Susan L. Saltzstein

Ms. Saltzstein’s sophisticated litigation practice focuses on the representation of U.S. and global corporations (public and private), financial institutions and individual clients embroiled in complex litigation in federal and state courts. Her litigation experience is broad-based in scope and industry and includes class and derivative actions, board representations, stockholder lawsuits and SEC investigations. Bet-the-company litigation is one of the mainstays of her practice.

In recognition of her work, Ms. Saltzstein has been honored by leading industry outlets, including:

• Chambers USA as one of the first of two women securities litigators ever to be ranked in Band 1. Clients in Chambers have described her as “a terrific, tough lawyer with a lot of technical knowledge” and an “excellent litigator. She’s knowledgeable, strategic and thoughtful.” She has also been lauded as “phenomenal at navigating a number of complex issues and [providing] great commitment to her clients”
• Lawdragon as one of its 500 Leading Global Litigators, 500 Leading Litigators in America and 500 Leading Lawyers in America, as well as one of its Legends of Law, which honors attorneys “whose contributions define justice and excellence in the legal profession”
• Law360 as a Securities MVP
• Securities Law360 as one of its Outstanding Women Lawyers
• Benchmark Litigation as a Litigation Star and one of its Top 250 Women in Litigation
• The Best Lawyers in America

Under her co-leadership of the practice, Skadden was named to The BTI Consulting Group’s 2025 Fearsome Foursome — the top four firms that clients “don’t want to litigate against” — and to its list of Top 1% Securities & Finance: Litigation Powerhouses. In addition, the practice has been repeatedly selected as Litigation Department of the Year finalist by New York Law Journal (including in 2024) and has defended more federal securities class actions than any other firm from 2019 to 2024, according to Lex Machina.

Ms. Saltzstein has represented clients in some of the most influential cases in the securities class action space, including in seminal matters that have shaped the legal landscape such as defendants in WorldCom, Inc. class actions (the largest securities case ever filed at the time) and UniCredit S.p.A. in its defense of multibillion-dollar, precedent-setting Bernie Madoff-related litigations, and regularly defends clients in high-profile multijurisdictional disputes.

Recently, she advised preferred stockholders Hedosophia, BlackRock and Untitled in seeking a temporary restraining order in the Delaware Court of Chancery against a proposed financing transaction. In addition, over the span of 12 months, Ms. Saltzstein helped to secure six high-profile wins on behalf of Canopy Growth, HSBC Mexico, Johnson & Johnson, Neuberger Berman, Nokia Corporation and Realogy Holdings Corp.

Ms. Saltzstein has represented numerous clients over the course of her three-decade-plus career. Among others, she has counseled American Express; Ann Taylor; Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc.; CannTrust; Cheniere Energy, Inc.; Covisint Corporation; CVI Investments, Inc.; DD Global; E.Merge Technology Acquisition Corp.; Federal Express; Foot Locker Inc.; Getty Images; Grab Holdings Limited; Inovalon Holdings, Inc.; Mercury Systems; Nano-X Imaging Ltd.; Nokia; Nortel Networks S.A.; Pioneer Alternative Investments; Synergy’s CEO; Unilever PLC; Viacom; certain officers and directors of VPC Impact Acquisition Holdings; and numerous syndicates of underwriters in securities class actions arising from public offerings, including Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, J.P. Morgan Chase and Morgan Stanley, among others.

In addition, she has led the representation of clients embroiled in event-driven litigation, including Anadarko Petroleum Corporation in connection with securities and derivative litigation arising out of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Portland General Electric in a lawsuit involving purported trading losses and Hawaiian Electric Industries in matters concerning the 2023 Maui wildfires.

Ms. Saltzstein has extensive experience providing litigation advice to, and representing members of, public company boards of directors in litigation. She has advised clients on litigation-avoidance strategy and routinely consults clients concerning litigation-related corporate governance and disclosure issues. In this regard, she has participated in the successful representation of clients involved in diverse businesses such as financial services, telecommunications, health care, investment banking, hedge funds, private equity and retail.

Recently, Ms. Saltzstein was appointed to the Standing Committee of the Federal Judiciary, the committee responsible for rating all prospective nominees, including Supreme Court justices, to the federal bench. She serves as co-chair of the Cambridge Forum on Securities Litigation, an invitation-only group comprised of attorneys at the top of their field who have been practicing members of the securities defense bar for 15 years or more. Ms. Saltzstein is frequently invited to speak on industry panels, including at the invitation of plaintiffs’ firms, to share and debate perspectives on important developments in the securities class and derivative action space. She previously served on the Attorneys’ Advisory Committee of the Southern District of New York, a committee that had provided assistance to members of the judiciary serving on the Judicial Improvements Committee. In this role, she co-chaired the Motions Committee and helped draft procedure rules that have been implemented by district court judges in a pilot program directed at complex commercial disputes. Ms. Saltzstein has served as co-chair for numerous American Bar Association organizations and events, including the Section of Litigation Annual Conference (2010), the Litigation Institute for Trial Training (2011) and the ABA’s Expert Committee (2017), as well as having previously served as co-chair of the Class and Derivative Action Committee and for three years as co-chair of the Securities Litigation Committee.

Ms. Saltzstein also serves on the board of the Central Synagogue in New York and as a trustee on the board of Columbia Law School.