
Washington DC-based litigation powerhouse Williams & Connolly LLP provides a robust defense to public companies, and directors and officers against allegations of securities fraud, as well as in derivative shareholder actions. Notably, the firm recently successfully secured a motion to dismiss for private equity sponsor Silver Lake, one of the defendants in a high-profile putative securities class action relating to alleged insider knowledge prior to sales of stock it had in a former portfolio company Intelsat. Steven Farina and Amanda MacDonald were key to this success, with Farina also recently securing a series of important victories before the Delaware Court of Chancery and the Delaware Supreme Court for nCino, in a derivative lawsuit challenging the company’s acquisition of mortgage loan platform SimpleNexus. Leveraging ‘tremendous litigation experience’, John Williams displays ’superb judgment’ for energy and healthcare clients, in particular, in securities litigation matters. Highly accomplished trial lawyer Robert Van Kirk, who co-heads the team alongside Farina and MacDonald, also maintains a vibrant securities litigation practice and is active in federal and state trial and appellate courts throughout the country.
Legal 500 redaktioneller Kommentar
- Profil
Referenzen
Unabhängig vom Legal 500-Forschungsteam zusammengestellt.
- 'John Williams has tremendous litigation experience, and excellent and reliable client interactions as well as superb judgement.'
Kernmandanten
- Silver Lake
- nCino, Inc.
- Medtronic
- Special Litigation Committee of the Board of Bumble Inc.
- Roivant Sciences, Ltd.
- The Carlyle Group, Inc.
- Pfizer, Inc.
- CVS Health
- Entrepreneur & Co-Founder of ZocDoc
- Ernst & Young
Highlight-Mandate
Represented Silver Lake in a putative securities litigation class action filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, securing affirmance of dismissal by the Ninth Circuit in July 2024.
Represented nCino and its directors in double-derivative claims challenging the company’s acquisition of mortgage loan platform SimpleNexus, securing dismissal by the Delaware Court of Chancery and affirmance by the Delaware Supreme Court in September2024.
Represents the Special Litigation Committee of the Board of Bumble Inc. that investigated shareholder breach of fiduciary duty claims lodged in two cases alleging that its controlling shareholder used insider information in selling stock pursuant to a secondary offering in late 2021.
Anwält*innen
Führende Partner*innen
Die stärksten Partner*innen ihres Praxisbereichs, die eine führende Rolle in signifikanten Mandaten einnehmen und weitreichende Anerkennung unter Wettbewerbern und Mandanten genießen.

Partner*innen der nächsten Generation
Juniorpartner*innen, die im Markt von Mandanten und Wettbewerbern anerkannt werden und in einigen Mandaten eine Schlüsselrolle einnehmen.
Praxisleitung
Steven Farina
Robert Van Kirk
Amanda MacDonald
Weitere Kernanwält*innen
John Williams