The Financial Times has named S&C a finalist in two categories for its Innovative Lawyers North America Awards. The awards recognize “the best in innovation from law firms and in-house legal teams in the North America region.”
S&C was shortlisted for:
- “Innovative Lawyers in Dispute Resolution” for persuading the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to reverse the certification of a class of Goldman shareholders claiming $13 billion in losses, ending 13 years of litigation and marking just the second time that the Second Circuit has granted three discretionary Rule 23(f) appeals. The decision, which followed a favorable ruling for Goldman from the U.S. Supreme Court, establishes critical precedent for securities class actions by adding important guardrails to the increasingly popular “inflation-maintenance” theory of securities fraud, which may help curb event-driven securities litigation.
- “Innovative Lawyers in Healthcare & Life Sciences” for advising Amgen in completing its $27.8 billion acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics, which required working at a breakneck pace to top an earlier unsolicited bid by Sanofi and coordinating a complex global regulatory process, including overcoming litigation filed by six states and the Federal Trade Commission. In an era where M&A deals face intense regulatory scrutiny, completing the deal and resolving the global antitrust concerns required innovation lawyering and cross-office collaboration.
The Goldman Sachs team included Robert Giuffra Jr., David Rein, Benjamin Walker and Julia Malkina, and the Amgen team included Frank Aquila, Renata B. Hesse, Samantha Hynes and Mimi Wu.