Todd Cronan

R. Todd Cronan

Partner
R. Todd Cronan
Boston
+1 617 570 1389

R. Todd Cronan is a senior partner in Goodwin’s Complex Litigation Group, and formerly served as the Chair of its predecessor (the Shareholder Litigation and White Collar Defense Group). He has also been a member of the firm’s Executive Committee.

Mr. Cronan has a national business litigation and corporate investigative practice, concentrating in the areas of shareholder disputes, SEC and DOJ enforcement actions, merger and acquisition related litigation, and complex business litigation and arbitration matters. He also regularly advises boards of directors on strategies to avoid disruptive and costly litigation and provides training sessions for clients on corporate governance issues.

Experience

Mr. Cronan has represented publicly-traded listed corporations in a wide range of disputes arising under the federal securities and state laws governing the fiduciary duties of corporate directors and officers. He has extensive experience representing public companies and individual directors and officers facing SEC investigations and government enforcements actions. His experience includes litigation involving insider trading, false and misleading disclosures, improper revenue recognition and other accounting irregularities, and breaches of fiduciary duty.

Mr. Cronan routinely conducts internal investigations for public companies, audit committees and other special board committees, including investigations into whistleblower complaints arising under the Sarbanes-Oxley, Dodd-Frank and Foreign Corrupt Practices Acts. This includes investigations on revenue recognition treatment, whistleblower complaints, insider trading, domestic and international tax matters, and the adequacy of clients’ internal risk management structures. In FCPA-related matters, Mr. Cronan has overseen investigations for clients with operations in the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Vietnam, Russia, the Ukraine and Germany.

Mr. Cronan also has extensive experience representing private companies and private equity firms in a wide array of disputes. Mr. Cronan represents boards of directors and special committees involved in disputes over stock valuation and employee buyouts; investment firms in disputes over leveraged recapitalizations and other refinancings; and investment funds in disputes over ownership interests and profit participation interests.

Non-Profit Activities

Mr. Cronan regularly advises non-profit organizations on corporate governance, strategic planning and succession planning issues.  Among the organizations that he works with are Excel Academy Charter School, Veterans Legal Services, About Fresh and Strategies for Youth.  Mr. Cronan also serves as a member of the Board of Directors and Treasurer of the Tanzanian Children’s Fund.

Credentials

Education

JD1983

Harvard Law School

(cum laude)

BA1980

Princeton University

Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs

Admissions

Bars

  • Massachusetts

Courts

  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts

Recognition & Awards

Mr. Cronan has been selected for inclusion in the Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations category in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, for “his acclaimed practice with expertise ranging from SEC investigations and securities class action defense to complex business litigation and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigations.” He is also listed in Global Investigations Review 100, a guide to the world’s leading firms for corporate investigations, and as one of the world’s leading white collar crime lawyers by Euromoney’s Expert Guides: White Collar Crime Lawyers.

Publications

Mr. Cronan has written and lectured extensively on issues impacting public companies and their boards of directors. He also is a regular speaker at PLI seminars on topics involving securities litigation and SEC enforcement issues. Mr. Cronan has participated in seminar presentations for numerous industry groups on topics such as minimizing liability for securities law claims, conducting effective internal investigations, and communicating appropriately with investors and securities analysts. He is a former adjunct professor at Boston College Law School and guest lecturer at Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School.