Practice Areas

Julie & Holleman focuses on shareholder litigation. Within that focus, our primary practices include shareholder derivative actions, mergers and acquisitions matters, securities class actions, and related corporate investigations. See below to learn more about the firm’s practice areas. And to learn about the firm’s current investigations across these practice areas, visit our Investigations page.

Shareholder Derivative Litigation

When the officers and directors of a publicly-traded company breach their fiduciary duties, they don’t just harm investors; they harm the company as well. The corporate insiders who control the company are not expected to sue themselves—that’s where the shareholder derivative action comes in. In a derivative action, shareholders enforce the corporation’s rights and remedy its injuries when the board of directors fails or is too conflicted to do so. The derivative action is practically the only remedy for calling the management to account for its wrongs against the corporation and to recover damages. Our attorneys have recovered tens of millions of dollars for injured companies, recouped excessive and wrongful director and executive compensation, and secured critical corporate governance changes designed to safeguard companies from future harm.

Mergers and Acquisitions Litigation

When a company agrees to a merger or acquisition, unique pressures and incentives can tempt directors and officers to undermine shareholders’ interests. Insiders and the advisors they hire are supposed to work for shareholders, but they are often conflicted and place their own interests ahead of investors’ interests, resulting in underpayment to shareholders. Julie & Holleman is tenacious in challenging these transactions, and its attorneys have stopped conflicted deals before they closed and recovered damages for shareholders after closing.

Securities Fraud Litigation

A century ago, the prevailing rule governing securities was “buyer beware.” Reforms enacted after the 1929 stock market crash now prohibit companies from misrepresenting or concealing the truth. The federal securities laws apply in initial public offerings, secondary offerings, and in a company’s routine public communications, and investors can suffer substantial losses if companies misrepresent or omit material information. Fortunately, Congress provided investors with the right to pursue legal action against the companies, directors and officers, and outside advisors involved in the spread of deficient disclosures. Julie & Holleman’s attorneys have helped obtain landmark recoveries in securities class actions and have also secured major legal victories before trial and appellate courts.