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September 12, 2017
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP today announced that it has expanded its Global Litigation Group with the addition of three new partners.
Joining the firm’s securities, financial services and white collar defense and investigations practices are:
Blanche and Holloman will be resident in New York, while DeYoung will join the firm’s Washington, DC office.
“This is a very significant group of hires for us,” said Cadwalader managing partner Pat Quinn. “These are young, talented partners who will strengthen our seamless offering in commercial litigation and investigations. These are precisely the kind of partners best suited to serve Cadwalader’s natural client base.”
Added Jason Halper, chair of Cadwalader’s Global Litigation Group, “The sky’s the limit for Todd, Kyle and Ellen, and we see their arrival as a significant boost to our highly regarded litigation practices. Collectively, we believe they significantly strengthen the Global Litigation Group’s ability to offer clients top-tier representation in securities, white collar and financial litigation and regulatory matters.”
Blanche began his legal career at Davis Polk and left to clerk in the Southern District of New York for then-Federal District Court Judge Denny Chin, followed by a clerkship in the Eastern District of New York for the Honorable Joseph F. Bianco. He then joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. In addition to serving as lead or co-lead counsel on 15 jury trials, Todd served as co-chief of the Violent Crimes Unit and the White Plains Division, where he supervised investigations and prosecutions involving public corruption, securities fraud, bank and wire frauds, Medicare and federal program frauds and RICO and other criminal violations. An experienced trial and appellate lawyer, while in private practice at WilmerHale, Blanche has focused on investigations and white collar criminal matters.
“Todd is an exceptional alumnus from the Southern District,” said Washington, DC partner Jodi Avergun, chair of the firm’s White Collar Defense and Investigations practice, ”and his experience as an AUSA and a trial lawyer will be a great addition to our team. We are especially excited to be expanding our white collar practice to our New York office, which has been a long-term goal.”
Added Blanche, “The timing is perfect for me. I am joining a practice that is committed to growth and, in Kyle, Ellen and a number of the firm’s other partners and senior attorneys, I see natural opportunities to collaborate to serve our clients.”
In his role with the SEC, DeYoung counseled the Directors of Enforcement on matters related to enforcement investigations, policy and legislative proposals, and other matters. Prior to serving in this role, DeYoung was an Assistant Chief Litigation Counsel in the Division of Enforcement, where he tried cases involving violations of the federal securities laws. Before joining the SEC, DeYoung worked in the Government and Regulatory Litigation and Business Trial practice groups at WilmerHale.
“Kyle has been on the SEC’s front line of enforcement investigations,” Avergun said. “His insights and experience as both a trial attorney in the Enforcement Division and as a key counselor to the Director of Enforcement will afford our clients a unique perspective on the SEC’s current enforcement priorities and will be of tremendous benefit to them.”
Added DeYoung, “Cadwalader has an exceptional reputation for its securities litigation and financial services practices, and there is high potential for continued growth and expansion. This opportunity for me to help shape and expand the firm's litigation and investigations practices was very attractive.”
Holloman represents financial institutions, corporations and individuals in regulatory enforcement proceedings, corporate internal investigations and related civil litigation. She began her career both at Sullivan & Cromwell and Olshan Grundman, and has represented clients responding to regulatory inquiries, requests and enforcement proceedings initiated by the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and other U.S. regulatory agencies, as well as the European Commission and the UK Serious Frauds Office.
“Ellen brings to the firm an impressive background,” Halper said. “She has a successful track record representing clients in complex commercial litigation and regulatory matters, and her experience in bankruptcy litigation, a strength for the firm and an area that is incredibly busy, is a very attractive added bonus.”
Added Holloman, "Cadwalader has long been associated with the highest quality legal representation. It is a tremendous honor for me to join such an institution, and I am excited for the opportunity to support our impressive clients alongside an equally impressive and talented group of colleagues."
The new partners’ arrival is a continuation of Cadwalader’s strategy of expanding key strategic practices. In recent months, partner Kurt Oosterhouse bolstered the firm’s corporate finance practice with his arrival in Charlotte.
