Melanie E. Walker

Melanie’s recent experience includes the following:

• Lead counsel in a private arbitration arising out of an asset purchase agreement. Obtained a complete victory for the claimant and defeated crossclaim for fraud and indemnification.
• Lead trial counsel for T-Mobile subsidiary MetroPCS in a federal preemption challenge to resolutions adopted by the California Public Utilities Commission brought in the Northern District of California. Following a bench trial involving highly technical accounting and telecommunications law issues, the judge held the resolutions were preempted as applied to MetroPCS and issued a permanent injunction blocking their enforcement.
• Lead counsel for GigCapital3, Inc., its officers and directors, and related entities in a class action brought under the federal securities laws in the District of Colorado related to Gig3’s merger with Lightning eMotors, a manufacturer of electric vehicles for commercial fleets. Won dismissal of the securities class action complaint and then obtained a global settlement of the securities class action and related actions against the same defendants in Colorado and Delaware.
• Lead counsel for multiple SPAC sponsors, officers, and directors in lawsuits filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery. Plaintiffs’ theory in these cases is largely based on an article by a Stanford law professor criticizing common attributes of SPACs.
• Lead litigation counsel in adversary proceeding in the Bankruptcy District of Delaware brought by stockholders and officers and directors in subsidiary after those same individuals were found liable to the company in a related arbitration.
• Lead counsel for company and officers and directors in Delaware Court of Chancery action brought by stockholders in healthcare company acquired through business combination agreement.
• Lead counsel for co-founder and majority shareholder in online used car retailer in securities class action in the District of Arizona. Obtained dismissal with prejudice of Rule 10b-5 claims.
• Lead trial counsel in California state court action brought by former CFO. After cross-examination at trial, plaintiff’s expert’s opinion on valuation was excluded, resulting in directed verdict on breach of contract claim based on stock appreciation rights plan. Prevailed on counterclaim for breach of fiduciary duty.
• Lead counsel for Black Girls CODE, a California public benefit corporation that provides technical education to girls of color, in two actions in the Superior Court of California and an action in the Northern District of California brought by the organization’s founder and former CEO. These high-profile raised important corporate governance issues. Melanie convinced the plaintiff to voluntarily dismiss the federal action and the state court actions settled thereafter.
• Lead counsel for a structured debt and equity fund in a confidential arbitration proceeding related to an earnout adjustment. Achieved a favorable settlement after prevailing on a key contract interpretation issue.
• Lead counsel to the audit committee of a public company charged with conducting an expedited, cross-border internal investigation related to revenue accounting. Following the internal investigation, no action was taken by the SEC or other regulators.
• Lead counsel for a foreign company in a purchase price adjustment dispute following the sale of certain subsidiaries to a US private investment firm.
• Obtained a US$62 million arbitration award on behalf of an asset owned by a private infrastructure equity investment fund in an action against the City of Chicago.