Michael T. Jones

Mr. Jones’ representative matters include:

• Control4 Corporation, successfully obtained dismissals of multiple class action lawsuits asserting violations of federal securities laws.
• DCT Industrial Trust, Inc., and its Board of Directors, in defense of three shareholder lawsuits filed in the District of Colorado and one in the District of Maryland challenging the Company’s $8.4 billion merger with Prologis, Inc. Obtained voluntary dismissal of each action.
• Amplify Snack Brands, Inc., and its Board of Directors, in defense of two shareholder lawsuits filed in the Western District of Texas challenging the Company’s $1.6 billion sale to The Hershey Company. Obtained voluntary dismissal of each action.
• Xoom Corporation in defense of four shareholder lawsuits filed in Delaware Chancery Court following the announcement of its $890 million sale to PayPal. The lawsuits alleged breach of fiduciary duty claims against Xoom’s directors and officers related to the future employment of some of its management team and disclosures that it was a victim of $30 million business email compromise (“BEC”) fraud scheme. Successfully defeated plaintiffs’ motion for expedited proceedings, which allowed the deal to close on time and resulted in voluntary dismissal of the litigation.
• Trulia, Inc., and its board of directors, in class action lawsuits in Superior Court for San Francisco County, California, and the Delaware Court of Chancery challenging the $3.5 billion all-stock merger with Zillow Inc. Successfully consolidated the cases to expedite their resolution in advance of the closing and negotiated a favorable settlement, allowing the merger to close as scheduled. The defendants’ supplemental briefing became a highly-publicized (model for?) settlement approval process.
• Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. board of directors, in shareholder class action litigation in Superior Court for San Mateo County, California and Delaware Court of Chancery, challenging its $10.4 billion merger with Amgen. Successfully defeated plaintiffs’ efforts to disrupt tender offer and the transaction closed on time.
• Epocrates, and its former CEO and CFO, in a putative securities class action lawsuit in the Northern District of California. Plaintiffs alleged false or misleading statements regarding the timing of pharmaceuticalregulatory approvals of interactive messages (“DocAlerts”) while awaiting guidance from the FDA on the use of advertising and social media.
• Metabolix Securities Class Action, won complete dismissal with prejudice of Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 claims in a shareholder class action against Metabolix, its CEO and CFO in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Plaintiffs alleged misrepresentations and omissions in connection with certain milestones in its biopolymer plastic manufacturing business.
• Teva Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in merger litigation in Court of Chancery in Delaware, brought by stockholders of Auspex in connection with Teva’s acquisition. Plaintiffs dropped their request for an injunction and the transaction closed on time.
• Essex Property Trust , in securities class action and shareholder derivative lawsuits challenging its $4.3 billion acquisition of BRE Properties, which created the largest real estate investment trust on the West Coast. Successfully consolidated the cases to expedite their resolution in advance of the closing and negotiated a favorable settlement, allowing the merger to close as scheduled.
• Ariba, Inc., obtained voluntary dismissal of California and Delaware lawsuits (without settlement) against Ariba and its board of directors challenging and seeking to enjoin its $4.3 billion acquisition by SAP AG.
• Mail.ru Group Limited, obtained dismissal of a high-profile lawsuit brought by Think Computer Corporation alleging that the tech company violated the California Money Transmission Act and other state and federal laws.
• Rocket Lawyer Incorporated in connection with an unfair competition lawsuit filed by LegalZoom, Inc. in the Central District of California. The court denied LegalZoom’s motion for summary judgment and cancelled the motion’s hearing.
• Athenahealth, obtained voluntary dismissal from California shareholder lawsuit (without settlement) challenging and seeking to enjoin its $293 million acquisition of Epocrates.
• Eloqua, Inc., and its board of directors, obtained voluntary dismissal of Virginia and Delaware shareholder lawsuits (without settlement) challenging and seeking to enjoin its $930 million acquisition by Oracle.
• Fortune 100 Company, conducted internal investigation concerning derivative trading and funding subsidiaries in the U.S. and abroad. Investigation focused on compliance with domestic and foreign tax rules and potential accounting and disclosure issues concerning intercompany funding relationships.
• Fortune 100 Company in a four-year SEC investigation on complex accounting issues such as hedge accounting, interest rate swaps, changes in accounting estimates, bill and hold arrangements, and revenue recognition.