Partner, New York Phone +1-212-558-4000 Fax +1-212-558-3588 Add to Address Book

Sharon Nelles is a partner in the Firm’s Litigation Group. She represents leading global companies and financial institutions in antitrust, securities, M&A and other complex commercial litigation, as well as regulatory and criminal investigations. Ms. Nelles has substantial experience handling matters involving the interplay among regulatory investigations, enforcement proceedings and the civil lawsuits that follow.

Ms. Nelles has represented Microsoft Corporation, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Standard Chartered Bank, Diageo, Moody’s, MBNA America Bank and SBC Communications in high-profile class action litigation and shareholder derivative suits, including the Microsoft indirect purchaser cases, the JPMorgan Chase/Bank One merger litigations and the Goldman Sachs mutual funds fee disputes. She has tried cases in the state and federal courts on behalf of such clients as Microsoft, Eastman Kodak Company and General Bank, and has represented prominent firms and individuals in proceedings before the U.S. Congress, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Justice, several state attorneys general, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the New York Stock Exchange and the Internal Revenue Service. She recently has been active in matters involving the subprime mortgage crisis, executive compensation practices, OFAC compliance, market timing and “pay-for-play.”

Ms. Nelles frequently conducts investigations for corporate clients, special committees and boards of directors.

Selected Civil Cases

• Led defense of class action litigation brought against JPMorgan Chase, JP Morgan Securities and current and former members of JPMorgan Chase’s board of directors who approved the company’s 2004 merger with Bank One. Obtained dismissal of all state-court actions, with the Delaware Supreme Court issuing a significant decision on standards for obtaining proxy damages. Obtained preliminary approval of global non-monetary settlement of related multidistrict federal securities cases pending in the Northern District of Illinois.
• Obtained dismissal of all federal and state complaints against JPMorgan Chase officers and directors in derivative litigation relating to sales of securitized subprime assets.
• Lead counsel to Moody’s Corporation and its officers and directors in class action and derivative litigations concerning rating of mortgage-backed securities.
• Counsel to Microsoft in its defense of private antitrust damages actions around the country brought by end-users of Microsoft software, direct purchasers of Microsoft software and by Microsoft competitors such as Netscape following the Department of Justice’s antitrust case United States v. Microsoft. Trial counsel for Microsoft in the only two private indirect purchaser class actions that have been tried by a jury.
• Lead counsel to Standard Chartered Bank in an aiding and abetting action brought by Brazilian investors against Standard Chartered Bank and Bank of America pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York arising out of those banks’ correspondent relationships with Bank of Europe.
• Tried contract dispute in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of Kodak resulting in an award of more than $25 million for Kodak and a declaratory judgment relieving Kodak of future payment obligations estimated at $5 to $25 million.

Selected White-Collar Regulatory Matters

• Counsel to Microsoft in SEC investigation of its accounting for revenue, assets and liabilities.
• Counsel to Diageo in an industry-wide investigation by the New York State Attorney General’s Office into spirits and wine distribution practices.
• Counsel to Moody’s Investors Service in an industry-wide investigation by the New York State Attorney General’s Office into practices for rating subprime instruments.
• Counsel to U.S. and non-U.S. companies in significant non-public investigations by the United States Attorney’s Office, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the New York District Attorney’s Office concerning price fixing, brokerage practices, executive compensation, finite reinsurance and the United Nations Oil-for-Food Programme.

Professional Activities and Community Involvement

• Resource Board, National Association of Women Judges
• Director, The Acting Company

Rankings and Recognitions

• Euromoney’s Benchmark: America’s Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys – cited as a leading practitioner in Litigation (2008, 2009, 2010)
• Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business – recognized as a leading litigator in Antitrust (2007, 2008, 2009)
• The Legal 500 U.S., Volume 3: Litigation – recommended Lawyer for Antitrust Litigation (2007, 2008)
• The American Lawyer – selected as one of “The Young Litigators Fab 50” – 50 litigators under 45 who are expected to be “leading the field for years to come” (January 1, 2007)