Robin E. Wechkin

ROBIN WECHKIN has over 25 years of experience in securities and derivative litigation, in which she has represented issuers, directors and officers, auditors and underwriters in state and federal court in California, New York, Washington, Oregon and Delaware. Robin also represents insurers and manufacturers in policyholder and consumer class actions in multiple state and federal courts. She represents clients in a wide variety of industries, including technology, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.

Robin is the principal author of Sidley’s annual review and analysis of developments in securities litigation in the life sciences sector, a resource used by in-house counsel, insurers and securities litigators in the United States and abroad. In all of her cases and publications, Robin brings a wealth of experience in briefing and analysis, including appellate briefing and advocacy.

Robin also has an active pro bono practice. She has written appellate briefs in significant matters involving sanctuary city legislation, the federal sentencing guidelines, Alaskan Natives’ fishing rights, excessive use of force by police officers, and the asylum rights of disabled persons. In her work for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Robin coordinates pro bono amicus efforts seeking to advance the ends of criminal justice through appellate advocacy in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and state supreme courts in the West.

Robin clerked for The Honorable Barbara Jacobs Rothstein of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington and The Honorable Betty B. Fletcher, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She also served on the California Law Review. Prior to her career in law, Robin earned a Ph.D. in English from Berkeley, where she published a dissertation on the novelistic representation of the legal system and issues of guilt and causation in turn-of the-century American literature.

Selected recent engagements

In re Nektar Therapeutics Securities Litigation, N.D. Cal./Ninth Circuit. Won successive motions to dismiss in a Section 10(b) class action against a life sciences company arising from stock price declines following announcement of Phase 2 trial results. The Ninth Circuit affirmed dismissal in a published opinion that reinforces the principle that setbacks in clinical trial results are commonpIace for companies developing experimental treatments and are not indicia of fraud. The Ninth Circuit’s opinion should also be an important precedent on loss causation in Section 10(b) cases against life sciences companies spanning multiple clinical trial phases. 34 F. 4th 828, (9th Cir. 2022).

Damiba v. Nektar Therapeutics, N.D. Cal. Won motion to dismiss in a Section 10(b) class action against a life sciences company arising from stock price decline following announcement of developments in drug development partnership. Plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed their action with prejudice after the court ruled in the company’s favor.

Local 353 v. Zendesk, Inc., Ninth Circuit. Won affirmance of dismissal in a Section 10(b) class action filed after a technology company announced its discovery of a years-old data breach. 2022 WL 614235 (9th Cir. Mar. 1, 2022).    

In re Plains All American Pipeline Securities Litigation, S.D. Tex./Fifth Circuit. Won successive motions to dismiss on behalf of large underwriting syndicate in a Section 11 class action arising from stock price declines following the 2015 Santa Barbara oil spill. Won appellate victory in 2019, when the Fifth Circuit affirmed dismissal of all claims against the issuer and the underwriters. 777 F. App’x 716 (5th Cir. 2019).

Roberts v. Bloom Energy, Inc., N.D. Cal. In case against technology start-up that restated its financial statements less than two years after its IPO, won dismissal of Section 10(b) claims in their entirety and Section 11 claims in large part, including all Section 11 claims challenging the company’s financial reporting.

Aspen American Insurance Company. In dozens of cases across the country, authored or co-authored motions to dismiss claims against property insurer arising from COVID-related business losses. Motions to dismiss were granted in all cases. Also authored or co-authored appellate briefs urging affirmance. Victories have been affirmed or plaintiffs have withdrawn their appeals in the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Ninth and Eleventh Circuits.

VIVUS, Inc., N.D. Cal./Ninth Circuit. Won two successive motions to dismiss in a Section 10(b) action against a life sciences company arising from setbacks in the regulatory approval and product launch processes. 2015 WL 3809357 (N.D. Cal. June 18, 2015); 2016 WL 1570357 (N.D. Cal. Apr. 19, 2016). The second decision includes influential and highly favorable language about the disclosure duties of life sciences companies in the approval process. Plaintiffs appealed to the Ninth Circuit, which affirmed dismissal in 2018. 721 F. App’x 665 (9th Cir. 2018).

VIVUS, Inc., Santa Clara County Superior Court. Represented the company in derivative litigation arising from a pharmaceutical launch and subsequent proxy fight. Won complete defense victory. 

SunEdison, Inc. Securities Litigation, MDL proceedings in the S.D.N.Y. Represented officers and directors in multidistrict securities litigation arising from the 2016 collapse of a major alternative energy company. Obtained dismissal of Section 10(b) claims challenging scores of statements over a 20-month class period with respect to all but a single statement.

Dendreon Corporation, W.D. Washington, King County Superior Court, Delaware Chancery Court. Represented Dendreon Corporation and its officers and directors in securities and derivative litigation arising from the launch of the company’s groundbreaking immunotherapy for prostate cancer.