Joshua Hamilton, a first-chair trial lawyer and Co-Chair of the Los Angeles and Century City Litigation & Trial Department, represents companies, boards of directors, and senior executives in securities and corporate governance-related litigation and investigations, defense of class actions, and other high-stakes complex commercial litigation matters. Mr. Hamilton's clients range from emerging growth-stage through Fortune 500 companies, financial institutions, entertainment and media companies, investment firms, and partnerships. He is consistently recognized for successfully leading significant and complex matters in both California and other jurisdictions across the nation, and has served in leadership roles in the Los Angeles County and Federal Bar Associations.
Mr. Hamilton has established an extensive track record of delivering successful results for clients in complex litigation, trials, arbitrations, and appeals. In securities and corporate governance litigation, Mr. Hamilton has substantial experience representing public companies, private equity and venture capital firms, investment advisors, special purpose entities, investment banks, and officers and directors in securities class actions, shareholder derivative actions, corporate/derivative governance disputes, “deal cases” challenging mergers and acquisitions, and other investor-related disputes. Many of these cases involve claims arising out of public offerings, disclosure obligations, proxy contests, alleged insider trading, accounting practices, or allegations of breaches of fiduciary duties.
Mr. Hamilton also regularly represents clients in mission-critical commercial disputes that arise in the context of debt or equity raises, fiduciary duties, and contractual rights and obligations arising out of joint ventures, real estate-related matters, or media and entertainment disputes. He also has significant experience representing clients in disputes arising from founder and corporate ownership claims, competitor interference, class actions, and consumer protection. Mr. Hamilton also regularly represents clients in the entertainment and media, private capital, real estate, and financial services industries on pre-litigation strategies and diligence, resulting in many disputes that are resolved or avoided outside of litigation.
Mr. Hamilton also represents clients in internal investigations and in investigations and proceedings initiated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), US Department of Justice (DOJ), and other government agencies. He regularly counsels public and private companies and their boards on corporate governance and disclosure issues.
Among his recognitions, Mr. Hamilton has been consistently ranked in Chambers USA where clients noted he “fields significant expertise in securities litigation and investigations” and that they “could not more highly recommend him.” Benchmark Litigation named him a Benchmark Litigation Star in 2020-2024, Lawdragon selected him as one of their 500 Leading Litigators in America in their respective 2023 and 2024 editions, and The Best Lawyers in America recognized him in 2023 and 2024 for his high-caliber securities litigation work. In 2024, the Los Angeles Business Journal selected Mr. Hamilton as one of the Top 100 Lawyers in Los Angeles, and previously named him as one of the Top Litigators in Los Angeles in 2018, an exclusive list of attorneys who “you want in your corner.” He has also consistently been named in The Legal 500. Mr. Hamilton has also been recognized as a Super Lawyer in Securities Litigation by Southern California Super Lawyers every year since 2014.
Mr. Hamilton is very active in bar and community activities. He is the former chair of the Executive Committee of the Litigation Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, and served for many years on the Complex Courts Committee for LACBA and the Board of Trustees of Los Angeles Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. He was also a longstanding member of the Board of Directors of the Western Center on Law and Poverty and the Independent School Alliance for Minority Affairs (ISA), and in 2016 received the Impact Award at the ISA's annual Gala. He also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Sprint Football team for Cornell University.
Examples of Mr. Hamilton’s experience include:
*Matter handled prior to joining Latham
Joshua Hamilton and Tana Ryan honored by the Los Angeles Business Journal for their legal achievements, community involvement, and impact on the profession.
Latham earns five recognitions across practices including victories for Pandora, Army veteran Jason Sissel, Inovalon Holdings, and Switch, Inc.
Latham teams honored for knocking out a proposed class action on behalf of CCC Intelligent Solutions Inc. and for securing the dismissal of a shareholder derivative suit for client Switch Inc.