Galia Messika

Galia Messika is the General Counsel of the firm and a member of the management team, where she oversees professional responsibility, ethics, and firmwide risk management. In this capacity, she advises firm leadership on regulatory compliance, conflicts of interest, client intake and due diligence, malpractice, professional responsibility, cybersecurity risk, and institutional governance.

Ms. Messika is also a partner in the litigation department, where she has built an extensive track record in complex commercial disputes. Her practice has encompassed litigation over corporate control, securities and class action litigation, breach of contract, employment disputes, contested restructurings, and trade secret and intellectual property actions at both the trial and appellate levels. She has defended senior executives and directors in SEC investigations and conducted internal investigations involving allegations of discrimination. Ms. Messika previously served as a law clerk to then-Chief Justice Aharon Barak on the Supreme Court of Israel.

Representative Experience

• Successfully represented client on appeal and opposed a petition for writ of certiorari in a matter asserting involuntary servitude and illegal trafficking under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA).
• Obtained a favorable settlement in a shareholder litigation action challenging the acquisition of a target gold corporation in the Delaware Court of Chancery, including a stay of parallel actions in New York.
• Obtained a favorable settlement in a shareholder litigation action challenging the take-private of a public corporation in New York, including a stay of parallel actions in the Delaware Court of Chancery.
• Secured dismissal of a class action securities matter alleging violations of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Exchange Act, affirmed on appeal by the Third Circuit.
• Obtained approval of a multi-million dollar pension settlement in an adversary proceeding in the Delaware Bankruptcy Court.
• Secured an arbitration award on all grounds, including attorneys' fees, against a Fortune 500 company in a change-of-control dispute.
• Obtained dismissal of all counts in a derivative suit alleging securities violations, affirmed on appeal by the Third Circuit.
• Represented a formerly publicly traded company and its interim management in a formal SEC investigation concerning violations of Sections 10(b), 13, and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act, including conducting a factual investigation and defending individuals in SEC depositions.