EXPERIENCE

Geoff's significant representations include:

• LVMH in its merger dispute with Tiffany, Inc.
• CDK Global in the denial of a preliminary injunction motion seeking to halt the $8.3 billion merger between CDK Global and Brookfield.
• PayPal in a securities class action regarding the company’s regulatory compliance.
• SAC Capital (now Point72 Asset Management) and Steven A. Cohen in civil litigations and regulatory proceedings, arising out of claims of insider trading.
• Former Directors of a major healthcare company in the dismissal of a putative class action brought by shareholders alleging disclosure-related claims related to an acquisition.
• The Special Committee of the Board of Directors of Pattern Energy Group Inc., a California-based independent power company, in connection with several litigations brought by shareholders concerning its $6.1 billion merger agreement with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB).
• Former Directors and Officers of Bioverativ Inc. in Delaware Chancery litigation concerning the sale of Bioverativ to Sanofi for $11.6 billion.
• Independent Directors of Empire Resorts in shareholder litigation asserting breach of fiduciary duty claims relating to a take-private acquisition of Empire.
• Former Director of a large mining company in an action brought by the SEC in the Southern District of New York alleging misstatements, omissions and accounting violations relating to the accounting treatment of a project in Africa.
• Several other acquirers and targets in M&A and securities litigation, including Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Chevron, Restaurant Brands International, CSRA, Inc., Taylor Morrison and UCP, Inc., among others.
• 14 underwriters, led by Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, in the defense of Securities Act claims arising from the initial and secondary offerings of Venator Materials PLC in Texas state court.
• JPMorgan in the dismissal of a suit brought in the Southern District of New York by an investor who opted out of the $275 million class action settlement stemming from the run on Bear Stearns in 2008.
• A private equity firm in a derivative action pending in the Delaware Court of Chancery alleging breaches of fiduciary duty in connection with payments made to founders and others upon its conversion from a public partnership to a C-corporation pursuant to a tax receivable agreement.
• Funds affiliated with a leading private equity firm in defending a shareholder appraisal action in Delaware Court of Chancery arising from the acquisition of a portfolio company.

Geoff was named to the French-American Foundation’s 2019 U.S. class of Young Leaders. Created in 1981, the Young Leaders program is a prestigious two-year transatlantic leadership program that brings together a group of 40 French and American rising stars under 40, from an array of sectors to forge bonds and help address global challenges.

Geoff also maintains a significant pro bono practice, a highlight of which is his representation, as co-counsel with the America Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), of thousands of children and parents who were forcibly torn from each other under the Trump administration’s illegal practice of separating families at the southern border. The matter, filed in U.S. District Court in Arizona, followed a nationwide injunction entered in June 2018 blocking family separations, also as a result of a lawsuit filed by the ACLU. In addition, Geoff also has been representing a class of individuals with mental disabilities residing in so-called adult homes in New York City. The class sued the state of New York, claiming that these homes violated the “integration mandate” of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). After ten years of litigation, the parties reached a landmark settlement to end the state’s decades-long discrimination.

Geoff is co-chair of the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest Pro Bono Advisory Council (PBAC). He also serves on the boards of the Mt. Sinai Medical Legal Partnership and the French American Foundation, as well as on the board of Trustees of the Quogue Library. He is the co-author of “Ownership or Use? Civilian Property Interests in International Humanitarian Law,” which appeared in the 49th volume of Harvard International Law Journal in 2008.