Our Approach

 
Davis Polk has one of the country’s leading practices in the representation of accountants, lawyers, investment bankers, advisers and other professionals in investigations before the SEC and the stock exchanges and in state and federal court litigation. Such matters often join allegations of professional negligence with allegations based on federal securities law or bankruptcy law.

Notable Matters

  • We are acting as lead counsel for Paul Hastings LLP in connection with a malpractice claim brought by Ableco Finance LLC in New York State Supreme Court relating to Ableco’s acquisition financing of certain assets of bankrupt retailer Steve & Barry's.
     
  • We are representing a major New York law firm in connection with a claim by a former client relating to a public company merger.
     
  • We are defending a major New York law firm against Texas Securities Act and common law claims brought in the Northern District of Texas on behalf of a putative class of purchasers of certificates of deposit, who claim that they were defrauded through a Ponzi scheme allegedly run by Robert Allen Stanford and his group of companies.
     
  • We are defending a major global law firm, headquartered in California, in a malpractice claim and breach of fiduciary duty action pending in Los Angeles County Superior Court. Claimed damages exceed $100 million.
     
  • We are defending a major New York law firm against malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty, and other claims relating to tax advice provided in connection with a merger.
     
  • We won a judgment in favor of Paul Hastings LLP in connection with a fraudulent transfer and breach of duty action filed by a creditor of Paul Hastings’ client in the District Court of Delaware. 
     
  • We successfully negotiated a non-prosecution agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York in connection with its investigation with the IRS into certain tax opinions provided by our client, former Dallas-based law firm Jenkens & Gilchrist.
     
  • We successfully represented a prominent law firm and several of its partners in threatened civil litigation with its former client and in SEC enforcement proceedings, which resulted in the SEC’s decision not to bring charges against the individuals or the firm. We also represented the individual partners as third-party witnesses in a criminal trial against executives of its former client. 

     
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