Mary Beth Maloney is a partner in the New York office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, and a member of the Firm’s Litigation, Securities Litigation, and Business Restructuring and Reorganization Practice Groups.

Recognized as a leading lawyer in the area of Commercial Litigation by The Best Lawyers America®, Ms. Maloney focuses her practice in corporate and securities litigation, investment advisor and fund litigation and investigations, financial reporting, and related investigations. She has assisted numerous clients in defending securities related civil class actions as well as responding to investigations and enforcement actions by various government agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Ms. Maloney’s experience includes successful multi-billion dollar federal bench and jury trials, including representing Chevron Corporation in what The American Lawyer  called “The Case of the Century”: Chevron’s successful RICO and fraud suit to bar the enforcement of a $9 billion fraudulent Ecuadorian judgment. In 2016, Ms. Maloney was a member of the trial team that vindicated Ms. Lynn Tilton against fraud charges brought by the SEC, defeating debarment and disgorgement of $200 million. She continues to represent both Ms. Tilton and Chevron in numerous forums.

Mary Beth’s recent wins include dismissal with prejudice of civil securities fraud and common law fraud claims brought against Centerview Partners and one of its managing directors arising from their restructuring advice in connection with a client’s chapter 11 filing. Prior to the completion of fact discovery, she also recently obtained a favorable settlement for Immunomedics (owned by Gilead Science) and its former executives in a securities fraud class action pending in the District Court of New Jersey. For a group of investment fund clients she also recently obtained dismissal of a contract dispute brought by another lender and related to a chapter 11 bankruptcy, successfully litigating the claims in both the Southern District of New York and Delaware Bankruptcy Court.

Securities Litigation: Mary Beth handles securities related civil class actions as well as SEC investigations and litigations. She is currently defending Binance Holdings Limited against: the SEC in the District of Columbia, the CFTC in the N.D. of Illinois, and private litigants in the S.D. Florida. In December 2021 she obtained a favorable settlement from the SEC for negligent fraud without any admission of wrongdoing or payment of any penalty on behalf of Sequential Brands Inc. and its Board after a multi-year investigation in which the SEC pursued charges for fraud and financial reporting violations. She currently represents Sequential’s former Directors in the Southern District of New York in a securities fraud class action based on alleged accounting fraud. She also represents Vale in a securities fraud class action pending in the Eastern District of New York (after having previously obtained a favorable settlement of an earlier securities class action against Vale and its executives). She is also defending Medallion Financial and its executives in a securities fraud action brought by the SEC in the SDNY for which a motion to dismiss is currently pending.

Delaware Chancery: Mary Beth has extensive experience litigating in the Delaware Court of Chancery, including Section 220 Books and Records demands, Section 225 ownership and control disputes, and appraisal actions. She recently obtained a successful settlement on behalf of individual investors and former Board members of Altor Bioscience in an appraisal action brought in Delaware Chancery Court. She is currently lead counsel for Coupang, Inc. in a contract dispute before Vice Chancellor Cook.

New York State Courts: Ms. Maloney is lead trial counsel in numerous pending disputes including on behalf of: (1) Amyris, Inc. a synthetic biotechnology and renewable chemical company in a contract dispute related to one of its investments; (2) Immanuel Lutheran Church in a battle over ownership and control of the church and its properties in Manhattan; (3) Kaufman Astoria Studios, the largest studio on the East Coast, in a dispute brought under New York’s Adult Survivor’s Act; and (4) L’Officiel USA, in a dispute with the City of New York related the City’s Freelancer Law.

Distressed Company Litigation: Ms. Maloney also served or is serving as litigation counsel in numerous actions in the Bankruptcy Courts of Delaware and the Southern District of New York including, among others, on behalf of (1) Tilton and her affiliated Patriarch entities in the chapter 11 cases of the Zohar Funds, three Cayman-island based CLO hedge funds; (2) the ad hoc group of lenders representing approximately $6 billion of first lien debt issued by Endo Pharmaceuticals; (3) the ad hoc group of lenders representing approximately $1.5 billion of senior debt issued by Garrett Motion; and (4) venture fund, 8VC, in connection with post-petition financing provided to uBiome in chapter 11.

Boards and Other Professional Affiliations

Ms. Maloney was recently appointed by the former Chief Judge of the State of New York, Janet DiFiore, to the Permanent Commission on Access to Justice, supporting equal access to New York courts; is a member of the Board of Directors of the New York City Urban Debate League; an Advisory Board Member for Women in Funds, an organization of fund-related attorneys and compliance professionals; Fund Chair for her Barnard College class; and an active supporter of Robin Hood.

Prior Professional Experience

Before joining Gibson Dunn, Ms. Maloney served as a law clerk to the Honorable Alicemarie H. Stotler, then Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Prior to attending law school, Ms. Maloney worked for six years in the California State Capitol, where as a legislative director she negotiated the first financial privacy legislation in the country.

Education

Ms. Maloney earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law. There she was Editor-in-Chief of the Southern California Interdisciplinary Law Journal  in which her Note on federal campaign finance laws was published. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Barnard College, where she was an Erica Jong Writing Fellow, elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and graduated magna cum laude.