Jonathan E. Richman
Partner
Jonathan Richman is a partner in the Litigation Department and is a co-chair of the Securities, M&A and Corporate Governance Litigation Practice Group. Mr. Richman has broad experience in a range of civil litigation matters, including securities litigation and investigations, shareholder derivative litigation, insurance sales-practices suits, antitrust litigation, bankruptcy proceedings, product-liability litigation, and employment and ERISA suits.
Representative Matters
Defended various companies in massive securities class actions and related individual, ERISA, and derivative actions (including Royal Dutch/Shell, Zurich Financial Services, Global Crossing, Waste Management, Vestas Wind Systems);
Represented companies in landmark non-U.S. collective settlements of securities claims under Dutch law in the Netherlands (Royal Dutch/Shell, Zurich Financial Services);
Represented Special Committee of energy-services company in derivative actions alleging FCPA violations, abuse of government contracts, environmental violations, and other conduct;
Represented Special Litigation Committee of a technology company in pursuing options-backdating claims against former officers and directors;
Represented insurance company in investigation of executive-compensation issues;
Represented issuers and accountants in SEC investigations;
Defended insurance companies in class actions and individual lawsuits involving insurance sales practices, underwriting issues, management fees, and antitrust issues (Zurich Financial Services, MetLife, American General, New York Life);
Represented international energy company in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigation;
Represented companies in litigation arising from mergers, acquisitions, and tender offers;
Defended a former manufacturer of asbestos-containing products in numerous lawsuits;
Defended Mobil Oil Corporation in age-discrimination and ERISA class actions and individual suits arising from a pension-plan amendment.
Selected Activities
Member, American Bar Association
Consumer Financial Services Committee
International Law Section
Litigation Section
Member, Federal Bar Council
Committee on Second Circuit Courts
The Association of the Bar of the City of New York
Board Member, American Friends of Lucerne Festival (2011-2012)
Board Member, ACMP Associated Chamber Music Players (2007-2013)
President, Board of Trustees, Kinhaven Music School, Weston, Vermont (1997-2001, 2003-2005)
Debevoise & Plimpton LLP (1983-2005; Counsel, 1992-2005)
Clerk to the Hon. Edward R. Becker, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, 1982-1983
Directory Rankings
Mentioned in Legal 500 US 2011 – Securities: Shareholder Litigation
New York Super Lawyers 2006 – Metro
Publications
Co-author, “Fraud? Foreign Purchase? Forget It! ‘Foreign-Cubed’ and Other Foreign-Issuer Cases After Morrison ,” Rev . of Secs . & Commodities Reg ., vol. 44, no. 4 (Feb. 23, 2011).
Author, “Supreme Court Clarifies Statute of Limitations in Securities-Fraud Actions,” Derivatives Financial Prods . Rpt ., vol. 11, no. 10, at 23 (June 2010).
Author, “Transnational Class Actions and Judgment Recognition,” Class Action Litigation Report (June 25, 2010).
Co-author, “Pushing the Limits of U.S. Securities Laws: ‘Foreign-Cubed’ (‘F-Cubed’) Cases,” 42 SRLR 10 (March 8, 2010).
Co-author, “Assignees Have Discovery Obligations When Asserting Assignors’ Claims,” Journal of Payment Systems Law (June/July 2005).
“Punitive Damages: Past, Present and Future,” International Commercial Litigation (July/August 1995).
Co-author and editor, Takeovers: Attack and Survival (1987).
Co-author, “New Life for State Takeover Statutes?,” New York Law Journal (July 27, 1987).
Co-author, “Damages in Defamation Actions,” Damages in Tort Actions (1985).
“Facial Adjudication of Disciplinary Provisions in Union Constitutions,” Yale Law Journal (1981).
Presentations
Practising Law Institute: “Handling a Securities Case: From Investigation to Trial and Everything in Between” (April 2012).
Institutional Investor Educational Foundation: Corporate Governance Roundtable Forum (December 2011).
Institutional Investor Educational Foundation Amsterdam Roundtable: “The Netherlands and the Future of European Securities Litigation” (September 2011).
Summer Institute on Law & Government, American Univ. Washington College of Law: “Securities Class Actions – An Update” (June 2010).
ABA Section on Litigation Annual Conference: “Global Class Actions: Lasting Peace or Ticking Time Bombs?” (April 2010).
Education
Yale Law School, 1982, J.D., Senior Editor, Yale Law Journal , 1981-1982
Princeton University, 1978, A.B., summa cum laude , Phi Beta Kappa
Bar Admissions
Court Admissions
U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals, 3rd Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals, 10th Circuit
U.S. District Court, Southern and Eastern Districts of New York