Davis, Steven M.

James Prendergast is a partner in the firm's Securities, Regulatory and Government Affairs and Litigation/Controversy Departments, and a member of the Securities Litigation and Enforcement and Antitrust and Competition Practice Groups, and the Business Trial Group. He joined the firm in 1988. Mr. Prendergast is a former chair of Hale and Dorr’s Hiring Committee.

Practice

Mr. Prendergast concentrates on civil class actions and other complex securities, corporate, high technology, consumer fraud, antitrust and commercial litigation.

Mr. Prendergast has handled individual, class and derivative litigation nationwide, involving, among other matters, allegations of securities fraud in connection with initial and secondary offerings, mergers and acquisitions, limited partnership consolidations, proxy contests, consumer product advertising, software licensing and development disputes, control of close corporations, national distribution plans, cost accounting in the medical device industry and broker/dealer compliance. He also maintains an active antitrust practice, representing clients in merger reviews, private litigation and government investigations, and developing and implementing antitrust compliance programs involving a range of distribution, joint venture and marketing practices. His commercial litigation practice has included, among other matters, warranty, product defect and unfair practices disputes involving home construction materials, computer storage devices, merchant data security systems, and internet marketing programs.

Mr. Prendergast has represented numerous public and private companies and/or their officers and directors in complex securities, antitrust and corporate governance matters, including Avid, Sonus Networks, Analog Devices, Bose, EMC, Iomega, NOVA Biomedical, Berkshire Realty, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Marwan Investments, PolyMedica and Transkaryotic Therapies, among others.

In 1995, Mr. Prendergast went on leave from the firm to serve as a special assistant district attorney in the office of former Middlesex County District Attorney Thomas F. Reilly.

Recent Highlights

• Won decision on "issue of first impression" from US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit defining the meaning of "efficiency" for purpose of the fraud-on-the-market theory in federal Rule 10b-5 securities litigation.
• Representation of several high technology and biotechnology clients in parallel securities class and derivative litigation, internal investigations and SEC enforcement proceedings
• Successful representation of digital media technology company in connection with merger review before the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice and European Commission
• Won dismissal of nationwide federal class action involving on-line enrollment practices of internet membership club
• Representation of board of publicly traded REIT in class litigation arising from going private transaction
• Won "major legal victory" (Boston Globe, 1/ 27/06) following six-week trial on behalf of class of mentally impaired children seeking new treatments under the Medicaid Act
• Obtained dismissals in separate consumer class actions against building materials manufacturer and national car sharing service, respectively
• Secured federal court approval of favorable settlement of nationwide class litigation against internet marketing company over objection of New York Attorney General
• Representation of retail merchant before the FTC, and in multiple related private lawsuits, including successful affirmance of dismissal in appeal to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, arising from the possible compromise of personal identity and credit card data of customers
• Eighty-five day arbitration of complex cost accounting and fraud matter on behalf of medical device manufacturer 
• Successful defense of an investment company in fiduciary duty action involving close corporation through trial, appeal and certiorari to the US Supreme Court

Professional Activities

Mr. Prendergast is the chairman, former vice chairman (2001-2004) and former director (1997-2004) of The Volunteer Lawyers Project of the Boston Bar Association. He is a member of the Antitrust Section and the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association, and a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association.

Honors and Awards

• Recognized in the November 2004, 2010 and 2011 editions of Boston Magazine as a "Massachusetts Super Lawyer" in general litigation

Publications

• Prendergast, "The European Economic Communities' Challenge to the U.S./Japan Semiconductor Arrangement." Law and Policy in International Business (1988).

Recent Speaking Engagements

• Corporate Governance Best Practices, Internal Investigations, and New Massachusetts Privacy Regulations, Financial Executives International Ethics Symposium, June 2010
• Credit Card Security Compromises: Litigation Issues and Strategic Considerations, Consumer Credit Conference, 2005, 2008
• New Issues in SEC Revenue Recognition Cases, 25th Annual FASB/SEC Accounting Institute