Securities + Shareholder Litigation

When a company is faced with a securities class action or shareholder derivative litigation, they need a partner who understands what is at stake and can think outside the box to achieve resolution. Goodwin’s deep experience, creative thinking and tenacity has led to our involvement in precedent-setting securities cases in courts across the country. The results we achieve are best of breed and have helped shape the law nationally, including outright dismissals of billions of dollars in putative class action and shareholder derivative claims. Our cases range from defending high tech and biotech companies in class action securities fraud litigation brought following restatements of earnings or the release of bad business news, to resolving shareholder derivative challenges, to multibillion dollar mergers and acquisitions.

We have in-depth experience handling securities class actions, shareholder derivative litigation, M&A litigation, and private equity and portfolio company litigation. We also work hand-in-hand with our Enforcement + Government Investigations practice on SEC enforcement actions and state agency investigations, responding to investigation requests, negotiating the resolution of enforcement actions, and obtaining successful results for our clients.

With an extraordinary collective reputation, we are well prepared to handle the full range of challenges facing our clients, from government inquiries to full-scale enforcement actions, criminal trials and related civil lawsuits. While we have resolved many of these matters quickly and quietly in advance of litigation and public scrutiny, we are genuine trial lawyers who do not hesitate to try a case when we – and our clients – believe it is the best approach.

Chambers USA

Ranked leading firm by Chambers USA

Goodwin's appellate litigators have briefed and argued hundreds of high stakes appeals, securing victories for clients in federal and state appellate courts throughout the United States. Lawyers in our Appellate Litigation practice are experts at working cooperatively as part of a team — alongside trial counsel and subject-matter experts — to preserve and present the best possible case on appeal and maximize our clients’ chances for success.

Our work begins well before a case goes on appeal: preparing dispositive motions in trial court; preserving error for appellate review; handling post-verdict motions practice; and even initiating litigation, to set aside arbitrary decisions by administrative agencies or to enjoin unconstitutional or invalid laws on legal grounds. Members of the practice have argued more than a dozen cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and have briefed scores of others.

Companies often face complex disputes with other businesses, government entities, or groups of individuals, which require an understanding of both the business issue and the industry of the client. Our Business Litigation practice specializes in handling these complex disputes, representing leaders in diverse industry sectors, including many Fortune 100 companies, in connection with their most important litigation matters. What sets us apart from our peers is our depth of trial and arbitration experience, class action expertise, and connections to the specialized business litigation courts across the country.

As retirement plans have come to hold an increasing proportion of the nation’s wealth, the number of lawsuits claiming violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”) has mushroomed. With our expertise in financial services and capital markets, we are uniquely positioned to defend ERISA litigation that challenges the way products and services within the employee benefit plan marketplace, including retirement, life, and health, are managed and administered.

From acquiring a company to raising public or private funds, we provide strategic and tactical advice, a range of pragmatic options, and bottom-line results. We do more than just help our clients survive the current challenges; we partner with them to find the best solutions and identify new business opportunities.

For many companies, government investigations and enforcement actions are an unfortunate reality in today’s world. How you respond to and manage these matters can help to mitigate disruption and keep your business on track, and you need a partner who is intimately familiar with navigating these murky waters. Goodwin has extensive experience responding to government investigations, defending enforcement actions, and managing administrative, criminal, and private proceedings. We represent our companies, directors and audit committees in investigations relating to securities fraud, the FCPA, the False Claims Act, healthcare fraud, whistleblower allegations and alleged violations of financial lending regulations. And in the event an enforcement action proceeds, we advocate for our clients before the government on a daily basis, responding to investigation requests, negotiating the resolution of enforcement actions and advocating for our clients before a wide range of federal and state agencies, including the SEC, DOJ, CFPB, and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and state attorneys general.

Mutual funds continue to face increased scrutiny from government regulators, and having a partner who understands those challenges can make or break your bottom line. Goodwin is one of only a few firms that combines a nationally-recognized investment management counseling and transactional practice with a pre-eminent mutual fund litigation practice. This collaboration enables us to defend our investment management clients in all phases of litigation with a thorough understanding of their businesses, the markets in which they participate, and the complex regulatory environment in which they operate.

Succeeding in the life sciences industry is as much about strategy and execution as it is about research and development. In this highly competitive business, you need more than the best and brightest ideas – you need a legal and strategic partner that understands the challenges of securing funding, safeguarding intellectual property, establishing partnerships, bringing new products to market, opening up new revenue streams, and protecting existing product lines.

