Kevin J. O'Brien

• Defending a Big 4 accounting firm in securities litigation arising from the collapse of Silicon Valley, Signature, and First Republic Banks.
• Obtained dismissal of fraud claim against the UK member of a Big 4 accounting firm network in the Commercial Division of the New York Supreme Court.
• Obtained D&O insurance proceeds for former executives facing fiduciary duty claims over objections of bankruptcy trustee. In re Mountain Express Oil Co., 674 B.R. 747 (Bankr. S.D. Tex. 2025).
• Obtained dismissal of a Big 4 accounting firm from a putative securities fraud class action in the Northern District of Georgia. Formby v. Deloitte & Touche LLP, No. 1:22-cv-670, 2023 WL 4132122 (N.D. Ga. Feb. 13, 2023).
• Defended Capital One in consumer and securities class actions arising from data security incident announced in July 2019.
• Obtained appellate victory for JW Aluminum declaring that newly alleged statutory liabilities had been discharged in decades-old bankrutpcy case. In re U.S. Pipe & Foundry Co., 32 F.4th 1324 (11th Cir. 2022), cert. denied, 143 S. Ct. 2657 (2023).
• Defeated motion to serve Section 1782 "foreign proceeding" discovery on a Big 4 accounting firm. In re Letter of Request from SPS Corp I, No. 21-mc-565, 2022 WL 3908067 (D. Del. Aug. 30, 2022), reconsideration denied, 2022 WL 16739786 (D. Del. Nov. 7, 2022).
• Successfully challenged bankrutpcy litigation trust's request to obtain Rule 2004 discovery from the global coordinating entity of a Big 4 accounting firm network.
• Obtained dismissal of the global coordinating entity of a Big 4 accounting firm network from a securities fraud class action. In re Aegean Marine Petroleum Network, Inc. Sec. Litig., 529 F. Supp. 3d 111 (S.D.N.Y. 2021).
• Obtained summary judgment for Equifax in putative class action brought in Nevada federal court asserting claims under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Barnum v. Equifax Info. Servs., LLC, No. 2:16-cv-2866, 2019 WL 1299329 (D. Nev. Mar. 21, 2019), aff'd, 812 F. App'x 727 (9th Cir. 2020).
• Obtained dismissal of a Big 4 accounting firm from a single-plaintiff securities fraud action. Zimmerman v. UBS AG, No. 17-cv-4503, 2018 WL 4054860 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 24, 2018).
• Member of trial team representing the sellers of an energy services company in a dispute over earnout payments due in connection with the sale.
• Defended Equifax in consumer, financial institution, and securities fraud class actions arising out of a data breach announced in September 2017.
• Represented a partner of a Big 4 accounting firm in an investigation by the PCAOB into alleged violations of auditing standards.
• Represented a Big 4 accounting firm in what was reported at the time to be the highest-stakes accounting malpractice case to go to trial. The Florida state court case, brought by the litigation trust of a bankrupt mortgage originator seeking $5.5 billion in damages, settled mid-trial.
• Represented The Coca-Cola Company in an ERISA interpleader action seeking a determination of the proper beneficiary of disputed funds. Obtained dismissal of counterclaims asserted against the company. Coca-Cola Co. v. Lande, No. 1:19-cv-1741, 2019 WL 10093974 (N.D. Ga. Oct. 31, 2019).

Kevin O’Brien is a litigator focusing on high-stakes and complex business disputes, with a particular focus on litigation over commercial transactions, bankruptcy-related disputes, and professional liability matters. Kevin has represented clients in a wide variety of cases, including contract disputes, business torts, and consumer and securities fraud class actions.

Before joining King & Spalding, Kevin was a law clerk to Judge William S. Duffey, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.  He was also an associate at another national law firm.  Kevin received his law degree from Boston College Law School, where he was Managing Editor of the Boston College Law Review and elected to the Order of the Coif.