James (Jim) G. Kreissman , senior West Coast litigator and Head of the Firm’s Asia Litigation Practice, focuses on securities litigation, government and internal investigations, M&A litigation, and antitrust litigation.
Jim currently represents or has recently represented clients in numerous securities litigation and investigatory matters for corporations, financial institutions and their officers and directors. Many of Jim’s recent matters involve companies in internet and technology-related areas, such as Alibaba, Cyanotech, Dell, Etsy, Infineon AG, Intel, Seagate, Twitter and JDS Uniphase. Recent representations include:
- Alibaba in connection with multiple federal and California securities lawsuits and an SEC investigation related to its historic $25 billion IPO concerning certain disclosure and accounting issues.
- Nu Skin Enterprises in recently resolved federal securities class action and shareholder derivative suits arising from a government investigation into the company’s compensation practices in China, as well as an SEC investigation raising novel legal issues relating to a charitable contribution made by the company in China.
- Twitter in federal securities class actions and related shareholder derivative lawsuits challenging Twitter’s statements with respect to its user engagement, and in a California securities class action challenging statements made in connection with Twitter’s IPO.
- Focus Media Holding Limited in an SEC investigation and various class action suits related to disclosure of related party transactions.
- Certain former officers and directors of Lehman Brothers in various civil and regulatory matters relating to Lehman’s bankruptcy.
- Former officers and directors of Cendant Corporation in numerous civil class action suits, SEC investigations and criminal matters.
Jim has in-depth experience with litigation related to mergers or acquisitions, and shareholder derivative claims. Some of his current and/or recent derivative or M&A litigation clients include Blum Capital, Captaris, C.B. Richard Ellis, Chevron, Cyanotech, Elevation Partners, Facet Biotech, Hellman & Friedman, KKR and Silver Lake Partners. Recent representations include:
- Recently headed up the successful defense of multi-jurisdictional litigation challenging Silver Lake’s marquee 2013 leveraged buyout of Dell, Inc. and also was involved in the hotly contested appraisal litigation brought in Delaware by Dell shareholders who challenged the purchase price of the buy-out. He has also been involved in litigation challenging Dell’s subsequent $67 billion acquisition of EMC Corporation in 2016
- Directors of Chevron Corporation, recently obtained a dismissal in a derivative lawsuit relating to the 2012 Richmond Refinery fire
- Silver Lake Partners in connection with a derivative lawsuit concerning its acquisition of Skype from eBay and subsequent resale to Microsoft
Jim has represented numerous special litigation committees and audit committees in connection with various civil, criminal and regulatory matters, including work for Archer Daniels Midland, BEA Systems, Clorox, LDK Solar, Levi Strauss, Oracle, Verifone and Westar Energy. Jim has also conducted numerous internal investigations for companies relating to accounting, tax and regulatory compliance matters.
Jim has been named one of the best antitrust lawyers in the Bay Area by Bay Area Lawyer Magazine. He has worked on a number of antitrust matters with a particular emphasis on the representation of corporations accused of price-fixing or other anticompetitive behavior in both civil and criminal matters. His representative matters include:
- Hannstar and Chimei-Iinnolux in various class and individual lawsuits relating to alleged price-fixing in the TFT-LCD industry
- Elpida Memory in criminal and civil litigation relating to alleged price fixing in the DRAM industry
- Virgin Atlantic Airlines (airline fuel surcharge)
- Appleton Papers, Inc. (fax paper)
- Haynes International (high nickel alloy steel)
- Archer Daniels Midland Corporation (food additives)
In 2011, Jim created the Firm’s Asia Litigation Practice, which coordinates the efforts of the Firm’s litigators to serve the litigation needs of Asia-based clients. Jim has headed this group since its inception and devotes a substantial part of his practice to the representation of Asia-based clients and Asia-based offices of international corporations and firms with respect to government and internal investigations, securities, antitrust, intellectual property and international arbitration matters. Asia Litigation clients include: Alibaba; Focus Media; Lightinthebox.com; LDK Solar; New Oriental; Nu Skin.
Jim is a frequent lecturer to lawyers, public company directors, law students and others on securities litigation and related matters. He has also written extensively in this area and chaired various conferences. He co-chaired the PLI Merger Litigation Conference and was a featured speaker at the Silicon Valley Association of General Counsel All Hands Conference, where he spoke about litigation issues in China.
Jim has been a Partner at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP since 1997. He received his A.B. degree, magna cum laude, from Dartmouth College in 1984 and his J.D. from the University of Virginia Law School in 1987, where he was awarded the Order of the Coif. He was a law clerk to the Hon. Albert J. Engel, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit from 1987 to 1988. He is admitted to practice in New York and California, as well as numerous federal courts across the country
Education:
- University of Virginia School of Law, 1987 J.D.
- Order of the Coif; Editorial Board, Virginia Law Review
- Dartmouth College, 1984 B.A.
- magna cum laude; Phi Beta Kappa
Associations:
- The Association of the Bar of the City of New York
- American Bar Association
Admissions:
- New York 1989
- California 2000
- U.S. District Court Southern District of New York 1989
- U.S. District Court Northern District of California 2000
- U.S. Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit 1995
- U.S. Tax Court 1994
Cost
Rate : $$$
