Lisa H. Bebchick

Notable examples of Lisa’s recent work for clients include:

Commercial and Securities Litigation

• Securing the complete dismissal of a consolidated putative class action lawsuit alleging Securities Act claims brought by plaintiff shareholders in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada against underwriters Credit Suisse Securities (USA) Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Jefferies LLC, Macquarie Capital (USA) Inc., Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, Citigroup, Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Suntrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc., Nomura Securities International, Inc., and others in connection with two public offerings of PlayAGS, Inc. a designer and supplier of electronic gaming machines and other products and services primarily for casinos across North America. The complaint alleged that the underwriters were liable under Sections 11 and 12(a)(2) of the Securities Act for allegedly false and misleading statements in the Shelf Registration Statement and Prospectus Supplements for the offerings. The district court granted our underwriter clients’ motion to dismiss in its entirety, which was affirmed on appeal after oral argument by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
• Secured the complete dismissal of a putative class action lawsuit alleging Securities Act claims brought by plaintiff shareholders in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York against underwriters Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, UBS, Bank of America, challenging statements made by Playtika Holding Corp., a technology company that develops free-to-play mobile games. The complaint alleged that the underwriters were liable under Sections 11 of the Securities Act because the offering materials for Playtika’s $1.9 billion IPO omitted to disclose that major infrastructure changes to two of its leading cases would interrupt the ability to provide features to users on a “constant cadence” basis. The district court granted defendants’ motion to dismiss in its entirety, which was affirmed in a summary order by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
• Securing the full dismissal of federal securities claims brought against Array Technologies, Inc., a solar panel technology company, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Amid the market volatility of the COVID-19 pandemic, Array went public in an October 2020 initial public offering and then launched follow-on offerings. The complaint brought claims under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Exchange Act, as well as Sections 11, 12(a)(2), and 15 of the Securities Act. Both sets of claims were premised on the theory that Array had concealed the company’s exposure to spikes in steel and freight costs. The district court granted Array’s motion to dismiss in its entirety. Plaintiffs appealed the dismissal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and Lisa argued the appeal on behalf of all defendants, which remains pending.
• Securing a major victory for Deutsche Bank AG and more than 40 current and former members of its supervisory and management boards by obtaining dismissal of a shareholder derivative lawsuit filed in the Commercial Division of the Supreme Court of New York, alleging foreign-law breach of fiduciary duty and related secondary liability claims based on allegations that the individual defendants failed to properly supervise the bank and its employees for over a decade. The suit sought $18 billion in damages on behalf of the bank and argued that while the law of the country of incorporation (Germany) governed plaintiff’s substantive breach of fiduciary duty claims, as a procedural matter, New York law should determine whether the plaintiff had standing to bring those claims. The lawsuit was dismissed in its entirety following oral argument on the motion to dismiss.
• Representing Deutsche Bank in a first-of-its-kind putative class action lawsuit filed by an anonymous “Jane Doe” plaintiff who alleged that Deutsche Bank violated federal and New York State law by facilitating a criminal sex-trafficking enterprise through its provision of routine banking services to Jeffrey Epstein from 2013 to 2018. In March 2023, Lisa and team secured the dismissal of a majority of Jane Doe’s claims by U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff, and in May 2023, reached a favorable settlement to resolve the remainder of Jane Doe’s claims on a class-wide basis.
• Achieving dismissal of claims against leading international and domestic medical education institutions in connection with breach of contract lawsuit filed in the Commercial Division of the New York Supreme Court in connection with a long-term affiliation agreement to operate a transnational medical education program. After Lisa’s oral argument, the First Department of the New York Appellate Division issued a decision affirming the lower court’s ruling in its entirety.
• Obtaining dismissal of three breach of contract actions brought against Shire; and Novartis, filed by former stockholders of SARcode Bioscience Inc. in the Delaware Court of Chancery, in which those stockholders sought $525 million in damages for the alleged failure of Shire to make certain milestone payments pursuant to a merger agreement.
• Successfully resolved on behalf of a CEO and several related business entities a breach of contract case in Delaware Chancery Court arising from joint venture entered into with a leading financial institution to jointly own interests in companies with valuable outdoor advertising assets.
• Successfully resolved on behalf of Via Transportation, a New York-based technology company that operated an online ride-sharing platform, an Article 78 proceeding in New York Supreme Court challenging a NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission rule.
• Successfully resolved on behalf of Friends Seminary, an elite New York City private school, an Article 78 proceeding in New York Supreme Court challenging a multi-million-dollar campus renovation project.

Representative White Collar/Regulatory Matters

• Counsel to broker dealer in connection with FINRA investigation concerning allegations that a former investment adviser engaged in alleged free riding involving aggressive options trades in a personal trading account.
• Counsel to broker dealer in connection with SEC investigation into compliance with the SEC and FINRA non-cash compensation rules, which prohibit firms and associated person from giving or accepting gifts in connection with the sale of specific products.
• Counsel to global investment bank in connection with parallel SEC and US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York investigations into alleged insider trading.
• Counsel to global investment bank in connection with FINRA investigation into alleged failures to comply with SEC record retention rules for almost 20 years.
• Counsel to a senior compliance executive at a multinational financial services firm in connection with a FINRA investigation into potential backdating of certain required compliance reports that were submitted to FINRA as part of a supervisory examination of the executive’s investment bank employer.
• Counsel to leading biopharmaceutical equity research analyst in connection with FINRA investigation related to conflicts of interest.
• Counsel to global investment bank in connection with investigation by the NYSE into alleged violations of regulatory requirements relating to the surveillance of electronic communications.
• Counsel to individual investment adviser at global financial services firm in connection with FINRA investigation relating to customer trading in non-traditional exchange traded funds (ETFs).
• Counsel to investment management company in connection with retail customer arbitrations commenced before FINRA alleging violations of the securities laws and FINRA rules.