Linda C. Goldstein

Linda Goldstein co-chairs the firm’s Securities, Derivative and Transactional Litigation practice and is resident in our New York office.  She is an experienced trial lawyer who focuses on complex civil litigation, particularly securities fraud claims and lawsuits arising from mergers and acquisitions.  She is also an experienced appellate lawyer who has argued appeals in federal courts around the country.

Her securities litigation experience spans securities class actions, customer arbitrations, regulatory investigations and disputes involving institutional investors.  Several of her recent cases have involved fixed income instruments, including structured products such as collateralized debt obligations (CDOs).  Her commercial litigation experience includes significant contract disputes, letters of credit and actions against foreign sovereigns.   

In addition to her civil litigation work, Ms. Goldstein maintains an active pro bono practice. 

Representative Matters

• Lead counsel to UBS Financial Services of Puerto Rico in In re First BanCorp Securities Litigation.  The case arises from the announcement by First BanCorp, a large Puerto Rican bank, that it had misclassified several billion dollars of mortgage transactions and consequently would be restating four years of its previously issued financial statements. UBS was lead underwriter for First BanCorp’s offerings of preferred shares.
• Lead counsel to issuer Caliper Life Sciences in the consolidated IPO “laddering” cases arising from the NASD/SEC investigations of CSFB and other issuers.  Caliper is one of only four issuer defendants to have been dismissed from the case.
• Trial counsel to SG Cowen and Société Générale in several significant customer arbitrations arising from the revelation that the branch manager of the Cleveland brokerage offices of Cowen & Company, SG Cowen, and Lehman Bros. had embezzled over $100 million from customers in a long-running series of frauds at all three companies.  The hearings resulted in defense awards of a small fraction of the damages claimed.
• US counsel to the Brunei Investment Agency in actions to recover assets misappropriated by the country's former Minister of Finance.

Honors and Rankings

• New York Super Lawyer in Securities Litigation (2007)
• Who's Who in American Law (2007)
• Charles F.C. Ruff Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year, Covington & Burling LLP (2001)
• American Bar Foundation, Fellow 

Pro Bono

• Developed constitutional arguments against the Teen Endangement Act, proposed federal legislation that would restrict the rights of young women to travel across state lines to obtain a legal abortion, as co-counsel to a national organization of abortion providers.
• Represented death row prisoner Derek Barnabei in a multi-pronged legal and media effort to reverse his death sentence: argued his federal habeas appeal; prepared a certiorari petition to the United States Supreme Court and a clemency petition to the Governor of Virginia; and publicized his plea for DNA testing in nationally broadcast television interviews and with newspaper journalists around the world.  Succeeded in obtaining DNA testing of previously untested biological evidence.

Memberships and Affiliations

• American Bar Association, Section of Litigation, Co-Chair of Woman Advocate Committee (2002-2005)
• Federal Bar Council, Member of Second Circuit and Public Service Committees, and Chair of 2008 Fall Bench and Bar Retreat

Publications and Speeches

• "The Delaware Chancery Court's Ruling in Ryan v. Gifford: Implications for Special Committee Representations," Practicing Law Institute Teleconference (4/23/2008)
• "Supervision of Branches," SIFMA Compliance and Legal Division Conference, Orlando, FL (4/2/2008)
• "Tellabs, Inc. v. Makor Issues & Rights, Ltd.: A Uniform Test for Pleading Scienter in Securities Fraud Cases," Covington E-Alert (6/29/2007), Co-Author