The Delaware Supreme Court ruled today that Delaware corporations can adopt charter provisions requiring that actions under the federal Securities Act of 1933 be filed in a federal court. The decision in Salzberg v. Sciabacucchi gives Delaware corporations a way to avoid state-court or multi-forum litigation of Securities Act claims by channeling all such cases into the federal system, where they can be managed more effectively – and where they are subject to the more structured and stringent procedural standards mandated by federal law.

Delaware corporations might want to consider adopting federal-forum charter provisions to address the treatment of potential Securities Act claims.

Statutory Background

In the wake of the 1929 stock-market crash, Congress enacted the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The Securities Act applies to public offerings of securities, provides for concurrent federal- and state-court jurisdiction, and prohibits removal of Securities Act claims from state to federal court. The Exchange Act was designed for aftermarket transactions and provides for exclusive federal jurisdiction.

The growth of state-court suits asserting federal claims arising from public offerings of securities dates back to federal legislation enacted in 1995 to control abusive securities litigation. In 1995, Congress enacted the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “PSLRA”), which dramatically changed the federal securities laws. The PSLRA imposed heightened pleading requirements and protections for forward-looking statements, mandated a stay of discovery pending any motion to dismiss, established a process for appointment of lead plaintiff and lead counsel in securities class actions, prescribed rules governing class-action settlements, and placed limits on awards of attorneys’ fees.

The PSLRA’s pleading requirements and discovery stay should apply to all claims asserted under the Securities Act and the Exchange Act, regardless of forum (although some conflict has emerged concerning the discovery stay’s applicability in state courts). But the procedural provisions – such as the lead-plaintiff selection process, the rules governing settlements, and the fee limitations – apply only to federal-court class actions.

When members of the plaintiffs’ bar sought to avoid the PSLRA’s class-action restrictions by filing state-law claims and federal Securities Act claims in state courts, Congress enacted the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act of 1998 (“SLUSA”). Section 77p of SLUSA preempts state-law securities claims for listed securities and permits the removal of covered class actions (defined generally as any damages action on behalf of 50 or more persons) alleging such claims. In 2018, however, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held in Cyan, Inc. v. Beaver County Employees Retirement Fund that the SLUSA amendments did not strip state courts of jurisdiction over class actions alleging violations of only the Securities Act and do not empower defendants to remove those federal-law cases from state to federal court. Cyan thus appeared to sound the death knell for efforts to keep cases asserting only Securities Act claims out of state courts.

The Salzberg Litigation

Even before Cyan was decided, but especially in its aftermath, some companies have tried to use charter or bylaw provisions to force Securities Act claims into federal courts. Those exclusive federal-forum provisions require Securities Act claims to be filed only in federal court.

Section 102(b)(1) of the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”) allows corporate charters to contain “any provision for the management of the business and for the conduct of the affairs of the corporation, and any provision creating, defining, limiting, and regulating the powers of . . . the stockholders . . . .” In addition, DGCL § 115, enacted in 2015, allows Delaware corporations to adopt exclusive-forum provisions in their certificates of incorporation or bylaws for “internal corporate claims,” which are defined as claims “based upon a violation of a duty by a current or former director or officer or stockholder in such capacity” or as to which the statute grants jurisdiction to the Delaware Court of Chancery. Section 115 does not address whether Securities Act claims are “internal corporate claims”; nor does it preclude exclusive-forum provisions for other types of claims.

In the Salzberg case, the plaintiff sought a declaratory judgment invalidating three corporations’ exclusive federal-forum provisions for Securities Act claims. The Court of Chancery held that Delaware corporations can use forum-selection provisions to regulate only internal-affairs claims “brought by stockholders qua stockholders,” but not “external relationships.” The court viewed Securities Act claims not as “internal affairs claims brought by stockholders qua stockholders,” but rather as “a tort or contract claim brought by a plaintiff who happens also to be a stockholder, but under circumstances where stockholder status is incidental to the claim.” The court also rejected the companies’ reliance on § 102(b)(1), because that provision applies only to internal corporate affairs.

The Delaware Supreme Court unanimously reversed.

Delaware Supreme Court’s Decision

The Supreme Court began by framing the scope of review. The plaintiff had brought a facial challenge to the federal-forum provisions, so he needed to show that they “cannot operate lawfully or equitably under any circumstances.” The Court ruled that the plaintiff had failed to make such a showing.

