Vanessa Richardson

Vanessa C. Richardson is member of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP. Vanessa joined the firm in 2014. Vanessa Richardson’s practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, with an emphasis on shareholder actions and corporate governance issues.

Vanessa has represented corporations, boards of directors and financial institutions in securities, M&A, shareholder derivative, and general commercial litigation.

EXPERIENCE:

• National Amusements Inc. (NAI), Shari Redstone, and Sumner Redstone in Delaware Chancery Court litigation against CBS Corporation and certain members of its Board of Directors concerning CBS’s attempt to dilute NAI’s voting control of CBS, ending in a favorable resolution that rescinded the dilutive stock dividend and the dismissal of all claims.
• Petrobras, PGF and current and former officers and directors in securities class action litigation and dozens of individual actions in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in connection with Operation Carwash (Operação Lava Jato) — reportedly the largest corruption scandal in Latin American history.
• Synutra International and a special committee of the board in state and federal shareholder litigation alleging breaches of fiduciary duty related to a take-private transaction.
• Bank of America, in its role as lender to Providence Services, in connection with a pending challenge to financing for Providence’s acquisition of another company.
• Kindred Healthcare in shareholder litigation challenging its acquisition of Gentiva Healthcare.
• Alpha Natural Resources in various matters before the Delaware Court of Chancery, including the successful dismissal of shareholder derivative claims brought against Massey Energy, which the Firm assisted Alpha in acquiring.
• Numerous parties in governmental and internal investigations including whistleblower investigations.
• Various clients in litigation disputes relating to requests for international discovery, both in the context of applications to the U.S. federal courts under 28 U.S.C. §1782 for discovery in the United States in aid of foreign proceedings, and U.S. requests for discovery from abroad.

ACTIVITIES:

• Member, Federal Courts Committee, New York City Bar Association
• Managing Editor, New York University Law Review, New York University School of Law

EDUCATION:

• New York University School of Law, J.D., 2013
• American University, B.A., 2008

BAR ADMISSIONS:

• New York
• U.S. District Court, Eastern and Southern Districts of New York