Michael J Malone (Mike)

Mike Malone is a partner in the Litigation Practice Group in King & Spalding’s New York office.

Mr. Malone is known nationally for his work on complex commercial litigation matters, including securities class action defense, general securities and corporate control issues, investment banking disputes and other substantial corporate litigations, arbitrations, and government investigations. He is an expert in both trial and appellate practice and has been repeatedly selected by his peers for inclusion in New York Superlawyers and the The Best Lawyers in America.®

Highlights of Mr. Malone’s recent experience include the following:

Defense of Officers and Directors in Securities Class Actions:

• Successfully defended Jean-Marie Messier, former Chairman and CEO of Vivendi Universal, S.A., in the jury trial of In Re Vivendi Securities Litigation (S.D.N.Y.), said to be the largest securities class action ever tried to verdict. In Vivendi, the “F Cubed” class of shareholders claimed they suffered multi-billion dollar damages from alleged fraudulent financial statements and public disclosures by defendants about Vivendi’s liquidity. Following a 4 month jury trial, Vivendi was held liable for all of 57 alleged false statements made to the investing public from 2000 to 2002. Mr. Messier, however, was found not liable by the jury for any of the company’s false statements either directly or as a “control person”. For his winning trial defense in the Vivendi case, Mr. Malone was selected by the American Lawyer Daily as its “Litigator of the Week” for February 2, 2010. [Web Link]
  
  
• Represents the former CEO of Vivendi in Liberty Media Corporation et al. v. Vivendi Universal S.A., an action alleging securities fraud in connection with Liberty’s sale of USA networks to Vivendi, and in 35 consolidated cases by European financial institutions and money managers alleging 10b5 claims in connection with Vivendi’s stock price drop in 2001-2002.
  
  
• Successfully defended the former CEO of Excite @ Home Corporation in Leykin v. AT&T Corporation (S.D.N.Y.), a shareholder class action alleging securities fraud against the company’s officers, directors and controlling corporate shareholders based on alleged misrepresentations concerning the company's proprietary technology, revenues and growth projections.
  
  
• Defended the former CEO of retailer Just for Feet in securities class actions and related litigations arising out of a dramatic decline in the company’s stock price.
  
  
• Represented the CEO of a major U.S. publisher in connection with an SEC investigation of the company’s financial statements and disclosures.

Defense of Issuers, Public Audit Firms and Underwriters in Securities Class Actions:

• Represented KPMG Bermuda, LLP in In Re ANR Securities Litigation, a federal securities class action arising out of a substantial fall in the stock price of ANR, a NYSE traded company. The case was resolved by a favorable settlement reached during pre-trial mediation.
  
  
• Represented a large institutional investor plaintiff in connection with securities claims arising out of the failure of the largest U.S. issuer of asset-backed securities. This action, in which Mr. Malone was a member of the plaintiffs’ steering committee, ended with settlements totaling a quarter billion dollars for our client’s plaintiff group.
  
  
• Won a series of noted federal court victories as defense counsel for Hyperion Capital Management in class actions arising out of $325 million in losses suffered by closed-end Hyperion funds traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
  
  
• Successfully defended the Wall Street firm, Josephthal Lyon & Ross, in class actions in New York and Florida arising out of Josephthal’s securities underwriting work.
  
  
• Represented an institutional defendant in actions by bondholders of Continental Airlines alleging breach of fiduciary duty by the bond trustees in connection with Continental’s bankruptcy.
  
  
• Defended the internet retailer, Shopping.Com, in an action by short sellers alleging that the company was conspiring with its market maker to manipulate the market in the company’s stock.

Other High Stakes Commercial Litigations and Arbitrations:

• Represented Regal Entertainment Group, the largest motion picture exhibitor in the U.S., and its subsidiary Hoyts Cinemas Corp., in an action by the Department of Justice asserting that the designs of Regal’s 3,500 “stadium” theaters violate the Americans with Disabilities Act. After years of litigation in various district courts, circuit courts and the U.S. Supreme Court, the action ended in June 2005 in a landmark settlement covering all Regal’s stadium theaters nationwide.
  
  
• Currently represents a Fortune 100 company in connection with claims of violations of the ADA and Fair Housing Act by the Department of Justice relating to hundreds of residential housing complexes.
  
  
• Won a $24 million arbitration award from Vivendi Universal, S.A. for its former CEO based on the arbitrators’ unanimous decision that Mr. Messier’s severance agreement with Vivendi was “valid and binding” under French law.
  
  
• Defended a New York investment banking firm in one of the first claims of “investment banking malpractice” to go to trial and represented a Fortune 500 company in a federal action arising from its multimillion dollar fee dispute with a major investment bank.
  
  
• Represented one of the largest “Big Box” mall developers in New York, G & S Investors, in the litigation, arbitration and mediation of partnership disputes over ownership interest of the developer’s projects.
  
  
• Represented the Sunshine Biscuit Company in an action against its former owner, American Brands, over liability for OSHA violations that required replacement of all Sunshine’s baking ovens in plants across the U.S. The action was settled very favorably during the trial.
  
  
• Represented one of the largest corporations in the U.K. in various U.S. litigations arising out of the bankruptcy of its former subsidiary, Herman’s Sporting Goods.
  
  
• Defended an international manufacturer in actions asserting that plaintiffs incurred heart disease from exposure to chemicals used in the firm’s production process. The action was resolved through an extremely favorable settlement that was upheld against vigorous challenges by nonsettling chemical manufacturers.
  
  
• Obtained a landmark ruling in which the New York Court of Appeals revised its approach to valuation of an objecting stockholders shares in a statutory appraisal proceeding.

• Featured Panelist in April 2010 PLI Seminar in New York City on “Global Capital Markets & the U.S. Securities Laws 2010”.

• Selected as Panelist November 2009 PLI Seminar in New York on “Bet the Ranch Litigation: Best Practices for Complex Litigation” (Presentation given by substitute because of trial in Vivendi.)
  

• Co-Author, Securities Law 360 Article November 2008 on developments in Auction Rate Securities Litigation, titled “2008 ARS Fallout: The Last Wave?”
  

• Fall 2008 e-lunch presentation on “The Globalization of U.S. Securities Class Actions and U.S. Securities Law Enforcement”.

Before he came to King & Spalding in 2000, Mr. Malone was the Head of the Litigation Department at Battle Fowler LLP., where he became partner in 1985. He began private practice at Cravath Swaine & Moore, where he was a member of a pro bono trial team that represented the City of New York in challenging the constitutionality of the U.S. Census because of its systematic undercounting of minorities. That case influenced the eventual restructuring of counting procedures by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Mr. Malone received his J.D., cum laude, from Fordham Law School in 1977, where he was an Editor of the law review, and his A.B. from Colgate University in 1972. He began private practice after a clerkship with the Hon. William H. Mulligan in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.