What have we done lately?

• Successfully defending the fees of the Oakmark Funds in the U.S. Supreme Court case of Jones v. Harris Associates (decided March 2010), which set the standard by which "excessive fee" claims under Section 36(b) of the Investment Company Act are measured, endorsed the primacy of independent fund directors in setting fees, and rebuffed attempts by plaintiffs' lawyers to encourage increased judicial scrutiny of fees.
• Representing State Street Corporation in several purported class and individual actions claiming damages in multiple billions arising out of the subprime mortgage crisis. Plaintiffs allege that State Street breached its fiduciary duties as investment manager by exposing certain active fixed income funds to mortgage-related financial instruments that adversely affected the funds' investment returns, while also failing properly to disclose the alleged risks.
• Representing Genzyme Corporation in multiple securities and derivative proceedings in Massachusetts state and federal courts alleging that the company issued misleading statements, or failed to disclose material information, relating to supply and manufacturing issues allegedly affecting the production of and revenue for several Genzyme products.
• Representing Freddie Mac officers sued in multi-billion dollar securities fraud and derivative class actions where plaintiffs allege that defendants failed to disclose adequately the extent to which Freddie Mac was exposed to or risked loss from subprime and other nontraditional mortgage-related securities. For a description of an associate's role in this matter, click here.
• Representing current and former members of the Board of Directors of EMAK Worldwide, Inc. in a shareholder derivative action where the plaintiffs seek over $100 million in alleged damages and claim that the defendants violated their fiduciary duties.  For a description of an associate’s role in this matter, click here.
• Successfully defending NSTAR against shareholders’ claims that NSTAR’s Board of Trustees had breached their fiduciary duties to shareholders by agreeing to enter into a no-premium, stock-for-stock merger of equals with Northeast Utilities and by omitting certain information from the related proxy statement.  After the Business Litigation Session of the Massachusetts Superior Court denied the plaintiffs’ motions for expedited discovery and for a preliminary injunction, the plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed their claims in both state and federal court.