Jesse Bernstein is Co-Chair of the Securities Litigation practice and a partner in the firm’s New York Office. He specializes in securities and shareholder litigation, including representing plaintiffs and defendants in individual and class actions involving the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and various state blue sky laws. He has represented plaintiffs and defendants in breach of fiduciary duty actions and shareholder books and records actions.
Jesse is one of the only lawyers in the country to have helped obtain complete defense victories at trial in both a securities class action and an individual securities action brought under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. He was a member of the trial teams in In Re Tesla Securities Litigation and Blattman v. C3, which resulted in a complete defense-side jury verdict and defense-side judgment respectively. In addition to his securities trial experience, he has helped defend companies and individuals in securities and shareholder actions alleging billions of dollars damages, achieving favorable results for clients, including complete dismissals on motions to dismiss and summary judgment.
On the plaintiff side, Jesse has helped recover hundreds of millions of dollars for aggrieved investors and shareholders, including some of the world’s largest institutional investors. Among his plaintiff-side representations, Jesse helped represent KKR and Canyon Partners in opt-out actions against Goldman Sachs and other bank underwriters related to SunEdison’s $650 million preferred offering that was led by Goldman months before SunEdison declared bankruptcy. He currently represents Hound Partners in an opt-out action against Valeant Pharmaceuticals and its former directors and officers related to the company’s infamous downfall in 2015.
Jesse also has experience litigating contract and real estate actions, including as lead counsel to a real estate investment management company in an arbitration alleging a breach of a finder’s fee agreement, which resulted in an arbitration decision in our client’s favor. Jesse also represented a client, pro bono, in a fraud and breach of contract action arising from an alleged multi-million scheme to defraud an apparel manufacturer; shortly after Jesse presented the opening statement, the Firm’s client was voluntarily dismissed from the case.
- Allergan
- C3.ai
- Canyon Partners
- Catalent
- Corcept Therapeutics
- E*TRADE
- Elon Musk
- Highfields Capital
- Hound Partners
- KKR
- Match Group
- Navarino Capital Management
- Tesla
- Tom Siebel
- Obtained complete defense jury verdict for Tesla and Elon Musk in one of the only securities class actions to ever go to trial. This was the first defense-side jury verdict for a company in a securities class action in over 15 years.
- Obtained complete defense victory in Delaware federal court for C3 and its top executives following the rare federal securities action to proceed to trial. Successfully defended the trial victory on appeal.
- Obtained summary judgment on behalf of Maiden Holdings in a securities class action alleging that Maiden misrepresented its insurance reserves.
- Represented funds affiliated with Canyon Partners and KKR in securities opt-out actions against Goldman Sachs & Co. and other bank underwriters for selling SunEdison securities pursuant to false and misleading offering materials in violation of the Securities Act of 1933 and California’s Blue Sky laws. The matters settled following the completion of fact discovery.
- Represented a group of hedge fund who opted out of a securities class action settlement, obtaining settlement that represented approximately 7 times what the opt-out plaintiffs’ pro rata recovery would have been in the class action.
- Represented Allergan plc and several of its directors and officers in a securities class action and related opt-out action alleging a failure to disclose that Allergan’s former generic drug divisions was engaged in a price-fixing conspiracy. We settled both claims on favorable terms.
- Obtained dismissal of securities class action against E*TRADE Financial Corp. and E*TRADE Securities LLC alleging E*TRADE failed to disclose a purported failure to comply with its best-execution obligations by allegedly routing trades to exchanges that provided the highest payment for order flow.
- Obtained dismissal of securities class action against National General related to purported misstatements concerning National General’s lender placed insurance.
- Representing funds associated with Hound Partners in a securities fraud opt-out case against Valeant Pharmaceuticals, its former executives, and various investment banks, related to the massive fraud at Valeant dubbed the “Pharmaceutical Enron.”
- Served as lead counsel in securing an arbitration victory for a real estate investment management company alleged to have breached a finder’s fee agreement in connection with the purchase of a multi-million real estate project.
- Representing Match Group in securities class action alleging misstatements in connection with the integration of an acquisition and the development of application features.
- Securities Litigation
- Mergers & Acquisitions Litigation
- Investment Fund Litigation
- Shareholder Activist Litigation
- Class Action Litigation
- Delaware Practice
- Lender Liability & Other Banking Financial Institution Litigation
- Real Estate Litigation
- Litigation Representing Plaintiffs
- Corporate Governance Litigation
- Harvard Law School
(J.D.) - Yeshiva University, Sy Syms School of Business
(B.S., summa cum laude, Finance)
The State Bar of New York
- Lawdragon 500 “Next Generation” Securities Litigation, 2023
- Law360, Securities Rising Star, 2023
- Super Lawyers, Rising Star, 2020-2023