Daniel Lefler has been a partner in the firm's litigation workgroup since 1996, and is director of the firm's securities litigation practice group.

Mr. Lefler's primary areas of practice have been in securities litigation (including cases involving complex derivative securities, defense of shareholder litigation against publicly held companies and hostile takeover litigation) and complex commercial cases. Mr. Lefler has defended clients in more than a dozen alleged class action securities fraud matters. His current clients include one of the nation's largest investment banks, a broadband semiconductor company, a wireless Internet provider, and a high technology “incubator.”

Other noteworthy cases with which Mr. Lefler has been involved include United States of America v. Winstar Corp., et al., in which Mr. Lefler filed a brief in the United States Supreme Court on behalf of savings and loan organizations who successfully asserted claims for damages against the federal government for breach of contracts entered into when healthy thrifts acquired failed thrifts at the government's request; Gunty v. Redstone, et al., in which Mr. Lefler represented one of the nation's largest entertainment companies in mergers and acquisitions litigation arising from a "taking private" transaction involving a television and film production entity; Geodynamics Corporation v. Baham, in which Mr. Lefler represented a defense contracting entity that was the target of a proxy contest in litigation that prevented the principal insurgent from obtaining a seat on the board of directors; and Southern California Gas v. Texaco, in which Mr. Lefler represented three of the nation's largest oil and gas producers in a complex business tort dispute alleging that contaminated natural gas caused widespread destruction to a utility's distribution system.

In 2005, Mr. Lefler was selected for inclusion in Los Angeles Magazine's Southern California "Rising Stars" in securities litigation.  In 2008, the Los Angeles Daily Journal named him as one of California’s 100 most influential lawyers.

Mr. Lefler has received an "AV" rating from Martindale-Hubbell, which is the highest rating awarded by that firm.

Representative Matters

Recent engagements include the following:

• Defense of a company in nationwide litigation instituted by various institutional investors arising from a default on approximately $500 million of high-yield bonds by a start-up steel mill in Thailand;
• Defense of one of the nation's largest investment banks in litigation involving the default by the government of the Russian Federation on its international debt obligations;
• Defense of one of the country's most prominent law firms in a malpractice lawsuit involving securities regulatory advice, which resulted in summary judgment of all alleged malpractice claims;
• Defense of the board of directors of one of the nation's largest defense contractors in a shareholder derivative lawsuit that resulted in a precedent-setting opinion of the California Court of Appeal establishing significant protections to directors and officers; and
• Prosecuting litigation on behalf of a municipal agency, that was one of the largest investors in the Orange County Investment Pool, against Wall Street securities professionals following the Pool's collapse due to its investment in complex derivative securities.

Professional Activities

• Member of the Board of Governors of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers; Frequent panelist in the Moot Court program at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law

Bar & Court Admissions

• 1990, California