Gerard Trippitelli represents corporations, and their officers and directors, in securities litigation matters. His practice covers federal securities class actions, derivative suits, mergers and acquisitions litigation, corporate governance disputes, insider trading litigation, SEC investigations, NASDAQ proceedings and internal investigations. Mr. Trippitelli also regularly counsels clients on Delaware corporate law and federal securities law issues arising in the transactional context. He is a member of the firm's Securities Litigation, Public Company and Corporate Governance, and Mergers and Acquisitions practice groups.

Mr. Trippitelli's recent clients include the following companies and/or their officers and directors: REMEC Incorporated, Broadcom Corporation, Foundry Networks, Inc., Southwest Water Company, Jamba Juice Company, JDA Software Corp., Arthrocare Corporation, Connetics Corporation, Rubio’s Restaurants, Inc., KOR Electronics, Surebeam Corporation, and TITAN Corp.

Representative Matters

In re REMEC Securities Litigation. Represented REMEC and two of its former directors and/or officers in a federal securities class action filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. Our motion for summary judgement was granted on all counts in favor of our clients and the case was dismissed with prejudice

In re Broadcom Corporation Derivative and Securities Litigation. Represented two Broadcom directors in state and federal court derivative actions, federal class action, SEC investigation and DOJ investigation asserting claims based on the alleged backdating of stock options. Negotiated favorable settlements on behalf of clients in civil actions, to which clients did not make any monetary contributions. The SEC and DOJ did not pursue claims against the clients

In re Southwest Water Corporation Derivative and Securities Litigation. Representing SouthWest Water Corporation and its directors and officers in a federal court securities class action and derivative action arising from a restatement. Our demurrer in the derivative action was sustained with leave to amend. Plaintiffs did not file an amended complaint, effectively ending the case. Our motion to dismiss the securities class action was granted with prejudice.

Edrington v. Johnson, et al. Represented the directors of Foundry Networks in a class action alleging breach of fiduciary duty in connection with the negotiation and approval of a merger between Foundry Networks and Brocade Communications Systems valued at approximately $3 billion. Successfully defended plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction seeking to enjoin the Foundry Networks shareholder meeting based on alleged omissions in Foundry Networks’ proxy statement. Negotiated a favorable disclosure only settlement without payment of monetary damages

In re Foundry Networks, Inc. Derivative Litigation. Represented Foundry Networks and its directors and officers in state and federal court derivative actions asserting claims arising from the alleged backdating of stock options. Negotiated a favorable settlement on behalf of clients in state and federal derivative actions. Successfully represented clients in related SEC and NASDAQ proceedings

Alexandros v. KOR Electronics. Representing KOR Electronics and its directors and officers in a derivative action asserting claims based on a preferred stock financing. Won three week trial with final judgment entered in favor of clients on all claims. Our motion for attorneys’ fees is pending and the court has entered a tentative ruling granting our clients approximately $1.6 million in attorneys’ fees

LeBron v. FutureTrade Technologies, Inc. Represented FutureTrade Technologies, Inc. in a shareholder action arising from its acquisition by Interactive Brokers. Achieved favorable settlement to which FutureTrade did not make a direct monetary contribution

Liu v. JDA Software Group, Inc. Represented JDA Software Group and its current and former directors and officers in a derivative action asserting claims based on the alleged backdating of stock options. Plaintiff voluntarily dismissed the derivative complaint in response to Defendants’ motion to dismiss. It was the first known stock option derivative action voluntarily dismissed

Lee v. ArthroCare Corp. Represented ArthroCare and its current and former directors and officers in a federal court derivative action asserting claims based on the alleged backdating of stock options. The court granted a motion to dismiss the complaint, and Plaintiffs did not amend their complaint

In re Titan Inc Securities Litigation. Represented an individual defendant in this federal securities case and in parallel state court derivative litigation. Both cases settled while dispositive motions were pending

In re SureBeam Derivative Litigation. Represented the officers and directors of SureBeam Corporation in a consolidated derivative suit filed by SureBeam’s bankruptcy trustee. The case settled on favorable terms after mediation

Cyber Dyne Liquidating Corp. v. All Optical Networks, Inc., et al. Represented officers and directors in a derivative action. The court sustained demurrers to the first and second amended complaints with leave to amend. Plaintiff voluntarily dismissed the action while the demurrer to the third amended complaint was pending

Mr. Trippitelli also represented an investor in an action brought in the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma by a public company to prevent the investor’s candidacy for the company’s board of directors at its annual meeting, and positioned the investor to negotiate an extremely favorable settlement with the company

Prior Matters

At his previous firm, Mr. Trippitelli assisted in the appellate securities class action representation of Frontier Insurance Group (dismissal with prejudice by the Southern District of New York affirmed by the Second Circuit) and Prime Retail (dismissal with prejudice by the District of Maryland affirmed by the Fourth Circuit). He assisted in the securities class action defense of Humphrey Hospitality Trust (dismissed by the District of Maryland), and the former Chief Financial Officer of Anicom, Inc. (Northern District of Illinois). He also assisted in the successful representation of Hewlett-Packard in litigation arising from its merger with Compaq Computer, and Network Associates in a shareholder action alleging breach of fiduciary duty arising out of its tender offer for shares of McAfee.com.