James E. Thompson,
a senior associate in the San Francisco office, is a member of the Securities Litigation and Regulatory Enforcement Group. His practice focuses on defending companies and individuals in securities class actions, shareholder derivative suits, and SEC investigations and enforcement actions.
Mr. Thompson has extensive experience litigating securities class actions, derivative suits (including M&A related litigation), and other complex commercial disputes in both state and federal courts across the country. He also has represented companies and board committees in numerous internal investigations and regularly advises companies on corporate governance, fiduciary duty and disclosure issues.
Mr. Thompson’s clients include NVIDIA Corporation, Oracle Corporation, Fisker Automotive, VantagePoint Venture Partners, Aruba Networks, and David Sambol.
Significant recent engagements include the following:
In re NVIDIA Securities Litigation. Obtained dismissal with prejudice of securities fraud class action brought against NVIDIA and certain of its officers.
Countrywide Mortgage-Backed Securities Litigation. Representing former President and COO of Countrywide Financial Corp. in connection with state and federal litigation in numerous jurisdictions.
In re Intermix Securities Litigation. Obtained dismissal of federal and state actions stemming from NewsCorp.’s acquisition of Myspace on behalf of VantagePoint Venture Partners.
Oracle/Retek Merger Litigation. Obtained summary judgment on behalf of Retek Inc. in shareholder merger litigation arising from its acquisition by Oracle.
Represented Board of Directors of health care company in investigation of potential insider trading issues.
Represented Audit Committee of a technology company in investigation of revenue recognition issues in China.
Mr. Thompson has also dedicated significant time to pro bono representations. Recently, he successfully tried a case before Judge Alsup in the Northern District of California on behalf of an inmate, demonstrating that the inmate had not received adequate due process.
Mr. Thompson is a regular contributor to Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe’s Weekly Auditor Liability Bulletin, Securities Litigation & Regulatory Enforcement Blog and the Securities Reform Act Litigation Reporter.
