Scott D Thomson

Counsel, New York

Scott D Thomson

Counsel, New York

Scott Thomson’s practice focuses on U.S. and international commercial litigation, eDiscovery, antitrust matters, securities litigation, white collar criminal defense, regulatory enforcement, foreign sovereign immunity litigation, and internal investigations. He has been recognized by The Legal 500 in its securities litigation coverage and has been included the New York Super Lawyers list each year since 2017.

Prior to joining the firm, Scott practiced with Sullivan & Cromwell LLP and O’Melveny & Myers LLP. Scott is a graduate of Columbia Law School where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and was on the Editorial Board of the Columbia Journal of Transnational Law. Before attending law school, he was a member of the U.S. Foreign Service and served in the Dominican Republic and the United Kingdom. He is proficient in Spanish.

Scott Thomson’s practice focuses on U.S. and international commercial litigation, eDiscovery, antitrust matters, securities litigation, white collar criminal defense, regulatory enforcement, foreign sovereign immunity…

Education

Columbia Law School (J.D. 1997); College of Charleston (B.A., English, 1986)

Bar Admissions

New York State; U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York

Activities and Affiliations

Member, American Bar Association (Section of Antitrust Law)

Member, Federalist Society

Litigation

eDiscovery matters, including:

Supervision of multi-firm reviews in Milan and Montevideo of documents in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, English and other languages for a conglomerate being investigated in multiple jurisdictions; and

Supervision of document review in a case involving representation of a CFO charged with accounting and securities fraud violations by the SEC.

Representation of two individuals in federal investigation of the market for guaranteed investment contracts (GIC) and similar municipal derivatives.

Representation of a hedge fund in a contract dispute arising out of a joint venture in the purchase of the distressed debt of a large manufacturer.

Representation of a hedge fund in a private insider trading case in the Southern District of New York, alleging violations of Rule 10b-5 and the tender offer rules.

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Bankruptcy Related Litigation

Represented major U.S. real estate investment trust in bankruptcy litigation of large chain retailer involving the right to assume or reject leases.

Represented investment bank in complex litigation involving estate of bankrupt former energy company’s attempt to recover amounts paid to redeem commercial paper from hundreds of counterparties.

Reuters covered the recent summary judgment by the New York Supreme Court to dismiss allegations brought against Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and two other Wall Street banks in a case alleging a boycott in violation of the Donnelly Act, New York’s antitrust statute.

Cohen & Gresser is pleased to announce that 38 of the firm's New York and Washington D.C.­based attorneys have been named to the 2021 Super Lawyers List across a wide range of practice areas. C&G co­founder Mark S Cohen and partners Jonathan S Abernethy and Daniel H Tabak have also been named to the Super Lawyers list of the top 100 lawyers in the New York metropolitan area, and partner Karen H Bromberg has been recognized as one of the top 50 women lawyers in the New York metropolitan area.

Super Lawyers ranks outstanding lawyers who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. Only five percent of the lawyers in each state are selected as Super Lawyers, and only 2.5 percent are selected as Rising Stars.

Super Lawyers

Jonathan S Abernethy: Criminal Defense: White Collar
Kwaku Andoh: Mergers & Acquisitions
Elizabeth Bernhardt: Business Litigation
Thomas E Bezanson: Personal Injury – Products: Defense
Colin C Bridge: Criminal Defense: White Collar
Karen H Bromberg: Intellectual Property
Jason Brown: Criminal Defense: White Collar
Damir Cefo: Intellectual Property Litigation
Joanna K Chan: Securities Litigation
Mark S Cohen: Business Litigation
S Gale Dick: Business Litigation
Christian R Everdell: Criminal Defense: White Collar
Lawrence T Gresser: Business Litigation
Oliver S Haker: Business Litigation
Johannes Jonas: Mergers & Acquisitions
Nicholas J Kaiser: Real Estate
Jeffrey I. Lang: Business Litigation
Melissa H Maxman: Antitrust Litigation
Ellen Paltiel: General Litigation
Nathaniel P T Read: Business Litigation
Bonnie J Roe: Securities & Corporate Finance
Stephen M Sinaiko: Business Litigation
C Evan Stewart: Securities Litigation
Daniel H Tabak: Business Litigation
Scott D Thomson: Business Litigation
Alexandra Wald: Business Litigation
Ronald F Wick: Antitrust Litigation

