Kirsten Nelson Cunha practices in Litigation. She joined Shearman & Sterling in 2006 after practicing in Boston for over eight years. Ms. Cunha focuses on securities litigation and other complex disputes and has represented a variety of financial institutions, companies and individuals in class action litigation, arbitrations, SEC and governmental investigations, and internal investigations.

• Representation of Countrywide and several affiliates in multiple disputes brought by major institutional purchasers of private-label residential mortgage-backed securities
• Defense of Société Générale in action brought by investors
• Representation of Bank of America in connection with class action brought by purchasers of auction rate securities
• Defense of Merrill Lynch in Enron securities litigation
• Representation of Boston Scientific in securities, derivative and ERISA litigation
• Representation of Viacom in copyright action against YouTube and Google
• Representation of Viacom in dispute with owner/operator of the Nickelodeon Hotel
• Representation of Arcelor Mittal in post closing purchase price adjustment dispute
• Defense of Amaranth International Limited in FERC proceeding and related class actions
• Representation of special committee of board of directors in shareholder action
• Representation of media and entertainment corporation in post closing dispute arbitration
• Representation of a limited partner in dispute with venture capital firm
• Defense of mutual fund portfolio manager in SEC action alleging market timing
• Defense of a large multinational company in securities fraud, derivative and ERISA actions
• Defense of an individual portfolio manager in SEC action alleging market timing
• Representation of former outside director in securities class action
• Representation of the audit committees of two different companies in two internal investigations
• Representation of an architectural firm in a federal jury trial in ERISA breach of fiduciary duty claim resulting in a verdict on liability for the architectural firm
• Defense of a healthcare software company in securities fraud case in a federal jury trial resulting in verdict for the company on all counts
• Defense of an individual in federal criminal securities fraud trial
• Representation of a large broker/dealer firm in fraud action
• Defense of a broker/dealer firm in NASD arbitration
• Representation of a former officer of a mutual fund company in SEC investigation resulting in dismissal after Wells submission

Publications

• “Nichols v. United States and the Collateral Use of Uncounseled Misdemeanors in Sentence Enhancement,” 37 B.C.L. Rev. 557 (1996)
• “Section 301 of the LMRA Does Not Require Preemption of a Minimum State Labor Standard if the Legal Character of the Claim is Independent of the Rights in a Collective Bargaining Agreement: Livadas v. Bradshaw,” 36 B.C.L. Rev. 330 (1995)