Joaquin J. Ezcurra

Associate

Joaquin J. Ezcurra is an associate in Morgan Lewis's Litigation Practice. Mr. Ezcurra's practice focuses on the defense of clients in securities litigation, class actions, arbitration, and commercial litigation. He represents broker-dealers, registered investment advisers, issuers, and other large financial institutions.

In matters on which he has worked, Mr. Ezcurra's results have included obtaining dismissals with prejudice in Delaware and North Carolina of claims against exchange funds for $245 million, and obtaining awards of "0" damages from arbitration panels in New York and Georgia in actions against U.S. and European-based financial services clients involving claims of fraudulent research and accounting for private equity and publicly traded securities.

Working pro bono, Mr. Ezcurra successfully supported a FOIL (Freedom of Information Law) petition as amici curiae in connection with FOIL requests to the New York State Assembly and New York State Senate for information on New York's Community Projects Fund (CPF), a fund that permitted certain legislators to use state money for projects of their choice with no accountability. In granting the petition and ordering the Assembly and Senate to produce the requested information, the Supreme Court of New York State, Albany County, relied on the arguments advanced by Morgan Lewis and found that "the public has a right to know the names of legislators associated with the funding of member item projects."

In connection with the firm's pro bono program, Mr. Ezcurra was seconded to the Office of the District Attorney for King's County, New York, for several months, during which he prepared for and tried a number of jury trials. In one of Mr. Ezcurra's cases, People v. Olmo, an issue of first impression under New York law arose concerning disputed consent to search an apartment. The issue was extensively briefed by the parties and the judge ultimately issued a decision in the prosecution's favor that was printed in the New York Law Journal. That decision can be found at 18 Misc.3d 307, 846 N.Y.S.2d 568.

Mr. Ezcurra received his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2001. He earned his B.A., cum laude, in political economy from Columbia College in 1998. Mr. Ezcurra is fluent in Spanish and English.

Mr. Ezcurra is admitted to practice in New York.