Jerry Fortinsky, Of Counsel in the Litigation practice, focuses his practice on securities, antitrust and other complex commercial litigation. In recent years, The Legal 500 has described Mr. Fortinsky as “incredibly smart,” “very knowledgeable,” “astute and highly commercial,” “highly competent in every respect, with expert litigation skills,” and has said he “garners high praise” for his work and “is very strategic in his legal analysis and always thinks about five steps ahead.”  He has been selected for inclusion in New York Super Lawyers eleven times. Mr. Fortinsky has been listed in Chambers USA:  America’s Leading Lawyers for Business as a “Noted Practitioner” in securities litigation.

Mr. Fortinsky joined the firm in 1991 and became a partner in 1998 and Of Counsel in 2023.  From 1988 to 1991, he worked in the Office of Governor Mario M. Cuomo, where he rose to become Assistant to the Governor for Regional Affairs in 1990. He served as a law clerk to Judge Edward R. Korman of the United States District Court, Eastern District of New York, from 1987 to 1988.

Securities

• Won twelve consecutive motions to dismiss in securities class actions (in whole or, once, in part)
• Represented clients in numerous derivative actions and SEC investigations
• Persuaded SEC not to take action against Big Four accounting firm after multiyear investigation
• Negotiated favorable settlement resolving SEC investigation of financial services firm
• Represented all Big Four accounting firms in connection with regulatory oversight of accounting profession
• Rendered continuing advice to Big Four accounting firm on regulatory matters
• Clients in securities cases include Ford Motor Company, Nokia Corp., Deloitte, Gogo, Taro Pharmaceutical Industries, Hartford Financial Services Group, FLAG Telecom and Datacorp
• Clients in securities cases against Chinese companies include China XD Plastics, JinkoSolar, China Natural Gas, China-Biotics, China Education Alliance and China Electric Motor

Investigations

• Led three substantial special committee or audit committee investigations into Chinese companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges after those companies had been the subject of analyst reports alleging fraud (“short seller” reports)
• Managed board-level investigation for U.S. financial institution into allegations of embezzlement by its chief financial officer
• Managed internal investigation for U.S. financial institution into allegations of officer impropriety
• Managed internal investigation into possible regulatory violations for multinational communications company

Antitrust

• Represented Sinclair Broadcast Group in a class action alleging collusion among owners of television stations to fix prices of local spot advertising
• Represented Bank of Montreal in a class action alleging collusion to manipulate the Canadian Dealer Offered Rate
• Represented Mizuho Bank in lawsuits alleging collusion to fix yen LIBOR rates
• Represented Nomura Securities International in litigation concerning the setting of the “ISDAfix” benchmark rate
• Represented Mizuho Securities USA in lawsuits alleging collusion to affect the price of U.S. Treasury securities
• Represented Suntech Power in lawsuit in California alleging price fixing and predatory pricing by Chinese manufacturers of solar panels
• Obtained dismissal of Suntech America from lawsuit in Michigan alleging price fixing and predatory pricing by Chinese manufacturers of solar panels
• Obtained dismissal of Merrill Lynch & Co. and Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity from lawsuit alleging a bid-rigging conspiracy among private equity firms
• Obtained dismissal of claims against SGL Carbon AG in suit brought by foreign steel producers and defended company against antitrust charges in criminal proceedings and various civil lawsuits
• Obtained dismissal, on behalf of a European bank, of antitrust complaint alleging conspiracy to fix commissions on foreign exchange trading
• Obtained dismissal, on personal jurisdiction grounds, of all claims against foreign antitrust defendant (though that defendant had previously pleaded guilty to price fixing in federal court)
• Successfully defended manufacturer of computer equipment against antitrust and contract claims brought by distributor
• Other clients in antitrust cases include Schindler Elevator, Norske Skog and ING Bank

Other

• Won eleven consecutive appeals (in whole or, once, in part)
• Supervised or managed internal or audit committee investigations for two U.S. financial institutions and four industrial companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges
• Obtained dismissal of claims against Paramount Communications Inc. and Viacom Inc. brought by former president of Paramount; successfully defended judgment on appeal
• Obtained reversal on appeal of summary judgment against film producer in contract dispute concerning high-profile movie project; represented producer in subsequent negotiations concerning the sale of rights in the film to a third party
• Obtained dismissal of $52 million breach of contract suit against General Electric Capital Corp. arising from failed leveraged buyout
• Represented Mizuho Bank, Ltd., in litigation arising from the collapse of the Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange
• Represented Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. in matters arising from the Michael Kenwood Ponzi scheme fraud
• Represented Matrimony.com, an on-line matchmaking service based in India, in commercial litigation in New Jersey Superior Court
• Represented Torchlight Investors in commercial litigation in New York Supreme Court

Professional Affiliations

• Speaker, Directors’ Education Institute, Duke University
• Speaker, “Globalised litigation: truth or myth?,” International Bar Association conference, London
• Speaker, “Antitrust due diligence in handling civil litigation,” conference sponsored by the American Bar Association (Section of Antitrust Law) and the New York City Bar Association, New York
• Speaker, “Reverse Merger Listings,” Spring Meeting Program sponsored by the American Bar Association (Section of International Law)
• Speaker, Wall Street China Forum
• Member, Committee on Civil Litigation, United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
• Member, New York City Bar Association
  • Member, Committee on Antitrust & Trade Regulation (2002-2005)
  • Member, Special Commission on Campaign Finance Reform
  • Contributor to “Dollars and Democracy: A Blueprint for Campaign Finance Reform” (Fordham University Press, 2000)
• Member, American Bar Association

Publications

• “Second Circuit,” Global Competition Review (July 24, 2020)
• “Forces that led to one NBA ‘dream team’ could create another,” SportsBusiness Journal (February 21, 2011)
• “Challenging Loss Causation in the Second Circuit,” Law360 (April 18, 2011)