Bruce G. Vanyo

Bruce G. Vanyo has been called by many of his peers the “Dean of Securities Litigation.” During his 34 years in practice, he has defended more major securities cases (well over 300) than any other lawyer in America; he has represented some of the most prominent U.S. companies (The Boeing Company, Dell Computer, Hewlett Packard, Genentech, and Bank of America, among many others); and he has the best record in winning these cases outright, winning 75% of his cases over the last nine years while settling the rest. His practice consists of defense of securities class actions, defense of derivative litigation, representation before the Securities and Exchange Commission and representation of board committees in conducting internal investigations. Mr. Vanyo’s clients have included companies in numerous fields of endeavor: technology, life sciences, airlines, motion pictures, banking, mining, real estate, insurance and many others. His practice is truly national in its scope; he has represented clients headquartered in over 20 different states as well as several foreign countries. Mr. Vanyo is National Co-Chair of the Securities Litigation Practice and Co-Chair of the New York Litigation Practice. He is admitted to practice in New York and California with active practices in the firm's New York and Los Angeles offices.

Over his career, Mr. Vanyo has pioneered much of the securities law that has been favorable to defendants. In recognition of his success, when the technology industry was besieged by class actions, the industry asked him to lead its efforts to accomplish securities litigation reform. As a result, he created (and drafted for Congress) the pleading and safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Thereafter, he litigated and won the Silicon Graphics case, which was the most significant decision applying the Reform Act and created the highest pleading standard in the country for securities class actions.

Mr. Vanyo has been widely recognized as one of the preeminent lawyers in his field. For 22 years, he served as Chairman of the Practising Law Institute’s prestigious Securities Litigation and Enforcement Institute. He was named to the National Law Journal’s most recent list of the 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America, a list compiled only every five years. He has been given the top ranking by the prestigious Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business, where he has been described as a “towering figure in securities litigation,” having earned his reputation through a “remarkable skill set and an understated but authoritative demeanor.” His colleagues in the defense bar have publicly said that he “comes up with new and novel arguments that other lawyers don’t see” and “he doesn’t just think about the move he’s about to make and the likely response—he’s five steps ahead.” He also has been recognized by The International Who's Who of Commercial Litigators (second edition), The Best Lawyers in America (since 1984), and Benchmark: A Definitive Guide to America’s Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys (2010), in which he is named a “Litigation Star.” Mr. Vanyo also was named among the Lawdragon 3000 Leading Lawyers in America in 2010.

Prior to joining Katten in 2006, Mr. Vanyo was Chairman of the Securities Litigation Group at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. He founded Wilson’s Litigation Department and served as its Chairman from 1984 until 1996. While practicing law full time, he also served as Adjunct Professor of Securities Regulation at Hastings College of the Law. Prior to joining Wilson, Mr. Vanyo handled securities fraud, antitrust, and other complex litigation at McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen, where he became a partner in 1979.

Mr. Vanyo earned his J.D. from Columbia Law School (1972), where he was Managing Editor of the Columbia Law Review. He was a law clerk for Judge William Timbers, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (1972–1973).  

Representative Securities Litigation Clients

Fortune 500 and Other Large-Cap Clients

The Boeing Company
Hewlett-Packard Company
America West Holdings Corp.
Fluor Corporation
Dell Computer Corporation
Krispy Kreme Donuts, Inc.
Healthsouth
Sun Microsystems
Silicon Graphics, Inc.
Amdocs Ltd.
Genentech, Inc.
Seagate Technology

Technology Companies

Acxiom
Altera Corporation
Ariba, Inc.
Autodesk
Blue Coat
Caere Corporation
CacheFlow Inc.
Cree, Inc.
Cypress Semiconductor
Ectel
FileNet, Inc.
First Virtual Communications
i2 Technologies
InterTrust Technologies
LSI Logic
Legato Systems
Liquidmetal Technology
Liberate Technologies
Leap Wireless
Manugistics Group, Inc.
NetManage, Inc.
Netsolve, Inc.
Pervasive Software, Inc.
Photon Dynamics
Rainbow Technologies
Redback Networks
Sierra On Line, Inc.
3DO Company
Trimble Navigation
UT Starcom
Vitesse Semiconductor
Force 10 Technology

Life Sciences Companies

Advanced Medical Optics
Cooper Companies
Genentech, Inc.
Medstone (now Endocare)
Synergen, Inc.
Applied Biosystems, Inc.
VISX, Inc.
Sonus Pharmaceuticals
Cell Pathways, Inc.
CellPro, Inc.
Vivus, Inc.

Financial Institutions

Bank of America
Merrill Lynch
Goldman Sachs
Morgan Stanley
Montgomery Securities
Paine Webber
Prudential
Cowen and Company
Kidder Peabody & Co.
Hambrecht & Quist

Non-Technology Companies

Cinergi Pictures
Massey Energy Company
SkyMall, Inc.
Action Peformance
Landry’s Restaurants
Frontier Insurance
I.C. Isaacs
Prime Retail
Providential Corporation
Worlds of Wonder, Inc.
Delgratia Mining Co.

Israeli Companies

Amdocs, Ltd.
Ectel, Ltd
Lumenis
Elron Industries
Camtek, Inc.