Charlene S. Shimada

Chuck was named the 2022 Lawyer of the Year in Securities/Capital Markets Law in San Francisco by The Best Lawyers in America and recognized among the distinguished Top 250 Women in Litigation for 2017–2020 and as a 2021–2022 Litigation Star by Benchmark Litigation. Chambers USA highlights Chuck's “notable strengths acting for underwriters defending significant securities class actions, alongside wider strengths advising individual and corporate clients in litigation and regulatory investigations.” Chambers USA also notes that clients describe her as a “terrific” securities litigator, identifies her “very thoughtful” approach as a “key strength,” and reports that a “client enthuses: She knows the answers, knows the courts very well and is an excellent attorney to have in your corner."  

A pioneer in the legal profession, Chuck was the first Asian Pacific American woman partner in a major San Francisco law firm. She was also the first woman litigation partner, as well as the first woman of color partner, at a premier California firm known for its elite litigation practice. She served as the office managing partner of the firm’s San Francisco headquarters, one of the first women of color to hold that position in any major US law firm. She also served as the co-office managing partner of the San Francisco office of another international law firm.

In addition to her legal practice, Chuck is active in professional and civic affairs. She served as a member of the Bar Association of San Francisco’s board of directors, co-chair of the Ninth Circuit Lawyer Representatives Committee, and president of the Berkeley Law Alumni Association. 

Throughout her legal career, Chuck has fought for women’s rights. She was a founding member of the Bar Association of San Francisco’s No Glass Ceiling Task Force, which since 2001 has been helping participating firms increase both the number of women partners and their leadership opportunities. She also co-founded Women In Securities (WISe), a network for women securities litigators that seeks to promote their development and advancement. She is a leader of the Northern California chapter of the global women’s organization Women In Law Empowerment Forum (WILEF), a member of the Women Attorneys Advocacy Project, and an Advisory Committee member of the Women in Securities Litigation Network.

In 2012, Chuck was recognized as one of The Recorder’s Women Leaders in Law. That same year she received an award in honor of her “25 years of vision and leadership” from the Asian American Bar Association.

Before entering private practice, Chuck served as a law clerk to Judge Martin Pence of the US District Court for the District of Hawaii. She is admitted to practice in California and Hawaii.