The Court began its analysis with § 102(b), which authorizes provisions “for the management of the business and for the conduct of the affairs of the corporation” and well as provisions “creating, defining, limiting and regulating the powers of the corporation, the directors, and the stockholders, . . . if such provisions are not contrary to the laws of this State.” The Court held that a federal-forum provision “could easily fall within either of these broad categories, and thus, is facially valid.”

Federal-forum provisions govern Securities Act claims related to “the management of litigation arising out of the Board’s disclosures to current and prospective stockholders in connection with an IPO or secondary offering,” and the claims arise from “the drafting, reviewing, and filing of registration statements by a corporation and its directors.” Thus, “a bylaw [the Court presumably meant a charter provision] that seeks to regulate the forum in which such ‘intra-corporate’ litigation can occur is a provision that addresses the ‘management of the business’ and the ‘conduct of the affairs of the corporation,’ and is, thus, facially valid under Section 102(b)(1).”

While the Court did not consider Securities Act claims to be traditional “internal affairs” claims, it viewed them as sufficiently “intra-corporate” so that Delaware law could regulate their assertion. The Court also held that § 102(b)(1) is not limited to “internal affairs” matters as long as they are sufficiently “intra-corporate.”

In a potentially consequential footnote toward the end of the decision, the Court observed that much of the opposition to federal-forum provisions appears to have arisen from a concern that, if those provisions are upheld, “the ‘next move’ might be forum provisions that require arbitration of internal corporate claims.” The Court responded that “such provisions, at least from our state law perspective, would violate Section 115 which provides that, ‘no provision of the certificate of incorporation or the bylaws may prohibit bringing such claims in the court of this state.’” Thus, at least for now, the Delaware Supreme Court does not seem inclined to look favorably on mandatory-arbitration provisions for internal corporate claims.

Implications

The Salzberg decision has significant potential implications for Securities Act class actions: it gives Delaware corporations a way to avoid to a multiplicity of related cases challenging securities offerings.

First, a federal-forum provision increases the chances that a corporation will be able to centralize multiple Securities Act cases in a single court. Without such a provision, no general procedural mechanism exists to transfer or consolidate related cases filed in federal and state courts. The normal methods of channeling related federal cases into a single forum – consolidation, transfers, multidistrict-litigation proceedings – do not work as between the federal and state systems. Federal and state courts can agree to coordinate with each other, and one court might choose to stay or adjourn proceedings in deference to the other, but parties in a federal suit probably cannot shut down state-court proceedings if the state court is unwilling to agree. The federal Anti-Injunction Act’s exceptions (in aid of jurisdiction, and to protect and effectuate judgments) might allow a federal court to enjoin state-court proceedings if the federal case has advanced to the settlement phase or has gone to judgment. But the Act could pose hurdles in the earlier stages of a federal suit.

Second, a federal-forum provision ensures that Securities Act class actions will be subject to the PSLRA’s procedural provisions embodied in § 27(a) of the Securities Act. Those provisions – which do not apply in state courts – include the certification requirement (requiring plaintiffs to certify that they authorized the filing of the case and did not buy the relevant security at counsel’s direction or in order to participate in the action), the restriction on attorneys’ fees (requiring that any fees and expenses awarded to class counsel “not exceed a reasonable percentage of the amount of any damages and prejudgment interest actually paid to the class”), and the rules governing disclosure of settlement terms to class members.

Third, a federal forum ensures that the PSLRA’s discovery stay will apply to Securities Act claims. Some dispute exists as to whether the stay applies in state courts. The discovery stay is included in § 27(b), which applies to “any private action arising under this title” – language that would seem to cover state-court as well as federal-court suits. The stay is not part of § 27(a), which expressly applies only to class actions “pursuant to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.” Nevertheless, some state courts have held that the discovery stay does not apply in state courts, while others have ruled to the contrary.

Fourth, federal Securities Act class actions are subject to the PSLRA’s lead-plaintiff appointment process, which requires the plaintiff to publish notice of the filing of the complaint and give all other class members 60 days to apply to be lead plaintiff. The court then appoints a lead plaintiff from among the applicants (presumptively choosing the one who sustained the largest loss) and also appoints lead counsel. The statutory lead-plaintiff process thus generally serves to prevent duplicative class actions in multiple forums. That process, however, does not govern state-court Securities Act class actions. Thus, if state-court suits could go forward without regard to this process, competing class actions with two (or more) sets of class representatives and class counsel might proceed in federal and state courts, and the cases probably could not be consolidated in or transferred to a single forum.

