Peter A. Wald

Securities litigation and accountants' liability

Wald's client list reads like a who's who of companies affected by the financial crises in the early and late 2000s. Wald, who spends a third of his time overseeing the 500 attorneys in Latham's global litigation practice, is lead counsel for Deloitte & Touche in litigation stemming from the collapse of Washington Mutual Bank; for longtime client Ernst & Young in securities litigation following the bankruptcies of Lehman Brothers and IndyMac Bank; and for Sallie Mae in matters stemming from the credit crisis. In March, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a grant of summary judgment Wald won in 2009 for Omnicom Group Inc., an advertising and marketing communications company, in a $3 billion securities fraud class action. In 2009 he secured summary judgment on behalf of Oracle Corp. and three of its officers in a $3 billion securities fraud case in the Northern District that arose out of a missed earnings forecast in 2001. It is currently on appeal before the 9th Circuit.