Lawyers in our life sciences practice are deeply experienced in corporate governance, financing and M&A transactions, collaborations and licensing, regulatory matters, and intellectual property law. As part of our interdisciplinary approach, we also collaborate with attorneys in our patent litigation, products liability, employment and tax practices to protect client interests and to advocate on their behalf.

With a full service team of highly experienced lawyers resident in key life sciences hubs, our team helps clients find the strategic paths that foster growth and minimize risk across all phases of the corporate life cycle. Motivated by the knowledge that the work that we do with you is improving people’s lives, we serve as an extension of your team so you can focus on your core business.

Goodwin lawyers have deep experience guiding clients through both public and private mergers and acquisitions transactions of all types including leveraged buyouts, tender offers, spinoffs, divestitures and go-privates (both in the U.S. and abroad). Our lawyers bring a distinctive combination of regulatory and transactional expertise, characterized by a high degree of tax and financial sophistication, and a commercial negotiating style that is essential for success. We blend technical know-how and specific industry experience to get deals done quickly and efficiently. We draw on a firm-wide network of specialists in tax, intellectual property, real estate and executive compensation to help clients find practical, innovative solutions to their problems.

As businesses today face an increasingly sophisticated threat environment compounded by aggressive regulatory enforcement, companies need a partner who can help you mitigate risk and respond to the unthinkable. Our Privacy + Cybersecurity practice is one of the longest-standing privacy practices of any AmLaw 50 firm. Dating back to the late 1990s and established formally in 2004, it is fully integrated and leverages the firm's core strengths, with the group's lawyers coming from the technology, financial institutions, licensing, litigation, regulatory and appellate practices. This unique approach, focusing on client needs and value, enables us to engage specialists whose experience is framed by a holistic understanding of clients' needs in this threatening environment. Our practice provides a full spectrum of services from advice and counseling, transaction-related advice, defense of class action litigation and government enforcement actions. Having counseled on hundreds of data breaches and litigated landmark cases, we provide practical advice on all aspects of information-related management and risk before, during and after breaches.

In the face of a competitive marketplace, elite private equity firms expect counsel with extensive experience and a stable of blue chip relationships. That’s why private equity firms have been entrusting their deals to Goodwin for decades. Our Private Equity team ranks as one of the top in the United States, and we are on a trajectory of rapid ascent, both in the U.S. and worldwide. The group is a market leader in the expansive middle market sector, having earned a reputation for notable buyouts, growth equity deals and growth company representations in key sectors such as technology, healthcare, financial and business services, consumer and manufacturing.

Rising interest rates? Falling tenant demand? “High-yield” or “value-added”? Across the global real estate capital markets, how you position yourself with respect to risk and return is critical for maximizing your investments. Whether assessing demographic trends and capital flows or anticipating geographic shifts, Goodwin’s Real Estate Industry Group offers deep market insight and a practical approach to help you make the most of every investment decision – from private fund formation and all types of real estate transactions to REIT and real estate M&A, we excel at what we do.

As a growing technology company, your prospects are exciting and your challenges are unique – from securing funding, protecting IP, and navigating the regulatory environment, to differentiating yourself in the marketplace, managing customer acquisition and scaling your business. We get it. We are proud to bring a comprehensive, coordinated approach that interconnects business, new technologies and the law.

At Goodwin, we share your entrepreneurial spirit. We developed Founders Workbench, a free online legal advisory resource to help entrepreneurs navigate many of the legal and organizational challenges commonly faced by start-ups and emerging companies. We partner with you to grow your business and realize your potential more effectively – with a combination of legal experience and business savvy that can scale with management teams from the earliest stages of development through mature public company. We support clients at all stages of the corporate life cycle with legal advisory related to company formation, IP protection, licensing, commercial agreements and venture financing to IPOs, M&A, corporate governance, board matters and more.

With 180+ lawyers dedicated to the industry, we have one of the largest and most recognized technology practices in the United States. Consistently rated in the top five most active of all law firms for venture capital, IPOs and M&A, we draw on our deep experience and network of clients and investors to provide the most effective and efficient counsel for today’s emerging companies.

Whether you’re a chief executive officer or member of the board, knowing what to do and having the right partner when the government comes knocking can mean the difference between quiet resolution or a very public indictment. Fortune 500 companies, corporate executives, directors and other individual business leaders repeatedly turn to Goodwin when faced with the most sensitive, complex and potentially damaging white collar litigation. That’s because we’ve successfully represented clients in many of the most high profile white collar matters in recent memory. We can do the same for you.

Appellate Litigation

Business + Commercial Litigation

ERISA Litigation

Financial Industry