Webinar | Preparing for Litigation Resulting from a COVID-Related Busted Deal

Ashley R. Altschuler is the managing partner of the firm’s Delaware office and the Wilmington lead of our Litigation Practice Group. With more than 20 years of experience in the Delaware Court of Chancery and the Delaware Supreme Court, as well as other trial and appellate courts in state and federal jurisdictions across the US, he focuses his practice on litigating corporate, securities and complex business matters. His practice includes defense of shareholder derivative actions, mergers and acquisitions litigation, federal and state securities class actions, commercial litigation, arbitrations and bankruptcy-related litigation. Ashley also represents clients in internal investigations and counsels boards of directors with respect to corporate governance, business judgment, executive compensation and regulatory issues. He has successfully litigated high-stakes cases relating to multibillion dollar buyouts, breach of fiduciary duty, investment stakes, tender offers and contests for corporate control, financial and accounting fraud, insider trading, contests for company books and records, stock option backdating, and many of the largest corporate bankruptcies in history.

Ashley previously served as Judicial Clerk to The Honorable E. Norman Veasey, former Chief Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court, and as legislative correspondent to a former member of the US House of Representatives. For more than a decade, Ashley worked in New York City at an international law firm practicing corporate securities litigation.

Ashley is a frequent speaker and author on various corporate governance and securities topics. Additionally, Ashley maintains an active pro bono practice, serving as pro bono general counsel to LiveOn NY, advocating interests of senior centers and agencies.

John J. Calandra represents clients in complex commercial litigation and formerly headed the New York Litigation Practice Group. He represents clients in litigations and arbitrations crossing many industries, including technology, chemicals, satellite, energy, financial products, outsourcing, hotel management, manufacturing and distribution.

John litigates a wide variety of cases, including securities and common law fraud, breach of contracts and long-term distributor and supply agreements, breach of fiduciary duties, environmental and product liability, negligent misrepresentation, breach of representations and warranties, accounting irregularities, wrongful terminations, antitrust violations, various claims arising from the sale of assets and businesses, and numerous class action lawsuits.

John has repeatedly served as a judge of Cornell Law School’s highly regarded Transactional Lawyers Competition, and has guest lectured at Fordham Law School on summary judgment tactics and procedures.

Andrew B. Kratenstein is the New York co-lead of McDermott Will & Schulte’s Litigation Practice Group. He provides legal counsel on complex commercial litigation across a broad array of industries including financial services, private equity, real estate, energy, sports, healthcare, life sciences, and beverage distribution. He has argued and won numerous cases at the trial court and appellate levels and in arbitral tribunals.

Andrew also leads the Litigation Training Committee and is active in the Firm’s pro bono program. Among other matters, he has won several appeals on behalf of abused, neglected, or abandoned immigrant children who have been denied the ability to apply for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status. Andrew has been honored by Sanctuary for Families with its Above and Beyond Pro Bono Award honoring members of the legal profession for their outstanding pro bono representation and advocacy on behalf of Sanctuary’s clients.

Andrew has guest lectured at Columbia Law School on best practices for electronic discovery, and he has served as faculty for the Practising Law Institute’s symposiums on Best Practices for Complex Cases and Accounting for Lawyers as well as for Thompson Reuters on recent developments in mergers and acquisitions litigation.

Before beginning his practice, Andrew served as a law clerk for the Honorable Richard W. Roberts of the US District Court for the District of Columbia. While in law school, Andrew served as an editor for the Harvard Journal on Legislation.

Michael S. Nadel is a first-chair trial lawyer, litigator, and advisor to businesses and ultra-high-net-worth families. He solves clients’ most difficult and sensitive problems.

Michael has won jury trials and arbitrations involving breach of contract, trade secret misappropriation, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, patent and trademark infringement, the False Claims Act, unfair competition, defamation, and deceptive trade practices. He won the first jury verdict obtained by any litigant under the Defend Trade Secrets Act, the federal trade secret statute. Recently, Michael won mission-critical victories for clients in the fields of technology, healthcare, and heath data licensing. He also engineers successful outcomes in contentious intrafamily and intrabusiness disputes and has won guardianship, conservatorship, and trust battles.

Beyond the courtroom, Michael leverages his quarter century at McDermott to marshal the firm’s global resources for transactions, criminal and internal investigations, and crisis management efforts.

Heidi J. Steele focuses her practice on corporate securities, mergers and acquisitions of public and private companies and corporate counseling. She has extensive experience in public and private equity and debt financings, compliance with disclosure and regulatory requirements, tender offers and mergers, acquisitions and dispositions. She advises public and private corporations on a variety of matters, including securities compliance.

Heidi acts as counsel for a wide range of corporate combinations. Recent transactions work includes public offerings of common stock, 144A offerings of debt and convertible debt of public companies, acquisitions and sales of public companies and ongoing counsel on public company compliance with the Securities Act of 1934 and stock exchange rules.