The Delaware Supreme Court did observe that the enforceability of a specific charter provision can depend “on the manner in which it was adopted and the circumstances under which it [is] invoked.” Facially valid provisions will not be enforced “if adopted or used for an inequitable purpose.” The Court cited three situations in which a provision might be invalidated on an “as applied” basis: if enforcement would be “unreasonable and unjust”; if the provision “would be invalid for reasons such as fraud or overreaching”; or if the provision “contravene[d] a strong public policy of the forum in which suit is brought, whether declared by statute or by judicial decision.” But none of those “as applied” issues was involved in the facial challenge addressed here. Future cases might explore such issues.

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Photo of Jonathan Richman Jonathan Richman

Jonathan Richman represents a variety of companies in securities class actions, shareholder derivative actions, internal investigations, SEC investigations, corporate governance, insider trading, D&O insurance and related matters. Many of those matters involve international elements, including representations of non-U.S. issuers in U.S. litigation and…

Jonathan Richman represents a variety of companies in securities class actions, shareholder derivative actions, internal investigations, SEC investigations, corporate governance, insider trading, D&O insurance and related matters. Many of those matters involve international elements, including representations of non-U.S. issuers in U.S. litigation and in landmark non-U.S. collective settlements under Dutch law in the Netherlands. Jonathan’s clients have included Hewlett Packard, Royal Dutch/Shell, Zurich Insurance Group, Halliburton, Waste Management, and Bed Bath & Beyond.

Jonathan writes extensively on topics ranging from securities and insider-trading law, corporate governance and fiduciary issues to non-U.S. law on collective actions. His articles have been published in major legal publications.

Jonathan is the past co-head of the Firm’s Securities Litigation Group.

Class Action and SEC Enforcement Experience

  • Royal Dutch/Shell
  • Global Crossing
  • Waste Management
  • Zurich Insurance Group
  • Vestas Wind Systems A/S (class action only)
  • JBS S.A. (class action only)
  • Henry Schein, Inc. (class action only)
  • YRC Worldwide Inc. (class action only)
  • Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (class action only)
  • Roka Bioscience, Inc. (class action only)
  • Fifth Street (class action only)
  • Vida Longevity Fund (class action only)
  • Former CEO of Lumber Liquidators (class action only)
  • Individual defendant in Third Avenue securities class actions
  • American General (class action only)
  • Metropolitan Life (class action only)
  • New York Life (class action only)
  • Leucadia/Jefferies merger litigation (class action only)
  • Realty Income/American Realty merger litigation (class action only)
  • ARCP/ARCT III merger litigation (class action only)
  • Aberdeen/Artio merger litigation (class action only)
  • PhotoMedex/LCA-Vision merger litigation (class action only)
  • RCS Capital/Summit Financial merger litigation (class action only)
  • First American/First Advantage merger litigation (class action only)
  • SEC inquiry involving CMBS servicing
  • SEC inquiry involving issuer’s confidentiality notice for internal investigations
  • Various SEC, CFTC, and FINRA inquiries involving trading issues

Shareholder Derivative Litigation

  • Hewlett-Packard
  • Royal Dutch/Shell
  • Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.
  • Halliburton Company
  • Waste Management, Inc.
  • Henry Schein, Inc.
  • YRC Worldwide Inc.
  • Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.
  • Fifth Street
  • Vida Longevity Fund
  • Former CEO of Lumber Liquidators
  • Individual defendant in Third Avenue derivative litigation

Department of Justice Proceedings

  • Royal Dutch/Shell
  • Global Crossing
  • Property and casualty insurers

Miscellaneous

  • Advising outside directors of for-profit educational institution on litigation and regulatory investigations
  • Providing advice and training sessions for clients on insider-trading issues
  • Representing Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico in pending litigation arising from Puerto Rico bankruptcy