• In re Velti plc Securities Litigation (N.D. Cal.; Ninth Circuit): Represented underwriters in securities shareholder class action; secured precedent-setting ruling that nonsettling defendants sued under Section 11 of the Securities Act of 1933 are entitled to receive a judgment reduction equal to the greater of the proportionate liability of the settling defendants or the settlement amount (Rieckborn v. Velti PLC, No. 13-cv-03889, 2015 WL 468329 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 3, 2015)); and secured dismissal of claims against underwriters (Rieckborn v. Jefferies LLC, 81 F. Supp. 3d 902 (N.D. Cal. 2015), and In re Velti PLC Securities Litigation, No. 13-cv-03889, 2015 WL 5736589 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 1, 2015))
• In re Stac Electronics Securities Litigation (S.D. Cal.; Ninth Circuit): Represented underwriters in securities shareholder class action; dismissed with prejudice and affirmed by Ninth Circuit (In re Stac Electronics Securities Litigation, 89 F.3d 1399 (9th Cir. 1996), cert. denied, 520 U.S. 1103 (1997))
• Ascani v. KPMG LLP, et al. (San Diego County Superior Court): Represented audit firm in securities shareholder class action
• In re Avalanche Biotechnologies Securities Litigation (N.D. Cal.; San Mateo County Superior Court): Represented underwriters in securities shareholder class actions; obtained dismissal of claims against underwriters (Huang v. Avalanche Biotechnologies, Inc., No. 15-cv-03185-JD, 2016 WL 6524401 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 3, 2016))
• In re Berkeley Lights, Inc. Securities Litigation (N.D. Cal.): Represented underwriters in securities shareholder class action
• In re Bloom Energy Corp. Securities Litigation (N.D. Cal.;Santa Clara County Superior Court): Represented underwriters in securities shareholder class actions; secured stay of state class action;motion to dismiss federal class action granted in part (Hunt v. Bloom Energy Corporation, et al., Case No. 19-cv-02935-HSG, 2021 WL 4461171 (N.D. Cal. September 29, 2021); motion for interlocutory appeal denied
• In re ContextLogic Inc. Securities Litigation (N.D. Cal.): Represented underwriters in securities shareholder class action
• In re CytRx Corp. Securities Litigation (C.D. Cal., Los Angeles County Superior Court): Represented underwriters in securities shareholder class actions
• In re Fitbit, Inc. Stockholder Derivative Litigation (Delaware Chancery Court; E.D. Pa.): Represented current and former officers in shareholder derivative actions
• In re LendingClub Corp. Securities Litigation (N.D. Cal.; Ninth Circuit; San Mateo County Superior Court; Delaware Chancery Court): Represented former officer in securities shareholder class actions and shareholder derivative actions;dismissal of federal derivative action on statute of limitations grounds, affirmed by Ninth Circuit; dismissal of Delaware Chancery Court derivative action on demand futility grounds; dismissal of federal shareholder class action (Veal v. LendingClub Corp., 423 F. Supp. 3d 785 (N.D. Cal. 2019)) and voluntary dismissal of client in parallel Delaware Chancery Court derivative action
• In re Livent Corporation Securities Litigation (E.D. Pa.; Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas): Represented underwriters in securities shareholder class actions; dismissal with prejudice of federal shareholder class action (Nikolov v. Livent Corp., 470 F. Supp. 3d 461 (E.D. Pa. 2020))
• In re Lyft, Inc. Securities Litigation (N.D. Cal.; San Francisco Superior Court): Represented underwriters in securities shareholder class actions; voluntary dismissal of underwriters in federal shareholder class action
• In re Menlo Therapeutics, Inc. Securities Litigation (San Mateo County Superior Court): Represented underwriters in securities shareholder class action
• In re NantHealth, Inc. Securities Litigation (C.D. Cal.; Los Angeles County Superior Court): Represented underwriters in securities shareholder class action
• In re ON24, Inc. Securities Litigation (N.D. Cal.): Represented underwriters in securities shareholder class action
• In re Puma Biotechnology, Inc. Securities Litigation (C.D. Cal.): Represented nonparty underwriters in the first securities shareholder class action to reach a verdict in many years
• Rimrock High Income Plus (Master) Fund, Ltd., et al. v. Jefferies LLC, et al. (Orange County Superior Court): Represented Jefferies in securities action brought under the California blue-sky laws
• In re Senomyx, Inc. Securities Litigation (Delaware Chancery Court): Represented financial advisor in securities shareholder class action;obtained dismissal with prejudice
• In re Sogou Inc. Securities Litigation (S.D.N.Y.;San Mateo County Superior Court): Represented underwriters in securities shareholder class actions; secured stay of state class action on forum non conveniens grounds and dismissal with prejudice of federal class action (Luo v. Sogou, Inc., et al., 465 F. Supp. 3d 393 (S.D.N.Y. 2020), appeal withdrawn sub nom. Frater v. Sogou Inc., No. 20-2188, 2020 WL 6020580 (2d Cir. Sept. 14, 2020)
• In re Talis Biomedical Corporation Securities Litigation (N.D. Cal.): Represented underwriters in securities shareholder class action
• In re Tokai Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Securities Litigation (D. Mass.; Suffolk County Superior Court; San Francisco Superior Court): Represented underwriters in securities shareholder class actions and individual securities action; denial of motion for certification of state court class; dismissal with prejudice of federal individual action (Angelos v. Tokai Pharmaceuticals, Inc., et al., 494 F. Supp. 3d 39 (D. Mass. 2020))
• In re TrueCar, Inc. Securities Litigation (C.D. Cal.): Represented underwriters in securities shareholder class action; voluntary dismissal of underwriters
• US Securities & Exchange Commission v. Khan, et al. (N.D. Cal.): Represented defendant in alleged insider trading action
• In re USA Technologies, Inc. Securities Litigation (E.D.Pa.; Chester County Court of Common Pleas): Represented underwriters in securities shareholder class actions
• In re YogaWorks, Inc. Securities Litigation (C.D. Cal.; Los Angeles County Superior Court): Represented underwriters in securities shareholder class actions; secured dismissal with prejudice of federal class action on statute of limitations grounds (In re YogaWorks, Inc. Securities Litigation, No. CV 18-10696-CJC (SKx), 2020 WL 2549290 (C.D. Cal. April 23, 2020))
• In re Zuora, Inc. Securities Litigation (San Mateo County Superior Court): Represented underwriters in securities shareholder class action
• In re Zymergen Inc. Securities Litigation (N.D. Cal.): Represented underwriters in securities shareholder class action
• Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago v. Banc of America Securities LLC, et al. (Washington State Court): Represented issuers and underwriter of mortgage-backed securities in securities action brought by Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago
• In re Hansen Medical, Inc. Securities Litigation (N.D. Cal.; Santa Clara County Superior Court): Represented issuer and certain officers and directors in federal class action, shareholder derivative actions, and SEC investigation and civil action
• In re Inventure Foods Inc. Securities Litigation (D. Ariz.; Ariz. State Court): Represented underwriters in securities shareholder class action
• In re Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc. Securities Litigation (E.D. Cal.): Represented underwriters in securities shareholder class action
• In re ProNAi Therapeutics, Inc. Securities Litigation (N.D. Cal.; Ninth Circuit; San Mateo County Superior Court): Represented underwriters in securities shareholder class action
• In re Sientra, Inc. Securities Litigation (C.D. Cal.; San Mateo County Superior Court): Represented underwriters in securities shareholder class actions
• In re ShoreTel, Inc. Securities Litigation (N.D. Cal.): Represented underwriters in securities shareholder class action; motion to dismiss granted with leave to amend (In re Shortel, Inc. Securities Litig., No. C 08-00271 CRB, 2009 WL 24836 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 2, 2009))
• Franciscan Resident Advisory Committee v. LINC Housing Corp., et al. (N.D. Cal.; San Mateo County Superior Court): Represented LINC defendants in class action brought on behalf of mobile home park residents
• Danone v. Zong, et al. (Los Angeles County Superior Court): Represented Groupe Danone in multijurisdictional suit against certain parties affiliated with its Chinese joint venture partner relating to misuse of Danone proprietary information and other commercial wrongdoing
• California State Teachers’ Retirement System v. Qwest Communications International Inc., et al. (San Francisco County Superior Court); State Universities Retirement System of Illinois v. Qwest Communications International Inc. (Illinois State Court): Represented underwriter in multijurisdictional securities actions
• In re Network Commerce, Inc. Securities Litigation (W.D. Wash.): Represented IPO and SPO underwriters in securities shareholder class action; underwriters dismissed with prejudice
• Kamehameha Schools Litigation (E.D. Cal.; Ninth Circuit): Represented Kamehameha Schools in litigation relating to challenge to its admissions policy
• McKesson Corporation Litigation (S.D.N.Y.): Represented McKesson Corporation in securities and business litigation relating to its merger with HBOC
• Represented various underwriting firms, broker-dealers, public accounting firms, and individuals in connection with investigations and proceedings conducted by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, US Department of Justice, US Internal Revenue Service, and Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs