Christopher M. Joralemon is a partner in the New York office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Mr. Joralemon is a member of Gibson Dunn’s Securities Litigation, Securities Enforcement and White Collar Defense and Investigations Practice Groups. He is also a member of Gibson Dunn’s Global Pro Bono Committee and is the New York Office Pro Bono Chair.

Mr. Joralemon represents major financial institutions, multinational companies and senior executives in financial and securities litigation, complex commercial disputes, internal investigations and regulatory proceedings.

Mr. Joralemon currently is representing Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Bank of America, J.P. Morgan, Deutsche Bank and the Royal Bank of Scotland in a putative class action alleging federal securities law violations arising out of the collapse of MF Global. He also is representing Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, UBS and BNY Mellon Capital Markets in a putative securities class action concerning common stock offerings by The Bank of New York Mellon.

Recently, Mr. Joralemon represented Chevron Corporation in “the case of the century” as a key member of the Gibson Dunn trial team that successfully prosecuted a RICO action to block enforcement of a fraudulent US$9 billion judgment issued in Ecuador.

In addition to the foregoing, Mr. Joralemon has successfully defended a wide range of institutions in high-profile matters involving some of the most noteworthy financial cases of the last twenty years.
Representative Matters:

TCW Asset Management Company: Achieved complete victories on behalf of TCW Asset Management in two unrelated post-financial crisis lawsuits involving multi-billion-dollar collateralized debt obligations, including a pleading-stage dismissal affirmed by the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Moody’s: Favorably resolved on behalf of Moody’s two separate investor actions stemming from the collapse of multi-billion-dollar structured investment vehicles during the global financial crisis.
Morgan Stanley and The Bank of New York Mellon: Secured advantageous settlements on behalf of Morgan Stanley and The Bank of New York Mellon in $5 billion civil litigation relating to the collapse of Adelphia Communications Corporation.
Citigroup: Won summary judgment on behalf of Citigroup in a $13 billion class action litigation arising out of the failure of Parmalat.
Merrill Lynch: Successfully defended Merrill Lynch in connection with a broad range of Enron-related hearings, investigations and proceedings.
SMBC Capital Markets: Obtained on behalf of SMBC Capital Markets the dismissal of a federal False Claims Act qui tam action—affirmed in a seminal Second Circuit decision—involving the municipal bond market “yield burning” scandal.

Early in his career, Mr. Joralemon also orchestrated an important victory on behalf of a former mutual fund executive in a closely watched “market timing” enforcement action by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Following an appeal by the SEC from an order dismissing the action, an en banc panel of the First Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the SEC’s efforts to expand the scope of Rule 10b-5 primary liability based on an actor’s “central role” in the securities markets. The decision was widely lauded by the business and financial communities.

Throughout his career, Mr. Joralemon has remained committed to pro bono and charitable activities. He currently leads a team of attorneys seeking to exonerate a man wrongly convicted of murder almost twenty years ago. He also has supervised young attorneys handling criminal appeals on behalf of the District Attorney’s Offices for Kings and Queens Counties, has represented the Republic of Liberia in disputes involving diplomatic operations in New York and has organized groups of lawyers to monitor polling locations in several states as part of non-partisan voter protection efforts during the last two presidential elections. Mr. Joralemon also has coordinated fundraising efforts through law firm participation in corporate sporting events on behalf of My Sisters’ Place, a charitable organization dedicated to preventing domestic abuse and providing a safe haven for victims of domestic violence.

Mr. Joralemon graduated magna cum laude from Boston University School of Law, where he served as Editor of the Boston University Law Review.