Kirby McInerney LLP

Kirby McInerney is a boutique law firm specializing in complex financial fraud litigation and dispute resolution on behalf of institutional and individual clients in the United States and abroad. The firm represents plaintiffs – from major public and private institutional investors to retail investors, to traders and other employees of financial firms – in securities, antitrust, commodities, whistleblower, corporate governance, and consumer fraud litigation. For over 75 years, KM has provided our clients with the legal knowledge and full-service support they need to both deter and defend their investments against corporate misconduct.

Securities

One of the oldest firms in the field, Kirby McInerney has always been on the leading edge of financial fraud litigation. The firm's founder was in the first generation of securities lawyers and rendered service to the SEC in its earliest years. Since that time, KM's practice, which often deals with fraud related to complex financial instruments, has continued to set precedents both in terms of the law and size of settlements, recovering billions of dollars for our clients and expanding the reach of shareholder rights through victories on matters of first impression.

Financial Antitrust

KM has decades of experience representing investors in litigation relating to the manipulation of physical commodities, commodity futures, and related derivative products. We especially excel in redressing complex financial fraud involving highly specialized markets, such as financial derivatives. The firm has been involved in some of the most cutting-edge areas of market manipulation cases of the last three decades, including participating in the seminal case related toSumitomo Corporation’s manipulation of the copper market, and, more recently, filing the first lawsuit related to the high-profile manipulation of the LIBOR benchmark rate.

In addition to KM's work involving financial products, the firm's experience advising clients in market manipulation in cases brought under the Commodities Exchange Act, the Sherman Act, and state law analogs, furthers spans the markets for gasoline, propane, cement, concrete, steel, potash, silver, and others. The firm's clients include public pension funds, hedge funds, and market makers.

Whistleblower

KM has a robust whistleblower practice and represents clients with claims under the IRS, SEC, CFTC, FinCEN and OFAC Whistleblower Programs as well as State and Federal False Claims Acts. The firm has achieved landmark settlements on behalf of its clients and the government, including:

• Representation of the person who received nearly $200 million, the largest-ever individual commoditieswhistleblower award(CFTC WB Award No. 21-WB-07).The information the whistleblower provided catalyzed investigations by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), a U.S. federal regulator, and a foreign regulator into the manipulation of crucial financial benchmarks used by global banks as the basis for the pricing of fixed income securities and derivative products.

• Procuring the largest-ever settlement of a tax whistleblower case under the New York False Claims Act – $105 million – through representation of a whistleblower against hedge fund billionaire Thomas Sandell and Sandell Asset Management Corporation alleging they submitted false New York tax returns that failed to count more than $450 million as New York-taxable income, causing them to underpay New York taxes by more than $50 million.Our client received award of 21% of the $105 million recovery.

360-degree client service

KM prides itself on a comprehensive, 360-degree approach to client service. It is easy for clients in large class action and whistleblower cases to feel lost in the shuffle, but KM employs a hands-on, people-first approach that prioritizes the needs and comfort of its clients. KM attorneys focus on always being accessible, accommodating, and empathetic, and on balancing flexibility with accountability and results.

Fighting the good fight

One aspect of KM's work that the firm particularly values is its ability to promote lasting governance change, and our attorneys routinely work with clients to bring derivative lawsuits and advance corporate governance agendas during class action settlement processes. For each client, our attorneys work hard to understand their priorities and goals and filter recommendations through the lens of their values.

KM has long been a pioneer in litigating shareholder derivative and corporate governance claims. The firm's focus on this space dates back to 1988, when KM was responsible for a substantial recovery for shareholders in connection with the Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. takeover of RJR Nabisco that inspired Barbarians at the Gate. In that case, in a matter of first impression, KM established that investment bankers advising target boards have duties running directly to shareholders of those companies.