Meredith Landy

Partner

Meredith Landy is a partner in O’Melveny’s Silicon Valley office and is also its Litigation Department leader.  Meredith’s primary area of practice is securities litigation and defending issuers, officers, directors, underwriters and venture capital firms in shareholder class action and derivative litigation in state and federal court.  She has extensive experience in investigations initiated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Justice, and other federal and state agencies as well as self-regulatory organizations.  She also counsels public and private companies on a host of securities-related issues, including Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, Regulation FD, how to deal with Wall Street, and insider trading liability.  The Legal 500 United States has recognized Meredith among the top securities litigators in its 2010 and 2008 rankings of the nation’s leading lawyers, describing her as having “excellent pedigree defending issuers, officers, directors, underwriters and venture capital firms,” and citing clients who praised her outstanding work with “overall strategy and the writing of documents” (2008).  She has also been named one of the “Top 100 Women Litigators” in California by the Daily Journal.

Illustrative Professional Experience

• Obtained complete defense win in jury trial on behalf of an investment bank sued in an action seeking over US$330 million in damages based on an alleged oral guarantee to take a start-up company public at a specific valuation
• Obtained numerous dismissals with prejudice in securities class actions alleging claims under Rule 10b-5 and ’33 Act
• Negotiated “walkaways” of securities class actions in cases alleging hundreds of millions of dollars in damages
• Counseled numerous companies through crisis scenarios, resulting in litigation avoidance and/or no initiation of regulatory proceedings
• Represented numerous individuals in SEC proceedings, resulting in no regulatory action taken against client

Professional Activities

Admitted to Practice,  US District Court, Northern, Central and Southern Districts of California
Member,  American Bar Association, California Bar Association, Bar Association of San Francisco
Speaker,  “Mission Critical Disputes (How to Get to Settlement),” Stanford Law School’s Directors’ College 2010; “Special Investigations,” Stanford Law School’s Directors’ College 2009; “Today’s Securities Litigation Frontier - Plaintiff and Defense Perspectives,” PLI’s Securities & Enforcement Institute 2009; “Liability for Securities Violations,” PLI’s Understanding the Securities Laws 2007; “Directors’ and Officers’ Liability Insurance,” PLI’s Securities & Enforcement Institute 2005; “Rule 23 Amendments,” O’Melveny’s Corporate Counsel seminar series, Menlo Park, California; “Cooking the Books,” California CPA Educational Foundation Advanced Fraud and Economic Damages Seminar; “Securities Law Update,” in Palo Alto (CA), Minneapolis (MN), Phoenix (AZ), and Seattle (WA); “Litigating the Class Action,” National Business Institute, San Jose, California; “Avoiding Securities Class Action Litigation and Dealing with Wall Street,” Norwest Venture Partners Private Company Forum; “IR and the Internet for Life Sciences Companies: A Regulatory Perspective for Understanding Internet Abuses including Chat Rooms, Spam E-mails and Online Scams,” NASDAQ/AMEX Chief Financial Officer, General Counsel and Investor Relations Luncheon Program, Palo Alto, California; “Defending Securities Class Actions,” ALI-ABA Securities Litigation Program; “VC Litigation: When Entrepreneurs Attack,” VC TaskForce Litigation Outlook Series.
Articles,  “Rulings in Subprime Class-Action Suits Are Turning in Favor of Management,” Investor's Business Daily (April 27, 2009); “California Decision Defines Scope of Fiduciary Duties Owed by Directors of Insolvent Corporations to Creditors,” O’Melveny Alert (November 3, 2009); “Legislative Developments in Securities Litigation Reform,” Stanford Law School Tools for Executive Survival; “Minimize Securities Litigation Risks on Your Website,” BPH Securities Law Update