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Sean L. McGrane
Partner
Sean McGrane leads the Litigation Practice Group in our Cleveland office and also maintains an active practice in New York. He focuses his practice on defending corporations and their officers and directors against civil securities-fraud claims, shareholder derivative actions, and mergers and acquisition lawsuits. Before joining the firm, Sean practiced securities litigation in the New York offices of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. Sean has written on the federal securities laws and has given guest lectures on securities and shareholder litigation at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. In addition to his securities practice, Sean regularly litigates cases involving commercial disputes, sports law and antitrust claims.
Prior to attending law school, Sean worked as a political journalist in Washington DC and New York for four years.
- Helped obtain summary judgment for an activist investor in a case of first impression involving the application and interpretation of Ohio’s “anti-greenmail” statute, O.R.C. § 1707.043.
- Led a team that represented a prominent hospital system in an arbitration involving shareholder derivative claims between startup investors, in which the adversary’s claims (valued at over US$250 million) were completely rejected following a 15-day evidentiary hearing.
- Regularly defending corporations and their officers and directors against claims brought by private investors under the federal securities laws, including claims for violations of Sections 10(b), 14(a) and 20 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Sections 11 and 12 of the Securities Act of 1933.
- Successfully arguing for and obtaining a unanimous affirmance from the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit on a grant of summary judgment in a case involving the issuance of trust-preferred securities.
- Representing corporations (buyers and sellers) in actions brought by investors claiming breaches of fiduciary duties and seeking to enjoin pending mergers and acquisitions.
- Defending a foreign investment bank against claims asserted by the Federal Housing Finance Agency for violations of the Securities Act of 1933 in what is believed to be the largest coordinated mortgage-backed securities case in history.
- Representing clients in connection with insider trading investigations commenced by the SEC and FINRA.
- Representing the National Collegiate Athletic Association in numerous concussion-related lawsuits.
- Defending corporations against antitrust claims brought in federal court under the Sherman Act and Clayton Act.
Education
- University of Michigan, J.D., 2010
- Georgetown University, B.A., 2003
Admissions
- New York, 2011
- Ohio, 2013
Courts
- U.S. Dist. Ct., S. Dist. of New York
- U.S. Dist. Ct., N. Dist. of Ohio
- U.S. Ct. of App., Second Circuit
- U.S. Ct. of App., Eighth Circuit
- Listed in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America 2024 for Securities Litigation
- Recognized in Ohio Super Lawyers – Rising Stars
- Presenter, “Responsible AI: Navigating AI Governance, Ethics, and Risks in a Changing Regulatory World,” 2024 Investment Management Conference, Palm Desert, California, March 20, 2024.
- Co-author, “ESG Enforcement Risks: From ‘Greenwashing’ to ‘Wokewashing’,” ACC Docket, July 19, 2022.
- Co-author, “US Supreme Court Refuses to Overturn Fraud-on-the-Market Presumption,” June 23, 2014.
- Note, “Katrina, Federalism, and Military Law Enforcement: A New Exception to the Posse Comitatus Act,” Michigan Law Review, 2010.