About Cadwalader’s Global Litigation Group
Cadwalader’s sophisticated and diverse Global Litigation Group is built on decades of experience achieving victories for clients in both high-profile and confidential matters before judicial and regulatory bodies around the world. The group includes attorneys resident in New York, Washington, DC, Charlotte, London and Brussels who handle all aspects of investigations, compliance and dispute resolution, including negotiation, mediation and arbitration. When litigation is necessary, the firm draws on substantial courtroom experience, skills in discovery, motion practice, and trial and appellate advocacy, as well as expertise in numerous substantive areas.
Clients include large corporations, their boards, audit committees, directors and senior officers in a number of industries, including energy, healthcare and technology; as well as financial sector participants, including global financial institutions, insurance companies and private equity, hedge and other investment funds.
About Cadwalader’s White Collar Defense and Investigations Practice
Cadwalader’s White Collar Defense & Investigations Group represents financial institutions, investment firms, broker-dealers, corporations, boards of directors, audit committees, non-governmental organizations, and individuals in criminal, civil, and administrative proceedings, trials, and appeals, as well as before Congress. Its attorneys have extensive expertise conducting internal investigations, managing risk assessments of U.S. and foreign entities and markets, and advising clients on developing, implementing, and training on corporate compliance programs. Cadwalader partners have also served as monitors as part of Department of Justice settlements.
Cadwalader’s White Collar Defense and Investigations group has extensive expertise advising clients on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the UK Bribery Act 2010, the Bank Secrecy Act, the False Claims Act and health care fraud, money laundering and asset forfeiture laws, the securities and commodities statutes, economic sanctions, criminal tax violations, health care fraud and abuse, controlled substances regulations, government procurement fraud, and cybersecurity and data privacy laws.
The group regularly represents clients before the Department of Justice, United States Attorneys’ Offices, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the Federal Reserve, the Department of the Treasury and its Office of Foreign Assets Control and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the Internal Revenue Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the various Inspectors General, the Department of Defense and its various agencies, the World Bank, and U.S. Congressional Committees.
About Cadwalader’s Corporate and Financial Services Litigation and Regulation Practice
Led by nationally-recognized attorneys, Cadwalader handles significant disputes arising out of virtually every kind of corporate transaction, from hotly-contested mergers and acquisitions to nationwide shareholder class action suits to high-profile government investigations and enforcement actions. In addition to many of the world's leading financial institutions, the firm represents major corporations in a variety of industries, boards of directors, corporate officers, and high net worth individuals. Cadwalader’s litigators represent clients in shareholder class actions, often following public offerings or events that are claimed to impact the price of securities, derivative suits, customer disputes, and a wide variety of other cases.
In addition, in concert with leading corporate advisors, the firm’s litigators regularly advise clients in the range of corporate control matters, including friendly and contested acquisitions, tender offers and proxy contests; consent solicitations; mergers; stock and asset purchases; joint ventures; and recapitalizations. They have represented both acquirers and targets in the M&A arena and have particular expertise counseling clients on their general defensive posture and preparedness in the event of control or takeover contests, including analyzing charter provisions, state takeover statutes, shareholder rights plans and strategic and financial structural defenses, as well as developing appropriate responses to specific takeover threats.
With some of the foremost authorities on issues of corporate governance, the group regularly provides counsel to management, directors and shareholders of leading businesses on the complete spectrum of business, securities and corporate governance matters, including contests for corporate control, affiliate transactions, buyout proposals, directors' oversight, fiduciary duty and liability issues, shareholder agreements, and succession planning. They also counsel buyers and sellers, as well as lenders, accounting firms and financial advisors, as to claims concerning breach of contract, fraud and misrepresentation, indemnification, and purchase price and post-closing adjustments.
With the increasing scrutiny of, and oversight by, the government and government agencies, Cadwalader’s team handles SEC investigations and enforcement actions, as well as those by other federal governmental and regulatory agencies, state securities agencies and SROs.
