Mr. Isenman represents mutual funds, investment advisers, fund and retirement plan service providers, insurance companies, hedge funds, other financial services companies, and their respective officers and directors in a variety of litigation and regulatory contexts, including class actions, shareholder derivative litigation, internal investigations, and governmental investigations and inquiries.
Outside of the financial services arena, Mr. Isenman frequently represents companies in class actions, complex business disputes, and other litigation.
Examples of recent representations include:
- A top-ten asset manager by AUM, currently defending it in actions brought under Section 36(b) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 alleging that it charged excessive investment advisory fees.
- A national association of registered investment companies, filing amicus briefs on its behalf in the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in connection with the Ninth’s Circuit’s decision in Northstar Financial Advisors, Inc. v. Schwab Investments.
- The independent directors of a group of mutual funds, successfully obtaining the dismissal of a putative shareholder derivative and class action that alleged breach of fiduciary duty in connection with the sale of the mutual funds’ investment adviser, and successfully defending that judgment on appeal. Halebian v. Berv, 869 F. Supp. 2d 420 (S.D.N.Y. 2012), aff’d, 548 Fed. Appx. 641 (2d Cir. Nov. 12, 2013)
- A large mutual fund complex, successfully obtaining the dismissal of a putative 10b-5 class action alleging that fund prospectuses falsely represented that class A shares were better long-term investments than other share classes
- A closed-end fund and its board’s special litigation committee, successfully defending the fund in an action brought by another closed-end fund arising out of a contested proxy contest
- A large financial services company, successfully obtaining the dismissal of several putative class actions challenging the company’s use of retained asset accounts to settle life insurance claims, and successfully defending those dismissals on appeal
- A large 401(k) plan provider, conducting an internal investigation regarding payments to intermediaries in connection with sales of retirement services
- A large financial services company, successfully obtaining the dismissal of a putative class action challenging an increase in cost-of-insurance charges in universal life insurance contracts
- A large financial services company, defending an ERISA "stock-drop" class action alleging breach of fiduciary duty in connection with origination and underwriting of sub-prime loans
- A large financial services company, successfully trying a lawsuit against a well-known mutual fund market-timer
- A special committee of the board of directors of a privately held company, successfully negotiating the resolution of a dispute with a controlling shareholder
- Various financial services companies, investment advisers and related entities in connection with investigations or inquiries by the SEC, the FTC, the New York Attorney General's Office and other government regulators
Professional Experience
Mr. Isenman was a partner at Shea & Gardner prior to its combination with Goodwin in 2004.
