Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP

Drawing upon a vast reservoir of institutional knowledge and litigation smarts, developed over many years’ experience defending claims relating to, inter alia, accounting irregularities, M&A and IPO-related issues, and allegedly false or misleading statements, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP is a popular choice among financial institutions and blue-chip corporates to represent them in high-stakes securities litigation. As part of his wide-ranging commercial litigation offering, James Rouhandeh regularly handles high-profile securities class actions and individual cases, often being engaged by Fortune 500 companies in litigation following a precipitous drop in stock price. Rouhandeh also has excellent traction among banking clients, including Morgan Stanley, which he has represented in myriad RMBS cases since the financial crisis of 2007/8. Edmund Polubinksi also has an impressive list of successes at trial and appellate level for major corporates from a range of sectors, including fintech, as exemplified by his high-profile recent victory for bitcoin mining company Iris. The work for Iris is also an example of the firm’s skill in helping China-based companies navigate securities litigation after going public. As well as handling a considerable volume of work for corporate issuers, Charles Duggan is also adept at representing financial institutions as underwriters in cases relating to securities offerings. California-based Neal Potischman is also skilled at advising underwriters, as well as having developed niche expertise for Chinese issuers in securities litigation in the aftermath of IPOs. Dana Seshens and Paul Spagnoletti co-head the overarching civil litigation practice alongside Rouhandeh, with Seshens noted for her skill at handling disputes involving IPOs, M&As and trade secrets. All named practitioners are based in New York, unless otherwise indicated.