Shane Avidan, senior counsel of the firm, prosecutes securities fraud and shareholder rights litigation on behalf of BLB&G’s institutional investor clients. With more than a decade of legal experience, Shane leverages his experience to provide BLB&G’s plaintiff clients with top-notch representation and advice. He practices out of the firm’s New York office.
Shane has been an integral member of the BLB&G teams that prosecuted several notable securities matters, including:
- In re Silvergate Capital Corporation Securities Litigation: Shane was actively involved in this securities class action against Silvergate, one of the major banks that failed amid the 2023 U.S. banking collapse, achieving a proposed $37.5 million settlement, pending court approval.
- In re EQT Corporation Securities Litigation: Shane was a core member of the team prosecuting this securities class action against EQT Corporation, the largest gas producer in the United States, related to the company’s $6.7 billion acquisition of rival gas producer Rice, securing a proposed $167.5 million settlement, pending court approval.
- Camelot Event Driven Fund v. Morgan Stanley: Shane was a key member of the team prosecuting this Securities Act lawsuit against three underwriter defendants related to $3 billion of public offerings of Viacom stock in March 2021 and the concurrent implosion of family fund Archegos Capital Management. This case was settled for $120 million, pending court approval.
Shane is currently a key member of the litigation teams prosecuting many of the firm’s ongoing cases, including:
- City of Hollywood Police Officers’ Retirement System v. First Republic Bank: Shane is litigating the high-profile case against First Republic Bank, which has since closed and been sold to JPMorgan Chase, coming out of the 2023 U.S. banking collapse.
- Homyk v. ChemoCentryx, Inc. et al.: Shane is actively involved in this securities fraud class action against ChemoCentryx and its CEO, alleging false and misleading statements and omissions about the company’s proprietary vasculitis drug, avacopan.
- In re Dentsply Sirona, Inc. Securities Litigation: Shane plays a key role in this class action against Dentsply and its executives, alleging false and misleading statements made about the company’s direct-to-consumer sales.
- Roofers Local No. 149 Pension Fund v. GSK plc: Shane plays a key role in the high-profile lawsuit against GSK for allegedly misleading investors about Zantac’s cancer risks and concealing decades of internal knowledge about known carcinogens in its product.
Prior to joining BLB&G, Shane was a litigation associate at Paul Weiss, where he represented clients in securities class actions, criminal and regulatory securities matters, bankruptcy and insolvency litigation, and complex commercial litigation.
Shane received his J.D. from Columbia Law School, where he served as Managing Editor of the Columbia Law Review and was a James Kent Scholar and a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. During this time, he also worked as an extern for the Honorable Denny Chin of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He graduated cum laude from Dartmouth College with a B.A. in both Economics and Geography.