Ed Timlin, a BLB&G partner, prosecutes corporate governance, securities fraud, and other shareholder rights litigation on behalf of the firm’s institutional clients. With more than 15 years of legal experience under his belt, Ed has helped shareholders achieve substantial financial recoveries and corporate governance reforms through M&A, fiduciary oversight, and securities litigation. He practices out of the firm’s New York office.
Ed has been a senior member of the trial teams prosecuting some of the firm’s most significant litigations. Most recently, he co-led the breach of fiduciary duty class action concerning Banco Santander’s 2022 squeeze-out of the public shares of its U.S. consumer finance business, achieving a $162.5 million settlement—one of the largest recoveries ever in a Delaware stockholder class action. Other highlights of Ed’s litigation career include:
- Allergan Proxy Violation Litigation: Obtaining a $250 million settlement for Allergan investors after fighting a ferocious three-year legal battle to stop an unprecedented and sophisticated insider-trading scheme by billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman.
- Ontario Provincial Council of Carpenters’ Pension Trust Fund, et al. v. S. Robson Walton, et al.: Prosecuting the derivative case that recovered $123 million for Walmart, remedying fiduciary oversight failures related to inadequate opioid prescription controls.
- In re Viacom Inc.Stockholders Litigation: Litigating the case concerning National Amusement’s 2019 merger of its two publicly traded controlled companies, Viacom and CBS. The $122.5 million settlement in that case is one of the top five Delaware stockholder class actions of all time.
- Cummings v. Edens: Recovering $53 million from New Senior Investment Group’s controlling stockholder, Fortress Investment Group, in connection with New Senior’s conflicted buyout of 28 Fortress-owned assisted-living facilities. The settlement recovered over 50% of the most likely damages and was one of the largest recoveries by market cap in Delaware history.
- In re Pivotal Software: Securing a $42.5 million settlement in connection with the conflicted buyout of Pivotal by its controlling stockholders, Michael Dell, Dell Technologies, and VMware, shortly before trial.
- In re Pilgrim’s Pride: Securing a $42.5 million settlement from Pilgrim’s Pride’s controlling stockholder, JBS, in connection with Pilgrim’s Pride’s conflicted buyout of JBS-controlled chicken company, Moy Park.
- Hawkes v. The Toronto Dominion Bank (Ameritrade): Recovering $31.5 million in connection with TD Bank’s conflicted buyout of its publicly traded subsidiary, Ameritrade.
- In re TIBCO Software Stockholder Litigation: Pursuing novel and precedent-setting merger agreement reformation claims and recovering 33% of potential damages shortly before trial.
- In re Jefferies, Inc. Stockholder Litigation: Challenging Leucadia’s acquisition of Jefferies Financial Group and settling for a $75 million net payment paid entirely to a class of former Jefferies investors.
Ed is currently a member of the teams prosecuting prominent class and derivative actions involving World Wrestling Entertainment, Endeavor Group Holdings, Coinbase, Paramount, and others. .
In recognition of his accomplishments, Ed has been named a “Rising Star” by Law360 and a “Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyer” by Lawdragon. He was also named to Benchmark Litigation’s “40 & Under List” for three consecutive years and recognized by the publication as a “Future Star.” He is regularly included on Thomson Reuters’ Super Lawyers’ “Rising Star” list of leading practitioners.
Prior to joining BLB&G, Ed was a senior litigation associate at a major corporate law firm. He received his J.D. from Columbia Law School and his B.A. from Cornell University, both with academic honors.