the $1.4 billion March 2021 initial public offering of insurance tech company, Oscar Health.
Lawyers
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Tariq Mundiya, Todd Cosenza, Antonio Yanez