David M. Brodsky is a partner in the New York office of Latham & Watkins, and Co-Chair of the Securities Litigation and Professional Liability Practice Group. Prior to joining Latham & Watkins, Mr. Brodsky served as Managing Director and General Counsel – Americas at Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) from 1999 to 2002, and was chairman of the Litigation Department of Schulte Roth & Zabel from 1980 to 1999.
With more than 30 years trial experience as both a federal prosecutor and private practitioner, Mr. Brodsky’s practice focuses primarily on securities litigation with particular focus on securities class actions, SEC and other regulatory investigations and enforcement actions, and white collar criminal inquiries and prosecutions.
In recent years, in publicly-reported matters, he has represented Agria Corp., Ameriprise, Cambrex, CIBC, Cowen & Company, DeutscheBank, E&Y, Emcor, Footstar, Hecla Mining Corp., Nash Finch Company, Morgan Stanley, and Société Générale, and the senior executives of many public companies. In enforcement and other private matters, he has represented numerous Audit Committees, Boards of Directors, and officers, including CEOs, CFOs, and General Counsel, of publicly-traded and privately-held companies, both domestic and foreign.
Mr. Brodsky's matters have also included:
Represents executive vice president and head of credit products of global financial services company in DOJ and SEC investigations of fair value accounting of credit default swap portfolio;
Represents foreign investment bank in arbitration arising out of financial derivatives linked to hedge fund of funds;
Represents NYSE-listed company, whose home office is in Singapore, in SEC investigation regarding accounting issues giving rise to restatement of financial statements;
Represents foreign investment bank in civil litigation arising out of the collapse of Bernard Madoff Investment Securities LLC;
Represented Ameriprise Inc. in SEC investigation into sales practices involving revenue sharing, resulting in settled administrative proceeding;
Represented CEO of Fortune 100 company in class and derivative litigation, SEC enforcement investigation, and Special Litigation Committee investigation regarding stock option accounting and dating issues;
Represented NYSE-listed company in SEC investigation regarding accounting issues giving rise to restatement of financial statements, ending in no charges being brought;
Represented Audit Committee of Refco, Inc. in internal investigation relating to disclosure that former CEO failed to disclose related party transactions;
Represented the Audit Committee of international financial institution with respect to Section 10A issues raised by its external auditor, with our report of internal investigation being accepted by the auditor and the 10A issues withdrawn;
Represented CEO of a public company indicted for insider trading, who was ultimately acquitted;
Represented Nash Finch in successful injunction hearing regarding an alleged event of default of convertible bonds;
Represented CIBC in successful defense of federal securities class action in District Court and Court of Appeals in District of Columbia;
Represented Société Générale in successful defense of federal securities class action in District of Massachusetts;
Advised Board of Directors of foreign banking institution on their litigation exposure to US regulatory inquiries and class action litigation.
Represented senior executive of mutual fund complex in connection with hedge fund and market-timing activities in investigations by the SEC and NYS Attorney General, in which the senior executive was completely exonerated;
Represented Morgan Stanley in securities class action concerning the IPO of telephone equipment supplier; motion to dismiss partially granted, and case settled for no out-of-pocket contribution by Morgan Stanley.
As a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers, Mr. Brodsky serves on the Access to Justice Committee of the Downstate New York Committee, and is a member of the Federal Criminal Procedure Committee of the national College. He is also a Life Member of the American Law Institute. Mr. Brodsky was named in The International Who’s Who of Business Crime Lawyers 2010 as a leader in the field of business crime defense. He has consistently been named by Chambers & Partners as one of the best business lawyers in the United States in securities litigation, “bet-the-company” litigation, white-collar criminal litigation and enforcement matters. He is also recognized as a Tier 1 “Star” securities litigator in both the Euromoney Institutional Investor Benchmark: Litigation 2009 and 2010 guides. He has also been cited as a leading attorney in the US Legal 500 Litigation Guide for White Collar defense and is listed in the 2010 Best Lawyers in America survey in the Bet-the-Company Litigation category.
Mr. Brodsky has written numerous works on litigation topics, including:
- Federal Securities Litigation: A Deskbook for the Practitioner (co-author), DataTrace Publishing Company;
- Recommended Practices in the Conduct of Internal Investigations (principal draftsman), American College of Trial Lawyers, 2008;
- Recent developments in the enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Journal of Securities Compliance, Volume 1, Issue 3 (2008) (co-author);
- Update on the Corporate Attorney-Client Privilege, The Sedona Conference Journal, Fall 2007;
- Want to Certify a Class Action?, New York Law Journal, Dec. 4, 2006 (co-author);
- Under Fire: The Corporate Attorney-Client Privilege, Inside Litigation, Spring 2005;
- The Role of Forensic Accounting in Identifying and Reacting to Allegations of Financial Fraud and Employee Misconduct, in WHAT EVERY LAWYER NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT FORENSIC ACCOUNTING 39 (PLI Corp. L. & Practice, Course Handbook Series No. 7444, 2005);
- Private Actions and Private Rights: Current Hot Topics in Securities Litigation, 1151 PLI/Corp. 773 (1999);
- "Opening Statements" in Business and Commercial Litigation in Federal Courts, West Publishing (annual);
- "Judgments" in Commercial Litigation in New York State Courts, West Publishing (annual);
- "The Planning Process" in Successful Partnering Between Inside and Outside Counsel, West Publishing (annual).
Mr. Brodsky is a frequent lecturer in forums on shareholder class actions, securities enforcement, both civil and criminal, internal investigations, corporate attorney-client privilege, corporate ethics, and the roles of audit committees and boards of directors in crisis management in programs sponsored by the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Practicing Law Institute, American Lawyer Conferences, Sedona Conferences, American Conference Institute and the Conference Board Member Magazine. He is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Securities Law, Regulation & Compliance.
Mr. Brodsky has had an active career as well in public service and pro bono activities. Following a clerkship to a Federal District judge, he served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York and an Associate Independent Counsel (In the Matter of Michael Deaver). He is a member of the Board of the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy. He was Chairman of New York Lawyers for the Public Interest and a member of the Board and of the Executive Committee of that public interest law firm for twenty years. He currently is Director Emeritus and an advisor to the Executive Director. Until June 2009, he was also a member of the Board of Equal Justice Works, the national pro bono organization, and served as Chair of the Nominating Committee. He is a member of the Nominating Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.
Mr. Brodsky is a member of the New York and District of Columbia Bars, and is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the Courts of Appeals for the Second, Third and D.C. Circuits, and before the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern District of New York and the Northern District of Texas.