Lyle Roberts is a partner in the firm’s Litigation practice. Lyle represents companies, officers and directors in securities cases and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement matters throughout the United States. He also conducts corporate internal investigations and counsels clients with respect to securities regulatory issues. Lyle represented Mark Cuban in obtaining a complete victory against the SEC in Cuban’s closely watched insider trading case. Lyle also has obtained dismissals with prejudice on behalf of CenturyLink, ChannelAdvisor and Alcobra in recent securities class actions brought against those companies. He currently represents a number of prominent companies – including Northrop Grumman – in the defense of private securities litigation.
Recognized as a leading securities litigator by Chambers USA and The Legal 500, among others, Lyle is the publisher of the well-known blog, The 10b-5 Daily, which tracks key developments in securities litigation. He also is co-chairman of the annual Practicing Law Institute securities litigation program. Lyle frequently submits amicus briefs in prominent securities litigation cases on behalf of clients, including recent briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of the Washington Legal Foundation in the Halliburton, ANZ Securities, and Leidos cases and SIMFA and the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America in the Matrixx case.
Jonathan K. Youngwood is Co-Chair of the Firm’s Litigation Department. For more than 20 years, Jon has represented financial institutions, corporations, executives and boards of directors in a wide range of high-profile litigations, arbitrations and regulatory investigations. His practice focuses on matters involving securities, antitrust and ERISA law as well as M&A litigation.
In 2017, Jon was the recipient of the “Securities Lawyer of the Year” award by Euromoney’s Benchmark Litigation, an award that recognizes the country’s leading litigators, and was also honored as a “Distinguished Leader” by the New York Law Journal. Chambers and Partners consistently recognizes Jon as a leading securities litigator, describing him as a “very well-respected lawyer with a tremendous reputation, and is very good in the courtroom”; “the best lawyer on his feet - he is incredibly comfortable before judges and panels”; a “smart, focused and creative lawyer who brings the required intensity to the job.” Chambers also recognizes him as “a detail-oriented litigator with the ability to get to the nub of an issue” who “has extensive securities knowledge” and “flair for written work and oral advocacy.” He is recognized as a “Leading Lawyer” by The Legal 500, where market commentators describe him as “very talented”; who has a “client-oriented approach”; “technically superb, bright and articulate”; an “outstanding securities litigator”; and “smart, hardworking and extremely professional.” Jon has also been recognized by Benchmark Litigation as a “Top 10 Nationwide Securities Star”; and is consistently recognized as a national and New York “Litigation Star” in Securities Litigation, where sources have described him as “one of the smartest lawyers I know. He not only is hardworking, but he has the ability to be both a big-picture thinker and also pay incredible attention to detail.”
He edits the Securities Law Alert, a monthly newsletter published by the Firm, is the Co-Chair of PLI’s annual program entitled “Handling a Securities Case: From Investigation to Trial and Everything in Between,” and received the Burton Award for Achievement in Legal Writing.
Among a number of significant pro bono achievements, Jon served on the Simpson Thacher team that achieved a finding (after a seven-month trial) that the New York City public schools fail to provide a constitutionally adequate education.
Jon received his B.A. with honors from Brown University in 1990. He received his J.D. in 1994 with honors from the University of Chicago, where he served as Comments Editor of The University of Chicago Law Review. He also holds a Master of Public Policy from The University of Chicago (1992). Jon joined Simpson Thacher in 1995 following a one-year clerkship with Hon. Dennis G. Jacobs of United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He became a Partner in 2003.
