Firm Overview

We have been here since the beginning.  

One of the oldest firms in the field, Kirby McInerney has always been on the leading edge of financial fraud litigation. Our founder was in the first generation of securities lawyers and rendered service to the SEC in its earliest years. Since that time, our practice, which often deals with fraud related to complex financial instruments, has continued to set precedents both in terms of the law and size of settlements, recovering billions of dollars for our clients and expanding the reach of shareholder rights through victories on matters of first impression.

Some of our precedent-setting work includes:

1992:

Schneider v. Lazard Freres, No. 38899, M-6679 (N.Y. App. Div. 1st Dept. 1990)
Established that investment banks have direct duties to the shareholders of the companies they advise

2000:

In re Cendant Corp. PRIDES Litig., No. 98-cv-2819 (D.N.J. 2000)
Unprecedented recovery of 100 cents on the dollar

2002:

In re GT Interactive Sec. Litig., No. 98-cv-0095 (S.D.N.Y. 2000)
First-ever appellate reversal of a lower court’s dismissal of a class action suit pursuant to the PSLRA

 

2013:

In re Citigroup Inc. Sec. Litig., No. 07-cv-9901 (S.D.N.Y.)
Procured a settlement of $590 million — at the time, the largest-ever CDO-related settlement, as well as the largest settlement of a fraud-only action

 

2020:    

Mason-Mahon v. Flint, No. 602052/2014 (N.Y. Sup. Ct.)
Established the right of English shareholders to bring derivative claims against English companies in New York state courts

 

2021:  

CFTC WB Award No. 21-WB-07
Procured largest-ever individual award arising under the Dodd-Frank whistleblower reward programs as well as IRS, federal, and state False Claims Acts

We are on the cutting edge of the law.

Maintaining the innovative spirit of our founder, we have leveraged our early and ongoing success in securities litigation to build numerous other robust practices.  In addition to leading some of the largest and most significant securities class actions, we represent institutional investors, governmental entities, and individuals in antitrust, commodities, structured finance, healthcare, consumer, corporate governance, and whistleblower litigations.

We regularly handle litigation involving highly complex and emerging financial products such as derivatives and employ leading-edge damage calculation methodologies.

In re Credit Default Swaps Auctions Litig., 21 Civ. 00606 (D. N.M.)
We are acting as lead counsel on behalf of the New Mexico State Investment Council alleging that leading credit default swap (CDS) dealers took part in a more than decade-long, multibillion-dollar scheme to manipulate the benchmark prices used to value credit default swap contracts at settlement.

While calculating profit and loss may seem simple, when approached through the lens of the U.S. securities laws, it is anything but. Judging the merits of financial fraud cases requires deep analysis of available data. When meritorious cases are identified, we calculate our clients’ damages and estimated recoverable damages under numerous methodologies and contingencies, as courts have not yet agreed upon standard approaches to recoverable damage calculations. In addition to thoroughly navigating the nuances and vagaries of the law, we calculate damages under all relevant methodologies at the account level, as some – though not all courts – believe that plaintiffs must net gains against losses. In these instances, parsing trading data on a granular level paints a full picture of a client’s position, allowing us to understand whether it most behooves the client to present damages on a granular or broad basis. 


We take the time to give our clients what they need.

KM prides itself on a comprehensive, 360-degree approach to client service. It is easy for clients in large class action cases to feel lost in the shuffle, but we employ a hands-on, people-first approach that prioritizes the needs and comfort of our clients. Our attorneys focus on always being accessible, accommodating, and empathetic, and on balancing our flexibility with accountability and results.  

Furthermore, we take the time to painstakingly untangle often highly complicated situations where there are numerous accounts, significant trade volumes, numerous inter-account transfers, hundreds of transactions, repeated corrective disclosures, significant price volatility, and other complicating factors. Our firm has built a reputation for having both the brain power and the will to methodically make sense of multivariable situations where missing one line item in hundreds can result in a profound mischaracterization of a client’s standing and opportunities. We take our clients’ time and interests seriously and know that doing the significant work up front to paint a full, accurate picture gives them the support they need to decide how to move forward.

Finally, we routinely offer our services on a contingency fee basis and are paid only if successful in procuring recoveries. This policy allows our clients to exercise their rights and pursue remedies without concern of sustaining further losses due to legal fees.

KM services clients in countries across the globe and has extensive foreign language capabilities. Members of our firm speak Korean, Mandarin, Cantonese, Russian, and Spanish.


We help our clients fight the good fight.

One aspect of our work that we particularly value is its ability to promote lasting governance change, and we routinely work with clients to bring derivative lawsuits and advance corporate governance agendas during class action settlement processes. For each of our clients, we work hard to understand their priorities and goals, and filter our recommendations through the lens of their values.

KM has long been a pioneer in litigating shareholder derivative and corporate governance claims. Our focus on this space dates back to 1988, when KM was responsible for a substantial recovery for shareholders in connection with the Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. takeover of RJR Nabisco that inspired Barbarians at the Gate. In that case, in a matter of first impression, KM established that investment bankers advising target boards have duties running directly to shareholders of those companies.

We also led the high-profile Hollinger shareholder derivative litigation in the mid-aughts. We represented an investment firm in its efforts to stop egregious company fund withdrawals being made by Conrad Black, the company’s then-CEO. This ultimately required Mr. Black’s removal, a process KM attorneys put in motion through a series of sophisticated, little employed maneuvers in Delaware. Our client had approximately thirteen million shares of the company trading at less than ten dollars at the time of our engagement. When it became clear that Mr. Black was to be removed from his post as CEO, the stock rose from less than ten dollars a share to over twenty dollars.  This rise represented an increase of more than $100 million in our client’s holdings alone, and a major victory upholding corporate governance standards.

For more information concerning our corporate governance work, please visit our Corporate Governance Practice Page.


We believe in hard work and decency.

We believe that representing our clients and ourselves with dignity and decency is ultimately the best way to secure beneficial outcomes, both today and over the long term. Every lawyer and executive in our firm shares these deeply held values, and our clients experience this palpable difference in the quality of service they receive from us. This innovative and individually rewarding approach allows us to attract and retain some of the most dedicated and talented attorneys in the field.