2013 is Tony Rodriguez’s 21st year in practice. His experience includes numerous complex and high-profile representations of corporations, board committees and individual directors, and corporate officers in class action and derivative litigation, SEC matters, and internal investigations. He has represented clients in a variety of industries, including mortgage lending; energy; semiconductor; networking; broadband; e-commerce; pharmaceutical; broadcasting hardware; software; and chemicals. He has extensive experience in representing outside directors individually, as well as board committees composed of outside directors, and has spent years following developments in the law regarding outside directors’ “due diligence” defense to actions under the Securities Act of 1933.
He also has extensive experience defending companies in antitrust and unfair competition claims, ranging from allegations of horizontal market division to allegations of price fixing. These clients have included consumer beverage, LCD, and sports and concert ticket sales companies. Mr. Rodriguez’s experience also includes the defense of a leading prescription drug wholesaler in actions brought by several states’ Medicaid or other agencies, with each action including claims in the tens or hundreds of millions of dollars in alleged damages and penalties. Mr. Rodriguez also has represented major companies in litigation arising from Internet trademark use, hard drive failures, and the carrying of ISP-bound traffic. Mr. Rodriguez's peers rate him "AV Preeminent" in the Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings. He co-chairs the Derivative Suits Subcommittee of the ABA’s Securities Litigation Committee.
Representative Matters
Securities Litigation (Officers and Directors)
- Represented 11 former outside directors of an entity that at one time was the largest residential mortgage lender in the United States, including the chairmen of the audit and credit committees, respectively, and the former lead independent director, in class, derivative, and other actions. Most of these actions have settled, with full releases of our clients, and in none of those cases did the firm’s clients pay any settlement.
- Represented former chairman and CEO of semiconductor company in derivative actions and Section 16(b) action arising from stock option-related restatement. Derivative action settled with no payment by the firm’s client. The district court granted the motion to dismiss the 16(b) action with prejudice, and the plaintiff ultimately dismissed its appeal voluntarily, with no payment by our client.
- Representing former CFO of payment solutions provider in action arising from multi-million-dollar restatement.
- Represented three former outside directors of a wireless broadband provider in an action relating to allegations of breach of fiduciary duty when corporation was in “zone of insolvency.
- Represented former chair of computer manufacturer in derivative action arising from corporate investigation of boardroom leaks.
- Shadow counsel for outside director of furniture manufacturer in action relating to allegations of false disclosures and insider trading.
Securities Litigation (Corporations)
- Represented one of the nation's largest independent power producer in securities class actions, derivative actions, and “books and records” action arising from claims of market manipulation during California energy crisis, and regarding restatement related to sales-leaseback accounting. District court denied motion to certify class in securities action involving over $1 billion in bonds; case thereafter settled with individual plaintiff on favorable terms.
- Represented manufacturer of broadcasting hardware in securities class action and derivative action arising from acquisition. Cases settled on favorable terms.
- Represented developers of enterprise software and e-commerce software (the latter a German company) in securities class actions alleging false descriptions of demand of product capabilities. Cases settled on favorable terms.
- Represented developers of digital chipsets and of network devices in securities class actions. Cases settled on favorable terms.
- Represented software, pharmaceutical, and retail clients in merger-related litigation. Cases settled on favorable terms, typically in the form of supplemented disclosures.
Internal Investigations and SEC Matters
- Reported to special committee of NASDAQ-listed chemical company regarding board approval process for debt offering.
- Reported to CFO of NASDAQ-listed chemical company regarding revenue recognition issue.
- Reported to special committee of NASDAQ-listed software company regarding stock option granting processes and practices after investigation in Canada and the United States.
- Reported to audit committee of NASDAQ-listed semiconductor manufacturer regarding stock option granting processes and practices after completing investigation in three weeks.
- Present results of internal investigation regarding stock option granting practices to SEC Division of Enforcement attorneys.
- Reported to regulatory authority in response to inquiry concerning trading in computing company's stock.
- Represent companies, officers, directors, and other individuals in responding to subpoenas or other requests regarding disclosures or trading (SEC Division of Enforcement attorneys in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.).
Antitrust, Unfair Competition, and False Claims
- Represent defendant in multi-district litigation and state court actions arising from alleged TFT-LCD price-fixing conspiracy.
- Represented internationally known consumer beverage company in defense of antitrust claims brought by trans-shipper.
- Represented ticket-selling agency in claim based on alleged horizontal market division.
- Represented shopping center owner in claim against national retailer based on alleged tying arrangement.
- Represent major prescription drug wholesaler in various actions brought by state Medicaid agencies based on claims of alleged inflation of reported average wholesale prices. Actions include an attempt by the state of Arizona to collect more than $200 million in penalties via an administrative action; the firm obtained a permanent injunction against that action, and an appeal is pending.
- Represented plaintiffs and defendants in unfair competition claims arising under California state law.
Commercial Litigation
- Cases arising from Telecommunications Act of 1996 state commission decisions affecting tens of millions of dollars in reciprocal compensation and other claims. Argued Pacific Bell v. Pac-West Telecom, Inc., 325 F.3d 1114 (9th Cir. 2003) and Verizon California, Inc.,v. Peevey, 462 F.3d 1142 (9th Cir. 2006).
- Fraud and breach of contract action, for plaintiff, regarding design and administration of health plans for more than 20,000 employees.
- Use and display of trademarks in Internet “keyword” advertising.
- Represented hard disk drive manufacturer in class action claim arising from allegedly excessive failure rate.
- Represented nationwide retailer in action regarding electricity supply contract for approximately 200 California facilities.
- Represented transportation, hotel, office building, shopping mall, and other business clients in connection with threatened and commenced eminent domain actions.
Pro Bono
- Represented non-profit residential developer in federal fair-housing litigation against city.
- Represented families in special education disputes with school districts.
- Supervised asylum petitions and petitions by Iraqis and Afghans who provided support to U.S. Forces.