Carol C. Villegas

Overview

Carol C. Villegas is a Partner in the New York office of Labaton Sucharow LLP.  Carol focuses on prosecuting complex securities fraud and consumer cases on behalf of institutional investors and individuals.  Leading one of the Firm’s litigation teams, she is actively overseeing litigation against AT&T, Nielsen Holdings, Mindbody, Danske Bank, Peabody Energy, Flo Health, Amazon, and Hain.  In addition to her litigation responsibilities, Carol holds a variety of leadership positions within the Firm, including serving on the Firm's Executive Committee, as Chair of the Firm's Women's Networking and Mentoring Initiative, and as the Chief of Compliance.  She also leads the Firm’s ESG Taskforce, which provides clients with tailored advice regarding corporate responsibility and environmental, social, and corporate governance risks and opportunities. 

Carol’s development of innovative case theories in complex cases, her skillful handling of discovery work, and her adept ability during oral arguments has earned her accolades from The National Law Journal as a Plaintiffs’ Trailblazer and the New York Law Journal as a Top Woman in Law and a New York Trailblazer.  The National Law Journal "Elite Trial Lawyers" has repeatedly recognized Carol’s superb ability to excel in high-stakes matters on behalf of plaintiffs and selected her to its class of Elite Women of the Plaintiffs Bar.  She has also been recognized as a Future Star by Benchmark Litigation and a Next Generation Partner by The Legal 500, where clients praised her for helping them “better understand the process and how to value a case.” Lawdragon has named her one of the “500 Leading Lawyers in America,” one of the country’s top Plaintiff Financial Lawyers, and Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers and Crain's New York Business selected Carol to its list of Notable Women in Law. Euromoney’s Women in Business Law Awards has also shortlisted Carol as Securities Litigator of the Year, and Chambers and Partners named Carol a finalist for Diversity & Inclusion: Outstanding Contribution.

Carol has played a pivotal role in securing favorable settlements for investors, including DeVry, a for-profit university; AMD, a multi-national semiconductor company; Liquidity Services, an online auction marketplace; Aeropostale, a leader in the international retail apparel industry; Vocera, a healthcare communications provider; Prothena, a biopharmaceutical company; and World Wrestling Entertainment, a media and entertainment company, among others.  Carol has also helped revive a securities class action against LifeLock after arguing an appeal before the Ninth Circuit.  The case settled shortly thereafter.

Prior to joining Labaton Sucharow, Carol served as the Assistant District Attorney in the Supreme Court Bureau for the Richmond County District Attorney’s office, where she took several cases to trial.  She began her career as an Associate at King & Spalding LLP, where she worked as a federal litigator.

Carol is an active member of the New York State Bar Association's Women in the Law Section and Chair of the Board of Directors of the City Bar Fund, the nonprofit 501(c)(3) arm of the New York City Bar Association. She is also a member of the National Association of Public Pension Attorneys, the National Association of Women Lawyers, and the Hispanic National Bar Association.  In addition, Carol previously served on Law360’s Securities Editorial Board.

Carol earned her Juris Doctor from New York University School of Law, where she was the recipient of The Irving H. Jurow Achievement Award for the Study of Law and received the Association of the Bar of the City of New York Diversity Fellowship.  She received her bachelor’s degree, with honors, from New York University.

She is fluent in Spanish.