Nicole Chessari is a partner in the firm’s Litigation Department and a member of its Complex Litigation & Dispute Resolution and Private Investment Litigation groups. Her practice focuses on representing Goodwin’s private equity and venture capital firm clients and their portfolio companies in a wide range of disputes, including complex commercial litigation, partnership disputes, M&A disputes, and other business torts. She also represents many of the firm’s technology companies (from early stage start-ups to public companies) and their boards and officers, in connection with similar disputes as well as internal and government investigations, securities class actions, and derivative lawsuits.
Experience
Nicole has devoted a significant amount of her practice to representing private investment clients—both on the buy side and sell side—and technology clients. She has successfully litigated numerous earnout disputes, indemnity disputes, shareholder derivative actions, and partnership disputes. She has successfully pursued and defended against litigation involving allegations of breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, fraud, other torts (i.e. negligence, tortious interference), and violations of state and federal law. She has represented clients in actions brought in state and federal courts throughout the country and in arbitrations. In addition to her litigation experience, Nicole has substantial experience advising clients in connection with contract negotiations and litigation-avoidance strategies.
Nicole’s representative matters include:
Areas of Practice
Professional Experience
Prior to joining Goodwin in 2014, Nicole was an associate with Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Palo Alto, California. While in law school, she was a judicial law extern for the law and motion department of the Yolo County Superior Court in Woodland, California.
Credentials
Education
JD2008
University of California, Davis
BA2004
University of California, San Diego
Admissions
Bars
- California
Courts
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
Publications
Nicole is on the Editorial Board of Goodwin's Securities Snapshot, a blog highlighting interesting securities law decisions and developments.
Nicole co-authored “Do You Have to Disclose a Government Investigation? Practical Considerations, Legal Standards, and Recent Case Law” published in Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation, March 2016, and Bank and Corporate Governance Law Reporter, Volume 56, Number 3, May 2016.
Nicole also co-authored “Disclosure of Management Projections in Mergers and Acquisitions: Are There Any Bright Line Rules?” prepared for the Practicing Law Institute’s “Trends in Merger Litigation 2013: Corporate, Litigation and Judicial Perspectives,” San Francisco, March 5, 2013.