Adam Hakki, Senior Partner

Overview

Adam Hakki is Shearman & Sterling's Senior Partner and Chair of the Firm. Adam maintains an active trial and investigations practice centered on “bet the company” matters. The American Lawyer named Adam "Litigator of the Year" in both 2023 and 2021. Particularly versatile, Adam is the only lawyer in America recognized by Chambers USA for each of Securities Litigation, Antitrust Litigation and Financial Services Enforcement and Investigations. Adam is also one of only four lawyers in New York recognized by Chambers USA as a “Star Performer” for Securities Litigation, a special designation above Band 1. Law360 has selected Adam for its prestigious “MVP" recognition five years in a row. Benchmark Litigation has named Adam its “Securities Lawyer of the Year” four times, and The Legal 500 has named him to its “Hall of Fame.” Adam has decades of experience representing corporations, directors, executives, special committees, financial institutions and asset managers in their highest stakes matters in the courtroom, in internal investigations, and before government enforcers, especially the DOJ, SEC, CFTC, state attorneys general, bank regulators and FINRA. Adam has a particularly deep focus on cases and investigations involving securities, corporate governance, M&A, antitrust and competition, derivatives and commodities, insider trading, SPACs, financial disclosure and accounting, trading and investment banking regulation, general commercial matters and insolvency.

The leading publications and directories, such as Chambers USA, The Legal 500, and Benchmark Litigation describe Adam as “the complete package,” a “universally revered securities litigator,” “simply brilliant,” “a master at thinking through issues that others don’t,” having “a breadth of knowledge and ability to predict outcomes and manage expectations [that] are second to none,” “the most impressive securities litigator I have ever used anywhere,” “phenomenal” having “a unique ability to be practical while not missing a single detail of the law,” “among the most polished and professional litigators in America,” “a force to be reckoned with,” “amazingly bright, with excellent strategic judgment,” “respected by other outside counsel,” having “the rare balance of being incredibly smart and effectively confident,” “a great lawyer with a practical bent that is somewhat rare,” “on top of all of the cutting edge issues,” “incredibly responsive,” “just dynamite,” “tremendous breadth, and does really well in court,” “exceptionally hard-working and shows up everywhere,” “takes on everything that comes at him,” “incredibly knowledgeable,” “extremely smart,” “very strong with senior management,” “provides a great client experience,” “quick, well prepared and responsive,” a “superb writer,” “gets to the core really quickly, and can act really quickly,” “always the most calm and composed person in the room,” “great at making oral presentations,” able to “persuade on his feet,” “having a vast and loyal cadre” of clients, and “an absolute pleasure to work with.”

Experience

Lead counsel to corporate issuers, boards of directors, special litigation committees and underwriters in securities, shareholder derivative or merger litigation for or related to companies including Paramount Global, Hawaiian Electric, Twitter, PayPal, Bank of America, CVS Health, Alibaba, Morgan Stanley, Opendoor, Sea Ltd, Citigroup, Iveric Bio, Goldman Sachs, Bumble, SunEdison, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Arrival, Mesa Air, MF Global, Sundial, CEMEX, Credit Suisse, Providence Services, AMC Entertainment, Travelzoo, ProShares, Deutsche Bank, Alnylam, BNP Paribas, Stemline Pharmaceuticals, Jefferies, CannTrust, Evercore and numerous others.
Lead counsel to major financial institutions including Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, BNP Paribas, Citigroup and Bank of Montreal, as well as leading benchmark administrators and exchanges in antitrust cases related to financial products and benchmarks including LIBOR, FX, interest rate swaps, credit default swaps, credit event auctions, VRDO/municipal bonds, U.S. Treasuries, GSE bonds, European government bonds, Mexican government bonds, CDOR, BBSW, silver trading, precious metals, ISDAfix, SSA bonds, Odd-lot corporate bonds, stock lending and others.
Lead counsel to numerous major global banks and hedge funds in dozens of DOJ, SEC, CFTC, FINRA, bank regulatory, state regulatory and internal investigations related to subjects such as securities, antitrust/price fixing, commodities, False Claims Act, FIRREA, crypto assets, SPACs, swaps, futures, currency trading, dark pools, high frequency trading, equity research, recordkeeping, securitization/MBS/CDO, rate setting/auctions, market manipulation, insider trading, disclosure, conflicts of interest, compliance and controls and governance.
Lead counsel to Galleon Management in the then-largest DOJ and SEC prosecution in U.S. history.
Lead counsel to Countrywide Financial in numerous RMBS lawsuits across the U.S.
Counsel to Merrill Lynch in its historic victory in the Enron securities class action (then the largest in U.S. history).
Lead counsel to Amaranth International in FERC and class action litigation related to the then-largest hedge fund collapse in U.S. history.
Lead counsel to a major global bank in connection multiple civil RICO and common lawsuits related to events in Latin America.
Lead counsel to multiple major banks in lawsuits and government investigations concerning False Claims Act matters.

Pro Bono and Public Services

Throughout his career, Adam has been actively involved in pro bono work. He was one of the leaders of a team that obtained the reversal of a death sentence on behalf of a defendant with mental retardation in Florida after a two-day trial, which the team eventually sustained on appeal. He has also acted as lead pro bono counsel on matters for the Legal Aid Society of New York and the Humane Society of the United States.
Adam is a two-time recipient of the Legal Aid Society’s Pro Bono Publica award and serves on the Board of Directors the Legal Aid Society.