Dhaivat H. Shah

Partner

Dhaivat H. Shah has spent his entire private sector career representing public and private companies, their executives and their boards in complex litigation, regulatory investigations and internal investigations.

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Experience

Prior to joining Grellas Shah LLP, Dhaivat was a litigation partner in the Silicon Valley office of O’Melveny & Myers LLP. Within the structure of Grellas Shah, Dhaivat leads an elite team of litigators that can provide legal representation with the resources and quality of a large firm but with the efficiencies and cost-structure of a boutique.

Dhaivat’s areas of specialty include securities and class action litigation, m&a litigation, derivative actions, breach of fiduciary duty actions, regulatory investigations, internal investigations, trade secret litigation and employment litigation. Dhaivat also has a thriving appellate practice. He has litigated cases in California, New York, Utah, Arizona, Georgia, New Mexico and Nevada. He has conducted internal investigations in the U.S. and in China. Dhaivat’s list of clients in litigation or investigation matters include the following companies and/or their executives and directors: Apple, SanDisk, The PMI Group, VeriSign, Babcock & Brown, KPMG, Sirna Therapeutics, Powerwave Technologies, Mohr Davidow Ventures, SDL, Rackable Systems, Vishay Intertechnologies, Exodus Communications, Vast Systems, Fortify Software, Safety-Kleen, Mercury Interactive, Magma Automated Design, Esurance, Saxton, Quizno’s, Ensuant, Zed-3, Ravisent, Commtouch, pCom, VeriPic, Zoran and Merck. Prior to entering the private sector, Dhaivat was a staff attorney in the Washington, DC office of the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission and brings considerable expertise to representing clients in connection with SEC investigations.

Illustrative Professional Engagements:
Represented Apple in securities and derivative litigation arising from alleged stock options irregularities.

Represented international financial advisory firm Babcock & Brown in a billion-dollar fraudulent conveyance and breach of contract suit

Represented Babcock & Brown in a securities fraud claim brought in connection with the sale of a pool of life settlement transactions.

Represented SanDisk in m&a litigation arising over its acquisition of msystems.

Represented the directors of SDL in m&a litigation arising over its acquisition by JD Uniphase.

Represented Sirna Therapeutics and Merck, in connection with a suit for trade secret misappropriation.

Represented Vast Systems, its officers and directors, and the venture capital firm Mohr Davidow Ventures in a breach of fiduciary duty claim brought by a minority shareholder of Vast.

Represented the outside directors of Safety-Kleen in a securities suit over revenue refunding bonds. In this matter, Dhaivat argued an appeal on a novel personal jurisdiction issue before the Utah Supreme Court. The published opinion may be found at MFS Series Trust III v. Grainger, 96 P.3d 927 (2004).

Represented the Special Committee for the Board of Directors of Mercury Interactive in connection with an internal investigation over alleged stock options irregularities.

Represented the officers and directors of Saxton in an Arizona state court action brought by 300 separate plaintiffs alleging fraud in connection with a dozen separate loan transactions.

Represented Lehrer Management Company in a suit for misappropriation of trade secrets and breach of fiduciary duty against two former portfolio managers.

Contact

20400 Stevens Creek Blvd.
Suite 280
Cupertino, CA 95014
Phone: (408) 255 – 6310
Fax: (408) 255 – 6350
Email: ds@grellas.com

Education

Georgetown University Law Center, LL.M. in Securities and Financial Regulations

University of San Diego, J.D., Member of San Diego Law Review

University of California at Santa Barbara, B.A. in Political Science

Publications and Teaching Experience:

Guest lecturer on U.S. Appellate Law at the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain (2009)

Co-Author: “Recent Developments and Trends in Securities Litigation,” Practising Law Institute (2009); “Rulings in Subprime Class-Action Suits Are Turning In Favor Of Management,” Investor’s Business Daily (April 27, 2009); “Recent Developments in Securities Litigation,” Practicing Law Institute (2008); “Securities Litigation: A Year In Review” LA County Bar Association (2008); “Liability For Exchange Act Violations,” Practicing Law Institute (2006, 2007); “The Care And Feeding Of An SEC Cease-And-Desist Order: The Commission Defines Its Authority Through In The Matter Of KPMG Peat Marwick, LLP, 25 Hamline L. Rev. 271 (Winter 2002).

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