Publications

  • Author, “Court Preliminarily Enjoins Florida’s ‘Stop Woke Act,’” National Law Review (Aug. 22, 2022)
  • Author, “Blockchain Meets Morrison:  Court Rejects Blockchain Class Settlement Because of Concerns About Adequacy of Representation,” National Law Review (Aug. 16, 2022)
  • Author, “Delaware Supreme Court Allows Use of ‘Reliable’ Hearsay to Support Books-and-Records Demand,” National Law Review (July 20, 2022)
  • Author, “Divided Delaware Supreme Court Decision Highlights Issues About Director Independence in Derivative Actions,” National Law Review (June 30, 2022)
  • Author, “Second Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Securities Claim Alleging Failure to Disclose SEC Investigation,” National Law Review (May 25, 2022)
  • Author, “Ninth Circuit Upholds Delaware-Forum Bylaw That Precludes Assertion of Federal Proxy Claim,” National Law Review (May 13, 2022)
  • Co-author, “SEC Defeats Motion to Dismiss Insider Trading Complaint Alleging Novel ‘Shadow Trading’ Theory, The Corporate Lawyer, vol. 59, no. 3 (Feb. 2022), at 1
  • Co-author, “Seventh Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Derivative Action Based on Forum Clause as Applied to Federal Claim,” National Law Review (Jan. 21, 2022)
  • Author, “California Federal Court Holds U.S. Securities Laws Inapplicable to Unsponsored, Unlisted ADR Transaction Preceded by Purchase of Common Stock Outside the U.S.,” National Law Review (Jan. 10, 2022)
  • Co-author, “SEC Pursues ‘Shadow Trading’ Insider Trading Case,” Corporate Governance Advisor, vo. 29, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 2021), at 29
  • Co-author, “SEC Investor Advisory Committee Considers Recommendations to Tighten Rules for Insiders’ Trading Plans,” National Law Review (Sept. 7, 2021)
  • Author, “Second Circuit Holds that Accurately Reported Financial Statements Are Not Actionable and that Materiality Has a Half-Life,” National Law Review (Aug. 27, 2021)
  • Author, “First Circuit Adopts Prevailing Standard for Applicability of Federal Securities Laws to Foreign Investors, But Rejects Second Circuit’s Narrower Test,” National Law Review (May 11, 2021)
  • Author, “Second Circuit Upholds Insider Trading Conviction, Finding Sufficient Confidentiality Duty and Personal Benefit,” National Law Review (Apr. 7, 2021)
  • Co-author, “Second Circuit Reaffirms that Federal Securities Laws Do Not Apply to Predominantly Foreign Transactions,” National Law Review (Jan. 26, 2021)
  • Author, “Corporate Scienter Requires Link Between Employees with Knowledge and the Alleged Misstatements,” National Law Review (May 26, 2020)
  • Author, “Delaware Supreme Court Rules that Corporate Charters Can Require Litigation of Federal Securities Act Claims in Federal Court,” National Law Review (Mar. 18, 2020)
  • Author, “California Federal Court Holds that U.S. Securities Laws Apply to Unsponsored, Unlisted ADRs,” National Law Review (Jan. 30, 2020)
  • Author, “Second Circuit Holds that a ‘Personal Benefit’ Is Not Required for Insider Trading Under Criminal Securities Statute,” National Law Review (Jan. 2, 2020)
  • Co-author, “When Passive Investors Drift into Activist Status,” CCR Corp. Deal Lawyers (Nov.-Dec. 2019)
  • Author, “Delaware Supreme Court Rejects Presumption of Confidentiality for Books-and-Records Productions,” National Law Review (Aug. 8, 2019)
  • Author, “Supreme Court Raises Questions About Private Rights of Action Under § 14 of Securities Exchange Act,” National Law Review (Apr. 24, 2019)
  • Author, “Second Circuit Rejects Securities Claims Based on Generic Statements About Ethics and Compliance,” Securities Reform Act Litigation Reporter, vol. 47, no. 1 (April 2019), at 54
  • Author,” Supreme Court Holds that Persons Who Do Not ‘Make’ Misstatements Can Nevertheless Be Liable for Other Securities-Fraud Violations,” National Law Review (Mar. 29, 2019)
  • Author, “The importance of documenting corporate actions: Delaware Supreme Court requires production of emails in books-and-records request,” Westlaw Journal Mergers & Acquisitions (Feb. 2019)
  • Author, “First Appellate Decision Holds that SEC Can Bring Extraterritorial Enforcement Action Based on Conduct or Effects in United States,” National Law Review (Jan. 24, 2019)
  • Author, “Insider Trading for Dummies: Judge Rakoff Tries to Simplify the Law,” National Law Review (Dec. 10, 2018)
  • Co-author, “Fortis Case Confirms Viability of Dutch Settlement Law,” Law360 (July 27, 2018) (with Professor Ianika Tzankova)
  • Author, “Second Circuit Again Holds That Tipper/Tippee Liability Can Arise from a Gift of Inside Information Even Without a Close Personal Relationship,” National Law Review (June 29, 2018)
  • Author, “Supreme Court Rules That Federal Courts Are Not Bound to Give Conclusive Effect to Foreign Governments’ Statements About Their Laws,” National Law Review (June 14, 2018)
  • Author, “Supreme Court Prohibits Stacking of Successive Class Actions Beyond Limitations Period,” National Law Review (June 14, 2018)
  • Author, “Supreme Court Rules That State Courts Can Adjudicate Class Actions Under the Securities Act of 1933,” Securities Arbitration Commentator (April 11, 2018)
