Helen B. Kim

Helen B. Kim represents public and private companies and their directors, officers and principal shareholders in complex commercial litigation, including the defense of securities and other class actions, shareholder derivative suits and regulatory investigations. She appears on behalf of her clients in state and federal courts, both in New York and in California. Ms. Kim has been named by The Daily Journal as one of the Top Women Litigators in California for the past three years.

Her securities experience includes the following:

• Defense of the former general counsel of Refco. Inc. in numerous securities class actions and related insurance coverage litigation arising from Refco Inc.'s failure to disclose a $400 million account receivable in a bond offering and its initial public offering. Ms. Kim obtained the dismissal of our client from two Refco-related securities litigations. In a third Refco-related securities litigation, Ms. Kim has reached a settlement, which has obtained preliminary court approval.
• Defense of the former chief executive officer of McKesson-HBOC, Inc. in securities class action litigation arising from the company's restatement of financials following acquisition of HBOC.
• Defense of Prudential Insurance Company of America in nationwide securities class action arising from sale of securitized insurance products.
• Defense of Prudential Insurance Company in numerous actions filed by opt-out plaintiffs in California, Florida and Texas.
• Defense of brokerage firm arising from issuance of forged stock certificates. Obtained dismissal after motion to dismiss.
• Defense of Morgan Stanley in securities class action litigation arising from the initial public offering of Salton-Maxim, Inc.
• Represented media company in prosecution of California state securities fraud, breach of fiduciary duty claims against former officers and directors of acquired subsidiary.

Ms. Kim has also handled other class action and complex business disputes, including the following:

• Represented a minority shareholder in a control dispute over closely held corporation. Ms. Kim obtained a ruling setting aside another shareholder's attempt to appoint himself sole director of the corporation and also obtained a court order appointing interim directors for the corporation, which included her clients.
• Defended British metals producer in California state antitrust action. Obtained favorable settlement.
• Defended directors and officers of California limited liability company against action for breach of commercial lease based on "veil piercing" theory.

Ms. Kim serves as co-editor of the ABA Litigation Section's Securities Litigation Journal. She also serves on the ABA’s Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession and is a member of the firm's Committee on Racial and Ethnic Diversity.

Ms. Kim is Assistant Vice President of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, a member of its Judicial Appointments Committee, and past chair of the LACBA/WLALA Joint Task Force on the Retention and Promotion of Women Lawyers. She is the immediate-past president of the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles and a former president of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. Ms Kim has moderated and participated in numerous panel presentations sponsored by the American Bar Association, ALI-ABA and other organizations, involving issues of securities law and matters of racial and ethnic diversity.

Ms. Kim received her J.D. from Yale Law School, where she was a note editor of the Yale Law Journal, and was awarded her A.B., cum laude, from Harvard-Radcliffe College. She holds an M.M. from The Juilliard School in classical piano performance. Prior to entering private practice, she clerked for the Honorable Roger J. Miner on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Ms. Kim is admitted to practice in California and New York, numerous federal district courts, and before the United States Courts of Appeals for the Second and Ninth Circuits.