From the U.S. Supreme Court to federal circuit courts across the country, Chicago-based Kirkland & Ellis has been racking up major victories. Members of the appellate practice of about a dozen lawyers landed those wins for parties that included investment banks, generic pharmaceutical companies and federal judges.
In Credit Suisse v. Simmonds, Kirkland, representing Morgan Stanley and other investment banks, persuaded the Supreme Court that a two-year period for filing insider-trading suits concerning short-swing trading activity isn’t tolled until the insider-defendants submit a disclosure statement outlining ownership-interest changes. Partner Christopher Landau, who led the briefing and arguing of the case for the investment banks, said the Court’s 8-0 decision in March has made it more difficult for plaintiffs to bring the suits years after the complained-of activity. The case emerged from insider-trading suits brought against investment banks that had underwritten initial public offerings in the late 1990s and 2000.
