Carol C. Villegas

Overview

Carol C. Villegas focuses on prosecuting complex securities fraud cases on behalf of institutional investors. Leading one of the Firm’s litigation teams, she currently oversees litigation against AT&T, Marriott, Nielsen Holdings, Skechers, U.S.A., Inc., Shanda Games, and Danske Bank. In addition to her litigation responsibilities, Carol holds a variety of leadership positions within the Firm, including serving on the Firm's Executive Committee and serving as Co-Chair of the Firm's Women's Networking and Mentoring Initiative.

Carol’s skillful handling of discovery work, her development of innovative case theories in complex cases, and her adept ability during oral argument has earned her accolades from the New York Law Journal as a “Top Woman in Law.”  The National Law Journal recognized Carol’s superb ability to excel in high-stakes matters on behalf of plaintiffs and selected her to its 2020 class of “Elite Women of the Plaintiffs Bar.”  She has also been recognized as a “Future Star” by Benchmark Litigation and a “Next Generation Lawyer” by The Legal 500, where clients praised her for helping them “better understand the process and how to value a case.”

Carol played a pivotal role in securing favorable settlements for investors from AMD, a multi-national semiconductor company, Liquidity Services, an online auction marketplace, Aeropostale, a leader in the international retail apparel industry, ViroPharma Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, and Vocera, a healthcare communications provider. She also recently helped revive a securities class action against LifeLock after arguing an appeal before the Ninth Circuit. A true advocate for her clients, Carol’s argument in the case against Vocera resulted in a ruling from the bench, denying defendants' motion to dismiss in that case.

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 received a J.D. from New York University School of Law, and she was the recipient of The Irving H. Jurow Achievement Award for the Study of Law and selected to receive the Association of the Bar of the City of New York Minority Fellowship. Carol served as the Staff Editor, and later the Notes Editor, of the Environmental Law Journal. She earned a B.A., with honors, in English and Politics from New York University.

Carol is a member of the National Association of Public Pension Attorneys (NAPPA), the National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL), the Hispanic National Bar Association, the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, and a member of the Executive Council for the New York State Bar Association's Committee on Women in the Law.

She is fluent in Spanish.