Brian C. Kerr represents investors, funds, and companies in high-stakes securities, corporate governance, and complex financial litigation.

Brian has more than three decades of experience handling sophisticated investment and business disputes. He oversees the firm’s transnational investment litigation practice and regularly represents investors, companies, funds, and entrepreneurs in complex domestic and cross-border matters.

Over the course of his career, Brian has helped clients secure and defend billions of dollars in litigation. His experience includes defending a subprime lender in two separate $1 billion “bet-the-company” cases that were dismissed on summary judgment shortly before trial, and prosecuting the landmark securities fraud class action against Vivendi, where a jury returned a unanimous verdict estimated at the time to exceed $9 billion—one of the largest securities verdicts ever returned.

Having represented clients on both sides of the courtroom, Brian brings a uniquely broad perspective to complex disputes. From developing entrepreneurial plaintiff-side litigation strategies to defending major matters for corporate clients, he offers a pragmatic and balanced view of litigation strategy that lawyers who represent only one side often lack.

Brian has played a leading role in complex litigation in dozens of courts across the United States, including the Delaware Court of Chancery, as well as proceedings in Europe. His practice spans trial and appellate work and includes disputes involving securities, mergers and acquisitions, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, corporate governance, intellectual property, antitrust, arbitration, and other complex financial matters.

Drawing on decades of litigation experience, Brian also advises clients in emerging areas of law, including cybersecurity and data privacy, artificial intelligence, litigation finance, and disputes involving the global art market.

Brian is frequently quoted in major media outlets including The New York Times, Financial Times, Bloomberg, NBC News, and The Art Newspaper. His work in art-related antitrust litigation has also been the subject of a recent book examining the art market and authentication issues.

He has served as a faculty member at the Practising Law Institute and as a member of the New York City Bar Association Judiciary Committee evaluating candidates for judicial office. Brian has also been recognized by his peers as a New York Super Lawyer.

Brian received his J.D. from Hofstra University School of Law, where he was a member of the Hofstra Law Review and a Dean’s Scholar. He earned a B.A. in Economics, summa cum laude, from the University at Albany, where he served as Valedictorian, founded the Presidential Honors Society, and received the Gordon Karp Prize for Excellence in Economics. He is admitted to practice in New York and Connecticut.

Representative Experience

Representative matters have included advising investors, funds, and companies in high-stakes securities, governance, and complex commercial litigation:

Landmark and High-Stakes Litigation

•       Investor plaintiffs in the landmark securities fraud class action against Vivendi in the Southern District of New York, resulting in a unanimous jury verdict estimated at the time to exceed $9 billion, one of the largest securities verdicts ever returned and the first so-called “foreign-cubed” securities case to go to trial.

•       Sand Canyon Corp. (formerly Option One Mortgage Corp.) in two separate $1 billion “bet-the-company” cases in the Southern District of New York, both dismissed on summary judgment shortly before trial and later affirmed by the Second Circuit.

•       MabVax Therapeutics, Inc. in fraud and market manipulation litigation in San Diego Superior Court resulting in multiple summary judgment victories and multi-million-dollar settlements.

Securities and Shareholder Litigation

•       Institutional investors in securities litigation arising from the Tyco International accounting scandal, resulting in combined settlements of approximately $3.2 billion.

•       Rite Aid shareholders in securities fraud litigation against the company, its former CEO, and KPMG, resulting in combined settlements of $323 million.

•       Shareholders in securities litigation against The Blackstone Group and its Chairman Stephen A. Schwarzman in the Southern District of New York resulting in an $85 million settlement.

•       E*TRADE Financial Corp. shareholders in securities fraud litigation resulting in a $79 million settlement.

•       A Cayman Islands hedge fund in securities litigation involving Navios Maritime Containers L.P.

•       Plaintiffs in securities litigation against General Instrument, resulting in a $48 million settlement on the eve of trial.

Mergers & Acquisitions Litigation

•       Shareholders of Cole Real Estate Investments in merger litigation resulting in an additional $64 million in merger consideration.

•       Shareholders of Callisto Pharmaceuticals in merger litigation resulting in a settlement valued at more than $11 million.

•       Shareholders of Brooklyn Federal Bancorp in litigation resulting in an approximately 8.75% increase in the acquisition price.

•       Naphtha Israel Petroleum Corporation in breach-of-fiduciary-duty litigation in the Delaware Court of Chancery arising from a going-private transaction.

Governance and Derivative Litigation

•       An activist shareholder group in a proxy contest involving CytoDyn Inc., including litigation in the Delaware Court of Chancery.

•       Shareholders in litigation involving Craftmade International in the Delaware Court of Chancery.

•       A hedge fund in shareholder derivative litigation arising from the Bear Stearns collapse.

•       Investors in derivative litigation involving Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.

Complex Commercial Litigation

•       Seminole Electric Corporation in breach-of-contract litigation involving a long-term tolling agreement for a gas-fired power plant, obtaining summary judgment eliminating the lion’s share of claimed damages (approximately $750 million).

•       Australis Media Group in cross-border litigation against News Corp. and major film studios including Sony, Universal Pictures, and Paramount Pictures.

Art Market and Cultural Property Disputes

•       A UK film producer in antitrust litigation against The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, a case widely cited in discussions of the evolving field of art law.

•       Art collectors in litigation against The Keith Haring Foundation involving authenticity determinations affecting approximately $40 million in artwork.

•       Collectors and investors in disputes involving works attributed to Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani, Jackson Pollock, and Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Defamation and Media Litigation

•       Judith Regan, publisher, in high-profile defamation and contract litigation against News Corporation and HarperCollins relating to the cancellation of a book involving O.J. Simpson.

Pro Bono Work

•       Hope Solo, former U.S. Women’s National Team goalkeeper, in arbitration before the United States Olympic Committee, resulting in reforms to grievance procedures to include athlete representation.

•       Families of victims of the September 11 attacks in proceedings before Special Master Kenneth Feinberg.

•       An indigent prisoner in a successful civil rights appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
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