Richard Gallagher

Richard Gallagher is a partner in Orrick's San Francisco office.  His practice focuses on litigation and pre-litigation advice involving securities and corporate governance issues, including representation of companies, directors and officers involved in class action litigation, derivative actions, internal investigations, shareholder demands, and regulatory investigations and enforcement actions brought under the federal and state securities laws. 

Mr. Gallagher also has significant experience advising companies, boards of directors and special committee members in M&A litigation brought under the laws of Delaware, California and other states throughout the country.  He has successfully defeated multiple cases seeking to enjoin proposed mergers, acquisitions and other business combinations involving both public and private companies.

Mr. Gallagher has also litigated numerous disputes involving founders and investors in start-up companies, as well as matters involving venture capital disputes, intellectual property rights, unfair competition, breaches of partnership and shareholder agreements, employment and fraud claims, and fiduciary obligations. 

He has also advised U.S., Asian and EU companies regarding securities litigation and corporate governance risks arising from cross-border activities.

Mr. Gallagher has first-chair trial and arbitration experience in both civil and criminal matters, including the prosecution of several jury trials with the San Francisco District Attorney's office.  Some of his recent representations include:

• winning dismissal of multiple shareholder challenges to one of the largest ever technology company mergers;
• winning dismissal of a fiduciary duty case challenging a spin-off transaction involving board of directors of Fortune 100 company;
• winning dismissal of multiple class actions targeting a leading mutual fund company, its board members and executives;
• winning dismissal of securities class action seeking hundreds of millions of dollars from a leading software firm, its board members and executives; and
• prevailing in an arbitration dispute between founders of an Internet start-up company.

Admitted in

• California

Memberships

• State Bar of California

Multimedia

Publications

• "Bracing for a Boom in Whistleblowing," Securities Technology Monitor (July 15, 2010).
• Co-Author, Securities Litigation Risks For Public Companies Arising From The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Securities Litigation & Regulatory Enforcement Alert (July 2010).
• "Municipalities' Immunity From Securities Fraud Claims May Be Slipping Away," Daily Journal (September 24, 2009).
• "The Retek Decision: A Case Study on Loss Causation at Summary Judgment," Global Securities Litigation and Enforcement Report (April 2009).
• "Note on Mortgage Lender Securities Litigation," Securities Reform Act Litigation Reporter (January 2007).
• "Buybacks Trigger Securities Litigation Risk," Orrick's Securities Litigation Alert (January 2007).
• "Kircher's Impact on Removal and Remand of State Securities Class Actions," 21 Securities Reform Act Litigation Reporter 462 (2006).
• Co-Author, "Loss Causation In Securities Class Actions After Dura," 38 Review of Securities and Commodities Regulation 241 (2005).
• Co-Author and Editor, "Defending Securities Class Actions," ALI/ABA Securities Litigation Publ. (2004, 2001).
• "Liability of Counties for Inadequate Care in California Jails," 33 U.C. Davis Law Review 677 (2000).
• "Downward Departures and Lenient Sentencing," 5 U.C. Davis J. of Juv. Law and Policy 111 (2000).