  • Author, “Fourth Circuit Upholds Disclosure of Government Subpoena as Evidence of Loss Causation,” National Law Review (Feb. 24, 2018)
  • Author, “Revisiting Preclusion Principles in Derivative Actions,” Law360 (July 28, 2017)
  • Author, “Second Circuit Requires Increased Scrutiny of Securities Class Actions Involving Off-Exchange Transactions,” National Law Review (July 8, 2017)
  • Author, “Dutch Court Denies Approval of Collective Settlement Unless Changes Are Made as to Allocation of Compensation and Fees,” National Law Review (June 19, 2017)
  • Author, “Utah Court Bites Bullet with Dodd-Frank Jurisdiction Ruling,” Law360 (Apr. 13, 2017)
  • Author, “Non-Use Agreement Need Not Precede Disclosure of Confidential Information,” National Law Review (March 21, 2017)
  • Author, “Watch the Napkin: First Circuit Affirms Insider-Trading Conviction,” National Law Review (Feb. 28, 2017)
  • Author, “Dueling Shareholder Class Actions Could Raise Due Process Issues,” Law360 (Jan. 30, 2017)
  • Author, “Supreme Court Reaffirms Personal-Benefit Requirement for Insider Trading,” WestLaw Journal: Securities Litigation & Regulation and WestLaw Journal: White-Collar Crime (Dec. 22, 2016)
  • Author, “Rakoff Addresses Tippee Liability in SEC v. Payton,” Law360 (Dec. 2, 2016)
  • Author, “Dutch Collective Actions vs. Collective Settlements,” National Law Review (Oct. 18, 2016)
  • Author, “Judgment Recognition and the Reach of US Securities Laws,” Law360 (Oct. 3, 2016)
  • Author, “Executives Face SOX Disgorgement Uncertainty After Jensen,” Law360 (Sept. 8, 2016)
  • Author, “Wine, Steak and a Taste of the ‘Personal Benefit’ Tension,” Law360 (June 6, 2016)
  • Author, “Proskauer Explains Supreme Court’s Clarification of Jurisdiction Under Securities Exchange Act,” The CLS Blue Sky Blog (May 24, 2016)
  • Author, “Second Circuit Reinforces Liability Standard in Securities Cases Based on Statements of Opinion,” Business Law Today (Mar. 2016)
  • Author, “The Netherlands Returns as a Collective Settlement Forum,” Law360 (Mar. 15, 2016)
  • Author, “How Morrison v. Australia Bank Was Applied in Petrobras,” Law360 (Feb. 16, 2016)
  • Author, “New York Court Certifies Classes in Petrobras Securities Litigation,” National Law Review (Feb. 3, 2016)
  • Author, “Delaware Court of Chancery Rejects Another Disclosure-Only M&A Settlement and Warns of ‘Increasingly Vigilant’ Scrutiny,” National Law Review (Jan. 25, 2016)
  • Author, “What To Expect from High Court’s New Insider Trading Case,” Law360 (Jan. 19, 2016)
  • Author, “Second Circuit Upholds Common-Interest Privilege for Borrower’s Sharing of Legal Advice with Consortium of Lenders,” Transaction Advisors (Dec. 2015)
  • Author, “What Jarkesy Means for SEC Admin Court Challenges,” Law360 (Sept. 30, 2015)
  • Author, “A Farewell to Alms? Peppercorn Settlements of M&A Litigation,” National Law Review (Sept. 21, 2015)
  • Author, “Seventh Circuit Rejects Court Challenge to Pending SEC Administrative Proceeding,” com (Aug. 27, 2015)
  • Author, “9th Circuit Rebuffs Newman,” Law360 (July 8, 2015)
  • Author, “Proskauer Discusses Supreme Court’s Omnicare Decision, Clarifying Liability for Statements of Opinion in Registration Statements,” The CLS Blue Sky Blog (Mar. 24, 2015)
  • Author, “U.S. Appeals Court Rejects Bright-Line Test for Extraterritorial Reach of U.S. Securities Laws,” Bloomberg BNA World Securities Law Report, vol. 20, no. 9 (Sept. 2014)
  • Author, “Whistleblower Anti-Retaliation Provision Does Not Apply Outside the U.S.,” Westlaw Journal Securities Litigation & Regulation, vol. 20, issue 9 (Sept. 4, 2014)
  • Author, “So Much for Bright-Line Tests on Extraterritorial Reach of US Securities Laws?,” Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation (Sept. 2, 2014)
  • Co-author, “Defending Directors: Cram Sheet,” Wolters Kluwer Law & Business (October 23, 2012)
  • Author, “Delaware Chancery Court Issues Decision on Collateral Estoppel in Derivative Suits,” Westlaw Journal Delaware Corporate, vol. 26, issue 25 (June 25, 2012)
  • Author, “SEC Issues Report on Extraterritorial Reach of U.S. Securities Laws,” VCExperts on-line publication (June 2012)
  • Co-author, “Fraud? Foreign Purchase? Forget It! ‘Foreign-Cubed’ and Other Foreign-Issuer Cases After Morrison,” of Secs. & Commodities Reg., vol. 44, no. 4 (Feb. 23, 2011)
  • Author, “Supreme Court Clarifies Statute of Limitations in Securities-Fraud Actions,” Derivatives Financial Prods. Rpt., 11, no. 10, at 23 (June 2010)
  • Author, “Transnational Class Actions and Judgment Recognition,” Class Action Litigation Report (June 25, 2010)
  • Co-author, “Pushing the Limits of U.S. Securities Laws: ‘Foreign-Cubed’ (‘F-Cubed’) Cases,” 42 SRLR 10 (March 8, 2010)
  • Co-author, “Assignees Have Discovery Obligations When Asserting Assignors’ Claims,” Journal of Payment Systems Law (June/July 2005)
  • “Punitive Damages: Past, Present and Future,” International Commercial Litigation (July/August 1995)
  • Co-author and editor, Takeovers: Attack and Survival (1987)
  • Co-author, “New Life for State Takeover Statutes?,” New York Law Journal (July 27, 1987)
  • Co-author, “Damages in Defamation Actions,” Damages in Tort Actions (1985)
  • “Facial Adjudication of Disciplinary Provisions in Union Constitutions,” Yale Law Journal (1981)

