Latham & Watkins LLP

Latham & Watkins LLP assists clients across litigation arising at all stages of the merger process, defending them in both pre- and post-merger suits, including stockholder claims pertaining to breaches of fiduciary duties, busted deals and shareholder activism, in addition to situations where corporate governance is alleged to have impacted a company’s value. The practice’s leadership team consists of Michele Johnson out of Orange County, San Diego-based Colleen Smith and New York’s Blair Connelly, all of whom have considerable experience in defending merger-related derivatives and securities suits. June 2024 saw Johnson win at appeal before the Delaware Supreme Court, which upheld the decision to dismiss former Valtech shareholders’ suit against Edwards Lifesciences, having alleged that Edwards failed to make efforts to develop Valtech’s Cardioband transcatheter following a 2017 merger. Smith and Connelly appeared together for Searchlight Capital Partners in the Delaware Court of Chancery, where they negotiated a settlement between the client and shareholders, the latter having accused the former of breaching fiduciary duties in its 2022 take-private of Hemisphere Media Group. Also in Orange County, Kristin Murphy is noted for her expertise in securities and commodities fraud trials, and is currently representing Aimmune Therapeutics, Inc. and its former CEO against a shareholder suit arising out of its acquisition by Nestlé under ss. 14(e) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act 1934.