North America - United States • Dispute resolution
Goodwin
Goodwin has built a strong presence in M&A litigation across the country through its focus on key industry sector, notably technology, life sciences and real estate, and its highly regarded private equity practice also puts the firm in the frame for high-value disputes. It is ‘a commercially savvy firm that looks for cost-effective solutions’. Deborah Birnbach and Caroline Bullerjahn in Boston, Douglas Flaum and Jordan Weiss in New York (who is ‘insightful and able to quickly deduce strategic paths’), and Jonathan Shapiro in San Francisco lead the practice. Birnbach, who is a prominent member of the firm’s life sciences disputes group, is currently involved in a high-stakes class action on behalf of Citrix Systems, Inc. concerning its $16.5bn merger with Vista and Elliott, having already resolved eleven disclosure suits relating to the same deal. Flaum’s recent highlights include defeating two motions for preliminary injunction to stop a $1.2bn series of transactions closing for REITs including Cedar Realty Trust, Inc. Emerging partner talent Adam Slutsky also plays a central role in key matters.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Goodwin is foremost a commercially savvy firm. Their approach is to look for cost-effective solutions that properly balance negotiating hard and standing firm with finding the right point of compromise.’
‘Jordan Weiss (litigation partner) puts a premium on availability and quick response. He is insightful and able to quickly deduce strategic paths, which saves us time and money.’
Key clients
- Citrix
- Cedar Realty
- iRobot
- Bioverativ
- Qualtrics
- Berkshire Grey
- Concert Pharmaceuticals
- Magenta Therapeutics
- Zynerba Pharmaceutrical
- Globus Medical
- CLEMM Holdings
- Global Blood Therapeutics
- Jane Gol
- Nestle
- Casla Partners
Work highlights
- Defeated two motions for preliminary injunction seeking to stop a $1.2bn series of transactions from closing. Cedar, a publicly traded REIT, announced in March 2022 that it had entered agreements to sell a portion of its real estate portfolio for $840 million and, following that, merge with another publicly traded REIT.
- Represented Qualtrics in connection with its sale to Silver Lake for $12.5 billion in 2023, and represent Qualtrics directors in a breach of fiduciary duty suit in the Delaware Court of Chancery against those directors and affiliates of SAP, which was Qualtrics’ controlling stockholder prior to the sale.
- Retained to defend Global Blood Therapeutics against multiple shareholder securities lawsuits challenging its $5.4bn acquisition by Pfizer, Inc., which despite the litigation closed in late 2022.
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Caroline Bullerjahn, Deborah Birnbach, Douglas Flaum, Jonathan Shapiro, Jordan Weiss, Adam Slutsky