Lara A. Flath

In recognition of her work, Ms. Flath has been selected for inclusion in Chambers USA, as well as honored as one of Crain’s New York Business’ Notable Women in Law, a Law360 Rising Star, one of Business Insider’s Rising Stars of the Courtroom, and repeatedly as a Future Star by Benchmark Litigation and one of Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Litigators in America.

Ms. Flath’s representative experience includes:

• winning a motion to dismiss federal and state securities claims brought against Coinbase, a victory recognized by The American Lawyer
• winning judgment on all claims brought against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill following an eight-day federal trial regarding the university’s use of race in undergraduate admissions, as well as representing the university through appeal to the Supreme Court
• winning dismissal with prejudice of claims brought against Barclays and over 40 individual defendants in shareholder derivative litigation in trial court, appellate court and the New York Court of Appeals, a victory repeatedly recognized by The American Lawyer
• securing the dismissal with prejudice of shareholder derivative litigation brought against over 25 current and former directors of Société Générale
• representing Coinbase in numerous securities class actions and other litigations
• defending Chainalysis in numerous state and federal litigations
• representing JPMorgan Chase in antitrust class actions and government investigations
• representing Barclays in antitrust class actions, state False Claims Act litigations and securities class actions
• defending Peco Foods in multiple antitrust class actions and opt-out litigation around the country in connection with alleged conspiracies, including among broiler chicken producers to reduce output, among poultry producers to fix and suppress wages of processing plant employees and among broiler chicken producers to fix and suppress compensation of contract broiler chicken growers
• defending UBS in a first-of-its-kind federal trial involving over $2 billion in claims relating to residential mortgage-backed securities
• assisting Fortune 500 companies and senior executives with sensitive internal and regulatory investigations

Ms. Flath served on the New York State Bar Association’s Task Force on Advancing Diversity and contributed to its 2023 report following the Supreme Court’s ruling on affirmative action in higher education. In addition to counseling clients on these issues as a member of Skadden’s Civil Rights Law Advisory Group — which advises private sector entities, educational institutions and nonprofits on complying with civil rights laws, preventing illegal discrimination and promoting fairness and equality in opportunities within their organizations — Ms. Flath regularly writes and speaks on these topics.

Ms. Flath maintains an active pro bono practice focused on children and women’s rights and has handled a variety of matters in this capacity, including winning a federal trial protecting abortion access and submitting amicus briefs advocating for the rights of domestic violence survivors. She serves on numerous firm committees and currently serves as a chair of the summer associate program for the New York office. Ms. Flath is also a member of the national board of directors of Only Make Believe, a nonprofit organization that creates and performs interactive theater for children in hospitals, care facilities and special education programs.