Wayne W. Smith

Wayne W. Smith joined Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in 1972.  He holds a degree in Business Administration from California State University at Long Beach and graduated from UCLA School of Law with Order of the Coif honors.

Mr. Smith specializes in commercial and business litigation.  He has tried major cases (including class actions) in federal courts and in state courts throughout the country. Several of his cases have included appearances before federal and state appellate courts, the California Supreme Court and the Supreme Court of the United States.  The cases tried by Mr. Smith have covered a broad range of issues, including securities fraud, common law fraud, contracts, federal tax laws, RICO, and constitutional law.  He is the Co-Chair of the firm's Securities Litigation Practice Group.

Mr. Smith has represented clients in a number of different industries in securities fraud cases.  The industries involved have included computer hardware, software and service, health care, electronics, insurance, equipment rentals, defense contracting and entertainment.  Additionally, Mr. Smith has represented accounting firms alleged to have participated with their clients in securities frauds in the savings and loan, insurance, music club, auto parts and real estate industries.

Representative Cases

Securities Fraud Class Actions

Merger and Acquisition Related Cases

• INTEL Corporation (acquisition of McAfee, Inc.)
• Diedrich Coffee, Inc. (acquisition by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc.)
• Emulex Corporation (defense of Broadcom hostile tender offer)
• INTEL Corporation (acquisition of Chips and Technologies)
• Computer Sciences Corporation (defense of hostile tender offer)
• Cadence Design Systems (White Knight acquisition of Quickturn Design Systems, Inc.)
• Farmers Insurance Co. (defense of hostile tender offer)
• Global Motor Sports (defense of hostile tender offer and defense of White Knight transaction)
• Emeritus Corporation (pursuit of hostile tender offer)
• Northrop Corporation (pursuit of hostile tender offer)
• Hewlett Packard Co. (acquisition of Convex Computer Corp.)
• Quarterdeck Corp. (Sale to Symantec)
• Samsung Electronics Co. (acquisition of AST Research)
• Computer Sciences (acquisition of Policy Management Services Corporation)
• Atlantic Coast Airlines (defense of hostile tender offer)

Derivative Actions

• Allergan, Inc. (multiple cases arising out of $600 million settlement of claims by the U.S. government and qui tam relators)
• Beckman Coulter (litigation accusing board of directors of breach of fiduciary duty)
• Bally Technologies (alleged mismanagement and waste of corporate assets)
• Apollo Group, Inc. (alleged mismanagement involving illegal compensation)
• ITT Educational Services (alleged that management allowed illegal business practices)
• Sony Corporation (alleged mismanagement resulting in $3.2 billion write off)
• K2 Inc. (allegations of improper dealings with CEO in connection with battle for corporate control)
• Amerco Inc. (allegations of self dealing by parent of U-Haul in connection with sale of stock to insiders to prevent change of control)
• Litton Industries (special committee representation)
• Emulex Corporation (allegations of stock price manipulation and insider trading)

Miscellaneous Cases

• Ambassador Roberto S. Benedicto (defense of Ferdinand Marcos' banker in litigation in several countries)
• Barron Hilton (entitlement to stock of Hilton Hotels Corp. under the Will of Conrad Hilton)
• Metromedia Company (numerous cases ranging from First Amendment to criminal antitrust)
• Sony Music (numerous cases ranging from RICO allegations to tortious interference claims)
• PricewaterhouseCoopers (several cases alleging negligence in auditing and/or accounting advise)
• ITT Consumer Financial Corp. (state attorney general and county DA actions alleging fraudulent business practices)
• American Stores (state attorney general and county DA actions alleging deceptive business practices)

Honors

• Named to Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America
• Acknowledged by Chambers USA Guide as a leader in Securities Litigation
• Recognized as a Southern California Super Lawyer by Southern California Super Lawyers Magazine, New York Times, and Los Angeles Magazine
• Selected as one of the Top 30 Securities Litigators in California by the Daily Journal
• Selected by the Southern California legal community for The Best Lawyers in America®
• Listed in The Legal 500 as recommended lawyers in their field
• Recognized as “Litigator of the Week” by The Am Law Litigation Daily
• Named to The International Who's Who of Corporate Governance Lawyers