Presentations

  • Practising Law Institute: “ESG 2022: What It Means for Boards, Management, and Counsel” (June 1, 2022) (full-day program; program co-chair and panel chair)
  • Practising Law Institute: “ESG 2021: What It Means for Boards, Management, and Counsel” (webcast, June 24, 2021) (full-day program; program co-chair and panel chair)
  • Practising Law Institute: “ESG 2020: What It Means for Boards, Management, and Counsel) (webcast, July 24, 2020) (full-day program; program co-chair and panel chair)
  • Practising Law Institute: “ESG and Promoting Corporate Sustainability” (New York, June 25, 2019) (full-day program; program chair and panel chair)
  • The Mason Judicial Education Program, Symposium for Judges: Securities Class Action Litigation (Arlington, VA, May 5, 2019)
  • The Mason Judicial Education Program, Symposium for Judges: The Economics of Corporate & Securities Law (San Diego, April 12-14, 2018)
  • ABA Section of Litigation: “Recent Developments in Securities Class Actions” (webinar, May 11, 2017)
  • Professional Liability Underwriters Society D&O Symposium: “Behaving Badly: The Non-U.S. Corporate Scandal Wave” (New York, February 9, 2017)
  • New York State Bar Association International Section: “Hot Topics in Cross-Border Securities Litigation” (São Paulo, October 16, 2015)
  • Proskauer Hedge-Fund Breakfast Seminar on Insider Trading (New York, Feb. 5, 2015)
  • CLE International’s 9th Annual Class Action Conference: “Collective Proceedings Abroad: Evolving Approaches & Attitudes” (Washington, D.C., October 2013)
  • Practising Law Institute: “Handling a Securities Case: From Investigation to Trial and Everything in Between” (New York, April 2012)
  • Institutional Investor Educational Foundation: Corporate Governance Roundtable Forum (New York, December 2011)
  • Institutional Investor Educational Foundation Amsterdam Roundtable: “The Netherlands and the Future of European Securities Litigation” (The Hague, September 2011)
  • Summer Institute on Law & Government, American Univ. Washington College of Law: “Securities Class Actions – An Update” (Washington, D.C., June 2010)
  • ABA Section on Litigation Annual Conference: “Global Class Actions: Lasting Peace or Ticking Time Bombs?” (New York, April 2010)