Chapman Partners represents investors, funds, companies, and business leaders in high-stakes litigation involving complex corporate, investment, and financial disputes.

The firm’s lawyers have extensive experience across jurisdictions representing clients in disputes involving corporate governance, investment relationships, shareholder rights, and complex financial transactions. Our work frequently arises from fraud, breach of contract, contested corporate control situations, distressed investments, and disputes involving alternative investment structures.

We represent clients in litigation and arbitration in state and federal courts across the United States, including the Delaware Court of Chancery, as well as in cross-border disputes involving multiple jurisdictions.

Our lawyers regularly advise clients on matters involving:

•       State and federal securities laws.

•       Corporate governance and shareholder disputes.

•       Investment and partnership disputes.

•       Business-to-business disputes.

•       Activism-related litigation and proxy contest disputes.

•       Contested mergers and acquisitions.

•       Litigation finance matters.

•       Fiduciary duty claims and control disputes.

•       Distressed investment and restructuring litigation.

•       Cross-border commercial disputes.

Many disputes involve overlapping corporate, securities, and financial considerations. Chapman Partners approaches these matters with a strategic perspective, combining litigation experience with a deep understanding of corporate governance, financial markets, and investment structures.

Where appropriate, we also assist clients in resolving disputes through negotiation and other alternative dispute mechanisms with the objective of achieving practical and commercially sound outcomes.

The firm’s dispute work often arises from the complex corporate and investment matters on which we advise our clients, allowing us to approach disputes with a deep understanding of the underlying business and financial issues.

Representative Experience

The firm’s lawyers have represented clients in complex litigation resulting in billions of dollars in judgments, settlements, and defended claims. Representative matters of the firm’s lawyers have included advising:

•       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.

•       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.

•       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 in the Southern District of New York, resulting in a $79 million settlement.

•       Shareholders of Cole Real Estate Investments in merger litigation that resulted 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.

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

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

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

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

•       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.

*Additional representative matters may be discussed upon request, subject to client confidentiality obligations.