Rising Stars

Luke Appling: Civil Litigation
Sharon L Barbour: Criminal Defense: White Collar
Drew S Dean: General Litigation
William Kalema: Business Litigation
Sophia Soejung Kim: Criminal Defense: White Collar
Sri Kuehnlenz: Civil Litigation
Winnifred A Lewis: Securities Litigation
Marvin J Lowenthal: Criminal Defense: White Collar
Barbara K Luse: Criminal Defense: White Collar
Matthew V Povolny: Business Litigation
Benjamin Zhu: Criminal Defense: White Collar

Cohen & Gresser is pleased to announce that 35 of the firm's New York and Washington D.C.­based attorneys have been named to the 2020 Super Lawyers List across a wide range of practice areas. C&G co-­founder Mark S Cohen and partners Jonathan S Abernethy and Daniel H Tabak have also been named to the Super Lawyers list of the top 100 lawyers in the New York metropolitan area, and partner Karen H Bromberg has been recognized as one of the top 50 women lawyers in the New York metropolitan area.
We are pleased to announce that 33 of our New York and Washington D.C.-based C&G attorneys have been recognized by Super Lawyers this year across a wide range of practice areas. Super Lawyers also selected C&G co-founder Mark S Cohen and partners Jonathan S Abernethy and Daniel H Tabak to its list of the top 100 lawyers in the New York metropolitan area, and partner Karen H Bromberg to its list of the top 50 women lawyers in the New York metropolitan area.
We are pleased to announce that thirty of our New York and Washington, D.C.-based C&G attorneys have been recognized by Super Lawyers this year across a wide range of practice areas. Super Lawyers also selected C&G co-founders Mark S Cohen and Lawrence T Gresser to its list of the top 100 lawyers in the New York metropolitan area, and partners Karen H Bromberg and Alexandra Wald as two of its top 50 women lawyers in New York. Super Lawyers ranks outstanding lawyers who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. Fewer than five percent of all lawyers in the U.S. receive this honor.
Twenty-eight of our New York and Washington D.C.-based Cohen & Gresser attorneys have been recognized by Super Lawyers this year across a wide range of practice areas. Super Lawyers also named C&G co-founding partner Mark S Cohen to its list of the top 100 lawyers in the New York metropolitan area, and partners Karen H Bromberg and Alexandra Wald to its top 50 women lawyers in New York list. Super Lawyers ranks outstanding lawyers who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. Fewer than five percent of all lawyers in the U.S. receive this honor.
Sanctuary for Families honored Scott D Thomson and Matthew V Povolny for their pro bono work advocating for a victim of human trafficking entitled to public benefits.
The Legal 500 has recognized Cohen & Gresser for its achievements in securities litigation and white collar criminal defense in its recently released 2016 U.S. guide. The guide notes C&G's "outstanding" white collar defense group and its "seasoned securities professionals who are smart, aggressive, and yet user-friendly."

The SEC has recently signaled a renewed focus on the investigation and prosecution of accounting fraud with the creation of a Financial Reporting and Audit Task Force.  The Task Force will use sophisticated computer algorithms to mine financial filings looking for potential irregularities.  The SEC is expected to take a close look at companies particularly in the technology sector, and at revenue recognition.  The article examines recent public statements and SEC enforcement actions that help provide clues to the SEC’s renewed focus in this area.

 

Regardless of which side ultimately benefits, the Supreme Court's message for antitrust litigants is clear: Class action is an exception to the usual rule.

Recent Supreme Court decisions have made the arbitration clause a potent weapon against class actions in many areas of the law. Certainly in the wake of Concepcion, Italian Colors, and Oxford, businesses should consider including in their contracts specific language regarding arbitration clauses.

Dell’s board of directors played a starring role in helping Michael Dell defeat the legal challenge of taking Dell Inc. private in a $25 billion dollar buyout. The committee’s role in protecting the transaction is a text book lesson on navigating complex transactions.

When a sovereign nation defaults, investors in its debt securities are often left without recourse. NML Capital, Ltd. v. Republic of Argentina is reimagining, and may even protect, the rights of U.S. corporations holding foreign sovereign debt.

A discussion on per se liability and how it relates to the allegations of price fixing recently made against Apple.

How the U.S. Sherman Act has been used to prosecute international cartels in cases of price-fixing abroad.

While press coverage treated the government approval of this merger as a fait accompli, this article will explore the potential for parties involved to face exacting antitrust scrutiny.

The FTC has proposed to formalize the process of withdrawing a merger notification and refiling it.  This article discusses the requirements of SEC’s proposed new rule, § 803.12(c) governing this process.

Topics covered included recent trends in criminal enforcement as illustrated by the A U Optronics trial; the structure of antitrust enforcement in the United States, and recent civil trials of interest.