Lawyers

Julia Malkina is a partner in S&C’s Litigation Group and co-lead of the Firm's securities litigation practice. She joined the Firm in 2015 after serving as a law clerk to Justices Sandra Day O’Connor (Ret.) and Stephen G. Breyer of the U.S. Supreme Court, a Bristow Fellow in the Office of the Solicitor General at the U.S. Department of Justice and a law clerk to then-Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Ms. Malkina represents prominent corporations, financial institutions and individuals in their most complex and high-stakes matters. Her practice comprises trial court litigation, appellate court litigation and regulatory proceedings in a number of areas, including securities, commodities and criminal law. Ms. Malkina was named a 2020 Rising Star by the New York Law Journal for her representations in precedent-setting cases across those areas.

Ms. Malkina also represents clients pro bono in criminal matters both at the trial court level and on appeal. She is a member of S&C’s Women’s Initiative Committee, which seeks to recruit, retain and advance the Firm’s women lawyers.

Selected Representations

• Goldman Sachs in a class action alleging securities fraud in connection with mortgage-related activities and alleged conflicts of interest, including securing a favorable U.S. Supreme Court decision and a rare third discretionary Rule 23(f) appeal, making this only the second case in which a federal appeals court has granted interlocutory review of class certification three times.
• BP p.l.c. in successfully opposing Supreme Court review of a decision affirming dismissal of a putative class action alleging overseas manipulation of a physical commodity that purportedly harmed futures traders in the United States.
• BP p.l.c. in more than a dozen Fifth Circuit appeals stemming from the Deepwater Horizon Economic and Property Damages Settlement, including successfully defending on appeal one of the largest cases arising from that settlement.
• BlockFi in resolving investigations by the SEC and 32 state securities regulators of the BlockFi Interest Account, an interest-bearing cryptocurrency product. BlockFi Lending is the first company to settle with the SEC or state regulators regarding interest-bearing cryptocurrency accounts, and the settlements clarified important regulatory questions surrounding cryptocurrency lending practices. As part of the resolution, BlockFi Lending’s parent, BlockFi Inc., announced plans to register with the SEC a new interest-bearing cryptocurrency account product, becoming the first company to do so.
• BlockFi in putative securities class actions alleging that it offered and sold the BlockFi Interest Account, an interest-bearing cryptocurrency product, as an investment contract without a registration statement.
• Jumia Technologies AG, the largest e-commerce company in Africa, in federal and state securities actions stemming from its 2019 initial public offering.
• Rocket Companies, Inc., the largest mortgage originator in the United States, in putative securities class actions challenging positive statements about Rocket’s business operations and prospects and in derivative actions asserting breach of fiduciary duty claims.
• Riverstone Holdings LLC and Pattern Energy Group Holdings 2 LP in M&A litigation in Delaware Chancery Court and federal court relating to the $6.1 billion acquisition of Pattern Energy Group by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
• ​Navistar International Corporation in advising on litigation matters relating to its $3.7 billion merger with TRATON SE, a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG.
• The former chairman of five public companies, including the largest non-bank mortgage servicer, in more than a dozen securities class actions, consumer class actions, opt-out suits and derivative suits in connection with mortgage-servicing activities and alleged conflicts of interest.
• UBS in obtaining a dismissal with prejudice of all claims brought by Ace Decade, which had sought damages of more than $500 million in connection with an investment in shares of a Chinese company.
• Obsidian Energy (formerly Penn West) in a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission concerning Penn West’s restatement of its financials.
• Several individuals and investment firms in connection with inquiries by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the CME Group regarding alleged spoofing or other disruptive trading conduct, as well as in defending criminal spoofing and commodities fraud charges.

Speaking Engagements

• "The Future of ESG: the SEC, Scope 3 and Liability,” U.S. Chamber Litigation Center and the U.S. Chamber’s Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness (February 2022)