CAROLINE A. WONG represents clients in a wide range of litigation settings in trial and appellate courts across the country. Her practice focuses on the calculated and efficient representation of corporate clients and their directors and officers in securities and shareholder derivative matters, government investigations, ERISA litigation, and other complex commercial matters. She also counsels clients in pre-litigation disputes and negotiations.
Representative securities and shareholder derivative matters include:
- Defending a global retail pharmacy company in securities and derivative litigation in the Northern District of Illinois.
- Obtaining dismissal of a shareholder derivative suit filed against a global retail pharmacy company and its board of directors in the Delaware Court of Chancery, and obtaining affirmance on appeal to the Delaware Supreme Court.
- Defending an accounting firm in securities litigation and related investigations by federal and state regulators.
- Representing an accounting firm in connection with a restatement-related SEC investigation.
- Obtaining dismissal of a shareholder derivative suit filed against an energy holding company and its board of directors in the District of Delaware.
Representative ERISA matters include:
- Obtaining a trial victory for an insurance company in an ERISA class action in federal district court, after defending the company on appeal to the Eighth Circuit and in certiorari-stage proceedings before the U.S. Supreme Court.
- Defending a health services provider and its board of directors in an ERISA class action involving challenges to 401(k) plan investment options and recordkeeping fees.
- Defending a 401(k) plan sponsor in an appeal to the Sixth Circuit regarding the arbitrability of ERISA fiduciary duty claims.
- Defending an investment advisor on appeal to the Second Circuit in an ERISA class action involving challenges to 403(b) plan investment options and recordkeeping fees.
- Obtaining dismissal of a putative ERISA class action brought against a non-profit health system in the Middle District of North Carolina.
Other notable matters include:
- Obtaining a victory in the U.S. Supreme Court for a medical technology company in Minerva Surgical, Inc. v. Hologic, Inc., involving the scope of assignor estoppel.
- Representing petitioners in state post-conviction proceedings and federal habeas proceedings, including at the certiorari stage before the U.S. Supreme Court, in connection with Sidley’s Capital Litigation Project.
Caroline is committed to improving diversity and inclusion across the legal profession. At Sidley, Caroline serves as a Co-Chair of the Chicago office’s Associate Diversity Council and has previously served as a Co-Chair of the Chicago office’s 1L Diversity Mentorship Program. In addition, Caroline serves as a member of the Associate Board for the Chicago Committee on Minorities in Large Law Firms, and as a member of the Cabrini Green Legal Aid Associate Board. She is also actively involved as an alumna of the University of Chicago Latinx Law Students Association.
Before joining Sidley, Caroline clerked for the Honorable Frank H. Easterbrook of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and for the Honorable John Z. Lee of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Caroline earned her law degree with high honors from the University of Chicago Law School, where she was a David M. Rubenstein Scholar and served as the Executive Editor of The University of Chicago Law Review.