Sara Moghadam's primary areas of practice include business and securities litigation and counseling. Ms. Moghadam has defended both publicly traded and privately held companies and their officers and directors in litigation pending in state and federal courts. Ms. Moghadam's litigation experience encompasses a variety of corporate and securities issues, complex contractual disputes and business torts.

In 2007, Washingtonian magazine named her to its list of Washington's top lawyers.

Selected Recent Experience

• Current representation of an internet company and certain of its senior officers in defense of a series of securities fraud class actions, and parallel derivative litigation, pending in the state and federal courts in New Jersey. This litigation is still in its preliminary stage.
• Current representation of a former officer of a public corporation in a derivative suit and an ERISA class action pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in conjunction with related securities class actions.
• Defense of a multinational insurance and financial services company and certain of its senior officers in securities class actions filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The plaintiffs asserted claims against the company and certain of its senior officers under Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and controlling person claims against the officers. The Court granted the defendants' motion to dismiss, without providing the plaintiffs leave to amend. The plaintiffs have not appealed.
• Representation of receiver appointed by the United States District Court of the District of Columbia at the request of the Securities and Exchange Commission for the purpose of locating and collecting assets of an individual who committed securities fraud.
• Defense of a managed care company and its parent corporation in a test case filed in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia by a group of psychologists, one patient, and one subscriber. On our motion for summary judgment, the Court dismissed the plaintiffs' claims for fraud and tortious interference with contract and struck the plaintiffs' request for punitive damages. We also successfully opposed the plaintiffs' motion for leave to amend their complaint to assert an additional claim under the District's consumer protection statute. The remaining discrete contract claims were resolved. The D.C. Court of Appeals recently affirmed the trial court's summary judgment ruling and its order denying plaintiffs leave to amend their complaint.
• Defense of a corporation and its officers and directors against claims for breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, tortious interference with contract, and breach of contract pending in state court in New York. The plaintiffs, holders of preferred stock in the company, filed these claims in state court in New York after the firm obtained a dismissal of federal securities claims filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York by these same plaintiffs, which dismissal was affirmed on appeal. The state claims were similarly dismissed and that dismissal was also affirmed on appeal.
• Defense of one of the nation’s largest manufacturers of water heaters in a products liability class action filed in Texas. The trial court's decision certifying three nationwide classes of consumers was overturned on appeal.

Felvétel

• District of Columbia
• Maryland