James McGovern

Overview

James McGovern is Of Counsel in the New York office of Labaton Sucharow LLP.  He advises leading pension funds and other institutional investors on issues related to corporate fraud in domestic and international securities markets.  James’ work focuses primarily on securities litigation and corporate governance, representing Taft-Hartley and public pension funds and other institutional investors in domestic securities actions.  James also advises clients regarding potential claims tied to securities-related actions in foreign jurisdictions.

James has worked on a number of significant securities class actions, including In re Worldcom, Inc. Securities Litigation ($6.1 billion recovery), the second-largest securities class action settlement since the passage of the PSLRA; In re Parmalat Securities Litigation ($90 million recovery); In re American Home Mortgage Securities Litigation (opt-out client’s recovery is confidential); In re The Bancorp Inc. Securities Litigation ($17.5 million recovery); In re Pozen Securities Litigation ($11.2 million recovery); In re Cabletron Systems, Inc. Securities Litigation ($10.5 million settlement); In re UICI Securities Litigation ($6.5 million recovery); and In re SCANA Securities Litigation ($192.5 million recovery).

In the corporate governance arena, James helped bring claims against Abbott Laboratories’ directors for mismanagement and breach of fiduciary duties in allowing the company to engage in a 10-year off-label marketing scheme.  Upon settlement of this action, the company agreed to implement sweeping corporate governance reforms, including an extensive compensation clawback provision going beyond the requirements under the Dodd-Frank Act.

Following the unprecedented takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by the federal government in 2008, James was retained by a group of individual and institutional investors to seek recovery of the massive losses they incurred when the value of their shares in these companies was essentially destroyed.  He brought and continues to litigate a complex takings class action against the federal government for depriving Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders of their property interests in violation of the Fifth Amendment and for causing tens of billions of dollars in damages.

Prior to focusing his practice on plaintiffs' securities litigation, James was an attorney at Latham & Watkins where he worked on complex litigation and FIFRA arbitrations, as well as matters relating to corporate bankruptcy and project finance.  

James is also an accomplished public speaker and has addressed members of several public pension associations, including the Texas Association of Public Employee Retirement Systems and the Michigan Association of Public Employee Retirement Systems, on how institutional investors can guard their assets against the risks of corporate fraud and poor corporate governance.

James earned his Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center.  He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from American University, where he was awarded a Presidential Scholarship and graduated with high honors.