Mr. Slutsky’s clients include public and private healthcare and life science companies and technology companies, their boards and officers, and private equity firms and their partners. His recent representations include:
- Esperion Securities Class Action: Won dismissal with prejudice in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Michigan of securities class action under Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 against clinical stage company (and certain of its officers and directors) focused on developing non-statin LDL-C lowering therapies. Plaintiffs alleged false and misleading statements in connection with clinical trials for the company’s lead product candidate.
- Great Hill Transactional Litigation: After a trial in the Delaware Court of Chancery, on behalf of a private equity firm and a portfolio company that it purchased, successfully secured a fraud judgment against the former chief executive officer of the company and against other selling parties for breaches of the merger agreement. Previously had obtained significant ruling that a seller’s attorney-client privileged communications, including the seller’s privileged communications concerning the transaction, vest in the surviving corporation following the transaction unless the parties contractually agree otherwise. Mr. Slutsky and the rest of the Goodwin team were included in Law360’s “legal lions” list for their work on this matter.
- Inotek Securities Class Action: Won dismissal with prejudice in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts of securities class action under Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 against life sciences company and its officers arising out of clinical-trial results for lead product candidate.
- Zafgen Securities Class Action: Won dismissal with prejudice in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts—and affirmance by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit—of securities class action under Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 against life sciences company and its CEO arising out of adverse events in clinical trial for lead product candidate.
- Relmada Proxy Contest Litigation: Won temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada against activist stockholder seeking board seats. The court enjoined activist from soliciting proxies using false and misleading statements in violation of Section 14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Relmada’s nominees defeated the activist’s efforts in the proxy contest following the injunction we obtained in favor of the company.
- Dialogic Merger Litigation: Representation of the board of directors of Dialogic Inc. in connection with shareholder class action challenging the acquisition of Dialogic. Plaintiff voluntarily dismissed the complaint with no settlement.
- Shareholder Representative Services Contract Litigation: Representation of shareholder representative in lawsuit alleging breach of a merger agreement. Successfully argued and defeated the defendant’s dispositive motion to dismiss in Delaware Chancery Court.
- Countrywide Securities Litigation: Representation of Countrywide Financial Corporation and its affiliates in a multidistrict litigation in California federal court involving, among other cases, lawsuits brought by the FDIC in its capacity as receiver for various failed banks. Won dismissal in numerous of these lawsuits on the grounds that the FDIC’s claims were untimely under federal law and state law statutes of limitations and repose.
Professional Experience
Mr. Slutsky served as a law clerk to the Honorable Peter K. Leisure of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. He also has taught legal writing to law students at Boston University School of Law.
