Position: Member

TEL: 212-504-6000

FAX: 212-504-6666

Email: Click Here

Website: www.cwt.com

Admitted:  1981, California; 1982, New York; U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York; U.S. District Court, Northern District of California; U.S. District Court, Central District of California; U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit; U.S. Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit; U.S. Court of Appeals, 10th Circuit; U.S. Court of Appeals, 4th Circuit; U.S. Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit; U.S. Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit

Law School: University of California - Los Angeles, School of Law, J.D., 1981

College: University of California - Berkeley, A.B., 1978

Birth Date and Place: 

Practice Areas: Civil Litigation, Commercial Litigation; Corporate & Securities Litigation; Corporate Governance; Financial Products Litigation; International Litigation; Litigation; Securities Enforcement & Investigations

Additional Information: Jonathan Hoff is a securities and business litigator who has experience in the fields of securities and corporate litigation, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate governance.

Jon’s practice focuses on the representation of public and private companies and financial institutions. He represents clients in corporate, securities and complex business litigations, including shareholder class action and derivative suits, merger and acquisition transactions, breach of fiduciary duty disputes, accounting- and finance-related litigations, litigations arising out of complex commercial and business contracts and transactions, and corporate- and securities-related government and internal investigations, as well as disputes involving subprime mortgages, real estate securitizations, CDOs, derivatives, and other structured products.

Jon has been recognized as one of the leading securities litigation attorneys by Chambers USA; one of the “100 Lawyers You Need to Know in Securities Litigation” by Law Dragon; in New York Super Lawyers; Legal500; and in Who's Who in American Law.

Jon is a frequent speaker and author on securities and corporate litigation and counseling, current developments in mergers and acquisitions, the business judgment rule, and shareholder litigation. Jon is a co-author of the treatise, Public Companies, which provides a comprehensive treatment of the responsibilities and functions of publicly traded corporations and their directors, officers, and general counsel, including issues of compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and other law compliance and internal controls issues. In addition, Jon is a member of the editorial board of the Securities Litigation Report.

Jon received his undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley and his law degree from UCLA, where he served as Comment Editor for the Law Review. He is admitted to practice in New York and California, as well as before the U.S. Supreme Court; the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Seventh, Ninth, and Tenth Circuits; and the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the Northern and Central Districts of California.

Experience

•Lead counsel for MBIA Insurance Corp.in connection with its New York state court action fraud and breach of contract against Residential Funding Corp. arising out of MBIA’s financial guaranty insurance policies issued for multi-billion dollar residential mortgage-backed securitizations sponsored by Residential Funding; represented MBIA in connection with the chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings filed by Residential Funding and its affiliates.

•Lead counsel for The Renco Group in connection with litigation pending in the Delaware Court of Chancery against MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc. involving claims for several hundred million dollars in claims based on breaches of fiduciary duty and breach of contract arising out of the parties’ ownership of AM General Holdings LLC and AM General LLC.

•Lead counsel for The Renco Group in connection with litigation pending in Missouri state court brought by the Fluor Corporation seeking several hundred million dollars in claims for breach of contract and indemnification.

•Lead counsel for Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. in a federal securities law class action arising out of massive accounting fraud at McKesson HBOC Inc. and related state litigations in California and New York state court and Delaware Court of Chancery, as well as litigation in New York state court between Bear Stearns and McKesson.

•Lead counsel for Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. in a federal securities law class action arising out of Bear Stearns's clearing relationship with A.R. Baron and related state litigation; acted as counsel in connection with investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

•Lead counsel representing the underwriters of three offerings of securities, aggregating in excess of $3 billion, issued by The Williams Companies in a federal securities law class action asserting claims under Sections 11 and 12(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933. The underwriters included Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, UBS Securities, CS First Boston (now Credit Suisse), Bank of America Securities, CIBC World Markets, Goldman Sachs, and Salomon Smith Barney (now Citigroup).

•Lead counsel representing the directors of Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. in a derivative action brought in federal court seeking damages against the directors in connection with Merrill Lynch's business transaction with Enron Corporation.

•Lead counsel representing Pfizer, Inc., Pharmacia Corp., and individual defendants (former officers of Pharmacia, including the former chief executive officer) in a federal securities law class action asserting fraud claims in connection with the defendants' disclosures concerning the gastro-intestinal effects of the drug Celebrex.

•Lead counsel representing the general partner of various Lipper hedge funds in connection with dissolution proceedings brought by the general partner seeking court approval of the plan of distribution of the funds' assets. Lead counsel representing the general partner in putative class actions brought in federal district court and in New York state court by investors in the Lipper funds. Also acted as counsel for the general partner in connection with investigations by the U.S. Attorney and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

•Lead counsel representing the directors of Telecorp PCS, a regional cellular company, in a class action brought in the Delaware Court of Chancery on behalf of Telecorp shareholders asserting that the directors (including a designee of JP Morgan Partners) breached their fiduciary duties of care and loyalty in connection with the acquisition of Telecorp by AT&T Wireless.

News & Resources

NEWS

News Releases

•More Than 40 Cadwalader Attorneys Recognized by Super Lawyers 2014 New York Metro Edition Sep 15, 2014

Recent Press

•Protecting Against Insider Trading: Expert Networks and Best Practices for Fostering Compliance and Reducing Legal Risks Dec 16, 2010

Recognition

•More Than 40 Cadwalader Attorneys Recognized by Super Lawyers 2014 New York Metro Edition Sep 15, 2014

RESOURCES

Clients & Friends Memos

•Expert Networks and Insider-Trading Probes: Best Practices in Fostering Compliance and Reducing Legal Risks Dec 21, 2010

Books

•Public Companies

Co-authored by Jonathan Hoff, Public Companies is designed to aid directors, officers and general counsel of public companies and those intending to go public on how to operate a responsible public company, offering a comprehensive examination of corpo

Firm Members: Martin Seidel