Not surprisingly, Davis Polk has consistently represented clients in the most well-known investigations and litigations of the day, most recently those arising from the mortgage meltdown and financial crisis of 2007-08, the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme, the massive ongoing Adelphia litigation, and the Stanford Financial investigations and litigations. We were also at the forefront of matters relating to options backdating, mutual fund market timing, Parmalat, Royal Ahold, Enron, Global Crossing, research analyst conflicts of interest, IPO practices and many, many others.

• We have represented PricewaterhouseCoopers US in recent major securities litigations, including:
  
  
  • All civil litigations and investigations relating to Bernard Madoff, including in a multidistrict litigation in the Southern District of Florida related to the Optimal Funds which was recently dismissed in its entirety.
    
    
  • Securities litigation and investigations arising out of alleged accounting fraud at Dell, including a consolidated securities action in which plaintiffs alleged a $40 billion market drop, but which we succeeded in having dismissed with prejudice at the pleading stage.
    
    
  • All civil litigation and investigations arising from alleged options backdating.
    
    
  • Securities litigation arising out of the deterioration of CIT Group’s subprime home mortgage and student loan portfolios.
    
    
  • Multidistrict litigation proceedings and investigations arising out of alleged fraud by Tyco’s former management.
    
    
  • Securities litigation and investigations arising out alleged fraud at Krispy Kreme.
    
    
  • A putative class action related to Charles Schwab arising out of the collapse of the mortgage-backed securities market, which we succeeded in having dismissed at the pleadings stage.
    
    
  • Multidistrict litigation and investigations arising out of the Satyam scandal, which is one of the biggest corporate fraud scandals ever in India.
    
    
  • All shareholder litigation arising out of the $378 million acquisition of Diamond Management & Technology Consultants.
     
• We represent CVS, its chief executive officer and other top executives in a federal securities action and related shareholder derivative litigation in Providence, Rhode Island. The allegations in the case are wide-ranging and relate largely to the company's earnings projections and its recent merger with Caremark Rx.
  
  
• We achieved a significant victory in the Ninth Circuit on behalf of Deutsche Bank, resolving an almost decade-long dispute arising out of Deutsche Bank’s alleged role in connection with the manipulation of the market for shares of GenesisIntermedia. The panel unanimously affirmed the district court’s denial of class certification.
  
  
• We sucessfully represented Credit Suisse in all of its litigation arising out of allegations of conflicts of interest on the part of equity analysts.
   
• We defended Palm and its directors against 13 separate lawsuits claiming that the defendants breached their fiduciary duties to Palm’s shareholders by agreeing to allow Palm to be acquired by Hewlett-Packard, obtaining a stay of 12 actions and settling the 13th on favorable terms.
  
  
• We represented E*TRADE in a variety of regulatory investigations and securities and derivative litigations in connection with its announcements regarding losses stemming from exposure to second-lien mortgages and mortgage-backed securities.
  
  
• We won dismissal of a securities fraud class action against AstraZeneca in the Southern District of New York. Plaintiffs alleged that the company defrauded investors by failing to disclose certain information regarding a drug for which AstraZeneca was seeking FDA approval. The Second Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of the case.
  
  
• We successfully represented Comcast in a putative $5 billion securities class action in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania brought by plaintiffs alleging that Comcast’s forecast for fiscal year 2007 was false and misleading. The Court granted Comcast’s motion to dismiss and denied plaintiffs’ motion for leave to amend, and plaintiffs did not file an appeal.
  
  
• We represented leading luxury home builder Toll Brothers, its founders, and its key management in a major securities class action in federal court in Philadelphia and related shareholder derivative actions in Pennsylvania and Delaware.
  
  
• We represented Hitachi in its first securities class action in the U.S. The litigation arose from the initial public offering of Opnext, a former majority-owned subsidiary of Hitachi. While Hitachi’s motion to dismiss was pending, plaintiffs entered into a settlement with Opnext and agreed to dismiss all claims against Hitachi with prejudice.
  
  
• We secured the dismissal of a multibillion-dollar securities class action case against Aetna and four of the company’s current and former directors and officers. The dismissal, affirmed on appeal by the Third Circuit, creates important law regarding the appropriate analysis for determining whether company statements should be viewed as forward-looking and accordingly subject to safe-harbor rules.