Stefan Atkinson, P.C.

Securities Litigation

• Representing Pitney Bowes and certain of its directors and officers in litigation brought under the federal securities laws in state court in Connecticut relating to a 2017 Pitney Bowes debt offering. Won a contested motion to stay discovery under the PSLRA during the pendency of a motion to dismiss, the first defense counsel to do so in a reported decision in more than two decades. Also handling related derivative litigation.
• Representing 3G Capital, one of Kraft Heinz’s largest shareholders, in a putative securities class action and derivative litigation filed in federal court in New York, Illinois and Pennsylvania related to a write-down of Kraft’s assets and the disclosure of an SEC investigation.
• Represented Xerox and certain of its directors and officers in a purported securities fraud class action brought in New York federal court alleging false and misleading statements regarding the profitability and prospects of a Xerox software product. Won dismissal in March 2018; affirmed by the Second Circuit in June 2019.
• Represented Qualcomm and certain of its directors and officers in a securities suit brought in California federal court arising from antitrust investigations and litigation brought by Apple and the FTC concerning the company’s licensing and chip businesses.
• Represented Mylan and certain of its directors and officers in securities litigation in New York federal court relating to the company’s classification of the EpiPen® under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program, as well as antitrust allegations against the company.

M&A / Corporate Governance Litigation

• Representing Vitamin Shoppe and its directors in purported securities class actions in federal court in Delaware and New Jersey challenging disclosures made in connection with the pending $200 million acquisition of Vitamin Shoppe by Liberty Tax.
• Representing ArcLight Capital Partners, one of its portfolio companies, and certain officers and directors in purported class action litigation filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery relating to ArcLight’s merger with American Midstream Partners, in which plaintiffs assert claims for breach of the limited partnership agreement, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and unjust enrichment.
• Representing Liqui-Box and Olympus Partners in litigation filed in New York federal court arising from Liqui-Box’s pending $585 million acquisition of the plastics division of D.S. Smith.
• Representing U.S. Silica Company in litigation filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery concerning a shareholder books and records demand arising out of the company’s $750 million acquisition of EP Minerals.
• Represented the former Alliant CEO and Orbital Director in a putative securities class action filed in Virginia federal court arising from Orbital’s restatement of financial information following its merger with Alliant Techsystems. The case settled.
• Represented H.J. Heinz in securities and fiduciary duty litigation in state and federal court in Virginia and Illinois relating to the company’s $60 billion merger with Kraft. The cases settled, and the transaction closed.
• Represented Mylan and its directors in fiduciary duty and merger litigation in federal court in New York and Pennsylvania concerning Teva’s proposed takeover of Mylan, Mylan’s proposed takeover of Perrigo and Mylan’s acquisition of certain assets from Abbott Laboratories. Successfully defended against a preliminary injunction motion brought by Perrigo in New York federal court, and won dismissal of a shareholder claim brought in Pennsylvania federal court.
• Represented Qualcomm and its directors in derivative litigation in federal court in Delaware relating to allegations concerning Qualcomm’s securities disclosures and business activities. The plaintiff voluntarily dismissed the case in March 2018 following briefing on defendants’ second motion to dismiss.
• Represented Spectranetics and its directors in purported shareholder class actions in Colorado federal court relating to the company’s €1.9 billion acquisition by Philips. The cases settled, after which the deal closed.
• Represented Starwood Hotels and its directors in fiduciary duty litigation in Maryland state court relating to the company’s $13.3 billion combination with Marriott. Won dismissal of the case, prior to the close of the transaction.
• Represented Xerox in litigation in Texas federal court brought by Darwin Deason, the former founder, chairman and CEO of Affiliated Computer Services, which Xerox acquired in 2010, concerning the treatment of Mr. Deason’s preferred stock in Xerox’s planned spin‑off of its Business Process Outsourcing business. The parties settled the case and the spin-off was consummated.
• Represented The Williams Companies and its directors and officers in securities, fiduciary duty and merger agreement litigation in Delaware Chancery Court, Delaware Supreme Court and federal court in Oklahoma, all relating to the company’s now-terminated $37.7 billion combination with Energy Transfer Equity. Most recently, the Tenth Circuit in May 2018 affirmed dismissal of a securities suit brought against Williams, its CEO and its former CFO.

Other Commercial Litigation

• Represented Barnes & Noble in purported class action litigation in New York federal court involving claims under the Video Privacy Protection Act and related New York law. Defeated a motion for a preliminary injunction in 2017, and won a motion to compel the case to arbitration in January 2018. The Second Circuit dismissed the appeal in March 2019.
• Represented Mylan in patent litigation in federal court in West Virginia regarding Mylan’s Perforomist® product, resulting in a ruling in Mylan’s favor following trial.
• Represented Qualcomm in antitrust litigation and investigations in the U.S. and abroad, including coordinated litigation against Apple and the FTC in federal court in California and an investigation by China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in Beijing.

*Some representations occurred prior to joining Kirkland

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, 2011–2018

CNN, 2003–2006