Adam Hakki

Adam Hakki

Partner, Co-Chair Executive Committee/Board and U.S. Chair

Email

adam.hakki@aoshearman.com

Phone

+1 212 848 4924

Offices

New York

V-CARD

Adam is Co-Chair of the Executive Committee and Board and U.S. Chair.

One of the most prominent lawyers in the US, Adam maintains a trial, investigations and counseling practice focused on bet-the-company matters. Described as “the best of the best” in Chambers USA, The American Lawyer named him “Litigator of the Year” in 2023 and 2021.

Uniquely versatile, Adam is the only lawyer recognized by Chambers USA for each of Securities Litigation, Antitrust Litigation, and Financial Services Enforcement and Investigations.

Adam is also one of only four lawyers in New York recognized by Chambers USA as a “Star Performer” for Securities Litigation, a special designation above Band 1. Law360 has selected Adam for its prestigious “MVP” recognition five years in a row. Forbes named Adam one of America's "Top 200 Lawyers," Benchmark Litigation has named him its sole “Securities Lawyer of the Year” four times, and The Legal 500 has named him to its “Hall of Fame.”

Adam represents corporations, directors, executives, special committees, financial institutions and asset managers in their highest stakes matters at trial and on appeal, in internal investigations, and before government enforcers, especially the DOJ, SEC, CFTC, state attorneys general, bank regulators and FINRA. Adam has a particularly deep focus on cases and investigations involving securities, corporate governance, M&A, antitrust and competition, derivatives and commodities, insider trading, SPACs, financial disclosure and accounting, trading and investment banking regulation, general commercial matters and insolvency.

Experience

Representative matters

  • Leading companies and/or their boards of directors, including Paramount Global, Twitter, PayPal, CVS Health, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Barclays, Sea Ltd, Hawaiian Electric, Opendoor Technologies, Iveric Bio, BNP Paribas, and Deutsche Bank in major securities, shareholder derivative, antitrust and commercial litigations, government/regulatory enforcement matters and/or investigations.
  • Every major investment bank in high-stakes securities and other litigation related to securities offerings and other corporate transactions involving companies such as Silicon Valley Bank, Norfolk Southern Railroad, Nikola, Alibaba, SunEdison, MF Global, Countrywide Financial, and Enron.
  • Multiple leading financial institutions, including Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Bank of Montreal, and ICE in antitrust and Commodities Exchange Act litigation related to virtually every major financial product and benchmark, including LIBOR, FX, interest rate swaps, credit default swaps, credit event auctions, VRDO/municipal bonds, U.S. Treasuries, GSE bonds, European government bonds, Mexican government bonds, CDOR, BBSW, silver trading, precious metals, ISDAfix, SSA bonds, Odd-lot corporate bonds, stock lending and others.
  • Major global banks, companies and hedge funds in dozens of DOJ, SEC, CFTC, FINRA, bank regulatory, state regulatory and internal investigations related to subjects such as securities, antitrust/price fixing, commodities, False Claims Act, FIRREA, SPACs, swaps, futures, currency trading, dark pools, high frequency trading, equity research, recordkeeping, securitization/MBS/CDO, rate setting/auctions, market manipulation, insider trading, disclosure, conflicts of interest, compliance and controls and governance.
  • Galleon Management in the then-largest DOJ and SEC insider trading prosecution in U.S. history.
  • Countrywide Financial, formerly the U.S.’s largest mortgage originator, in numerous RMBS lawsuits across the U.S alleging tens of billions of dollars in damages.
  • Merrill Lynch in is historic victory in the Enron securities class action (then the largest in U.S. history).
  • Amaranth International in FERC and class action litigation related to the then-largest hedge fund collapse in U.S. history.
  • Major global bank in connection multiple civil RICO and common lawsuits related to one of the largest alleged frauds in Latin American history.

Pro bono

  • Obtained the reversal of a death sentence on behalf of a defendant with mental retardation in Florida after a two-day trial, which the team eventually sustained on appeal.
  • Pro bono counsel on matters for the Legal Aid Society of New York and the Humane Society of the United States.
  • Two-time recipient of the Legal Aid Society’s Pro Bono Publica award and serves on the Board of Directors the Legal Aid Society.

Published Work

  • Executive Editor, A&O Shearman Need-to-Know Litigation Weekly Newsletter
  • Author, “Damages in Litigating Securities Class Actions”, LEXIS NEXIS
  • Author, “U.S. Courts: Annual Review: United States Court of Appeals for Second Circuit”, Global Competition Review
  • Author, “Securities Litigation: A Practitioner’s Guide”, Second Edition, Practicing Law Institute
  • Author, “Banking Litigation in Business and Commercial Litigation in Federal Courts”, Thomson Reuters

Speaking Engagements

  • Panelist, “Civil Litigation Developments: Securities Class Actions and Other Significant Litigation”, SIFMA Legal & Compliance Conference
  • Moderator, “Securities Class Action and Shareholder Litigation”, The Securities Regulation Institute’s Conference – Northwestern Pritzker School of Law
  • Panelist, “Securities Litigation: The Investigation: Coordinating Requests From Government Regulators”, Practising Law Institute

Recognition

“Adam is the best of the best”
Chambers USA
“A master at thinking through issues that others don’t”
Chambers USA

Awards

  • Litigator of the Year, The American Lawyer
  • Securities MVP, Law360
  • Banking MVP, Law360
  • Securities Lawyer of the Year, Benchmark Litigation
  • Star Performer (National & New York), Chambers USA
  • Hall of Fame, Legal 500
  • National Litigation Star (securities litigation), Benchmark Litigation
  • Top 200 Lawyers, Forbes

Qualifications

Admissions

New York, 1998

Courts

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, 1998

United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, 2001

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit, 2005

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, 2005

United States District Court for the District of Colorado, 2011

United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit, 2011

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, 2014

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit, 2016

United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit, 2018

United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit, 2023

Academic

J.D., magna cum laude, St. John’s University School of Law, 1997

Executive Articles Editor, St. John’s Law Review

B.A., Muhlenberg College, 1994

Disclaimer
A&O Shearman was formed on May 1, 2024 by the combination of Shearman & Sterling LLP and Allen & Overy LLP and their respective affiliates (the legacy firms). Any matters referred to above may include matters undertaken by one or more of the legacy firms rather than A&O Shearman.