Steven Shiffman

Steven Shiffman concentrates his practice in complex commercial litigation, with an emphasis on securities and financial services related matters and the defense of corporate clients and their officers and directors in derivative actions and securities fraud cases. He has experience in a wide variety of complex civil matters, including matters involving alleged breaches of fiduciary duties, fraud, restrictive covenants, breaches of contract, tortious interference, commercial real estate, partnership disputes, antitrust law, ERISA, and RICO. He has also represented parties in litigations incident to bankruptcy proceedings.

Representative matters he has worked on include the following:

• Represented an asset management company and its officers and directors in a two-week arbitration hearing brought by its former chief operating officer concerning the price he would receive for his equity in the company, as well as alleged breaches of fiduciary duty by the company and its officers. Decision pending.
• Represented a former officer and director of a major pharmaceutical company in a derivative action arising out of an alleged scheme to inflate the company’s share price through accounting fraud and purported misrepresentations concerning the drugs in the company’s pipeline. Action settled on very favorable terms after briefing on a motion to dismiss the claims against our client.
• Represented directors and officers of a major specialist firm in a securities class action brought by the company’s shareholders, as well as in related matters, including regulatory investigations and a securities fraud class action brought by investors on the New York Stock Exchange against all specialist firms. Shareholder class action settled after briefing on a motion to dismiss.
• Represented a major financial services company in litigation brought in the Southern District of New York by over 250 clients of an introducing broker who allegedly were defrauded out of over $100 million in a Ponzi scheme engaged in by the introducing broker. Plaintiffs asserted that the company, which acted solely as a clearing broker, failed to supervise the introducing broker, breaching fiduciary duties to the introducing broker’s clients and aiding and abetting his fraud. Action settled.
• Represented the manager of a hedge fund in an arbitration before JAMS brought by a seeder fund. The seeder fund had alleged that our client breached restrictive covenants contained in the parties’ agreements, as well as certain fiduciary duties he allegedly owed to the seeder fund, and sought an injunction against our client as well as over $20 million in damages. After two weeks of hearings, the three arbitrator panel ruled in our client’s favor on all material issues.
• Represented an investment advisory firm and its chairman in an action brought by its former chairman for breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract. The former chairman sought damages of over $20 million in connection with his departure from the firm. After a 15-day bench trial, the court ruled in favor of our clients and, on appeal, the decision was affirmed in all respects.
• Represented an investor in a hedge fund operated as a Ponzi scheme in an action by the trustee seeking return of the funds that the investor had withdrawn before the fraud was discovered. Case settled.
• Represented hedge fund investing in fund of funds in an action for breach of contract arising out of fund of fund’s failure to honor a redemption request. Settled action after filing complaint.
• Represented a major recording artist in an action against his manager for return of his trademarks and related assets, as well as with respect to his agreements with his manager. After a two-week jury trial in the Southern District of New York, we prevailed on all claims, including claims for breach of fiduciary duty against the manager and return of the trademarks belonging to the artist.

Mr. Shiffman earned his undergraduate degree with honors (B.A., 1985) from Vassar College, and his law degree cum laude (J.D., 1991) from New York University School of Law, where he served as a Notes and Comments Editor of the New York University Law Review. Mr. Shiffman served from 1991 to 1992 as law clerk to the Honorable Michael H. Dolinger, U.S.M.J., of the Southern District of New York. Mr. Shiffman is admitted to the New York State Bar and before the U.S. Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit, and the U.S. District Court, Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and has tried cases and argued appeals in federal and state courts in New York and elsewhere. Mr. Shiffman is a member of the American Bar Association and of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.