Cravath, Swaine & Moore’s small but tight-knit securities litigation practice was instrumental in wiping out many prominent shareholder claims stemming from the financial crisis over the last two years, often on precedential grounds.
In a case brought by the National Credit Union Administration Board against Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC—for whom Cravath handles all residential mortgage-backed securities litigation—the firm obtained a precedential decision on time-barred claims while reducing its client’s exposure to less than half the case’s original $715 million value. For JPMorgan Chase & Co., the firm reduced a $774 million case over its Bear Stearns acquisition to $5.7 million—though it was vacated after the case was remanded to state court on jurisdictional grounds—and obtained a $26 million settlement of $558 million in damage claims over its purchase of Washington Mutual Inc. The firm used a novel argument in a case for Vivendi S.A.—challenging the “fraud on the market” presumption of reliance in a $3.5 million suit filed by Gamco Global Series Funds Inc.
