Lawyers

John Hardiman has practiced in Sullivan & Cromwell’s litigation department for almost 40 years, handling a wide array of litigation, arbitration, and regulatory matters. Mr. Hardiman is the Firm’s senior litigator in the corporate governance and mergers and acquisitions areas, having worked on many high stakes contests for corporate control. He also has extensive experience handling regulatory investigations for the Firm’s broker-dealer and corporate clients, as well as standard commercial litigation and bankruptcy matters.

From 2005-2010, Mr. Hardiman was resident in the Firm’s London office, where he added to his practice expertise in international arbitration and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

SELECTED REPRESENTATIONS

• Represented AMC in securing the dismissal of class action lawsuit filed by shareholders of RLJ Inc. claiming that AMC had breached its fiduciary duties as a controlling shareholder in connection with AMC’s purchase of RLJ Inc.
• ​Represented Major League Baseball in securing dismissal of class action claim brought by DraftKings participants alleging sign stealing by MLB teams had “corrupted” fantasy contests.
• Represents Major League Baseball as well as Yankees, Astros and Giants in three separate litigations arising out of MLB’s reorganization of the minor leagues.
• Represented Major League Baseball in successfully defeating attempt to force MLB to return all-star game to Atlanta.
• ​Represented Apollo Tyres in litigation brought by Cooper Tires in Delaware Chancery Court seeking specific performance of a merger agreement. Cooper’s claims were all dismissed after trial.
• Represented Swedish telecommunications company TeliaSonera in obtaining an award of $932 million in damages plus interest in an ICC arbitration against Turkish conglomerate Cukurova, relating to TeliaSonera’s efforts to purchase Turkish cellular phone company Turkcell.
• Represented Philips in litigation in Delaware Chancery Court involving a $400 million loan to an affiliate; the case was dismissed after a trial.
• Represented AIG and Computer Associates in connection with special committee investigations.
• Represented Cole Holdings Corp. in securing dismissal of a derivative action filed in Maryland state court.
• Represented the Special Committee of the board directors of The Limited in Delaware Chancery Court litigation.
• Counsel to BP in an AAA arbitration arising from a dispute with a third party over proceeds due to the third party under a settlement agreement that related to an oil property in Kazakhstan.
• Represented a major European aerospace company in an ICC arbitration, successfully defeating claims of breach of contract asserted by a joint-venture partner.
• Represented MF Global in an LCIA arbitration resulting in a favorable award resolving a $30 million contract dispute with its former parent company, Man Group.
• Advised Ally Bank, Goldman Sachs and HSBC on mortgage-related litigation and regulatory issues.
• Handled litigation related to several recent mergers and acquisitions, including First Horizon/Capital Bank, Cablevision/Altice, Harris Corp./Excelis, Labcorp/Covance, Endo/Auxilium, eBay/GSI and Standard Industries/W.R. Grace.
• Representing former CFO of Perrigo Company in securities litigation.​
• Represented Abiomed and its CEO and CFO in securing dismissal of all claims in a putative securities class action filed in the Southern District of New York.
• Represented Valeant in litigation related to Allergan tender offer.
• Represented EFH unsecured creditors committee in trial in Delaware bankruptcy court.
• Has overseen several investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice into potential Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations by foreign issuers.