Ian D. Roffman

In November 2019, a Nutter trial team received a jury verdict in their favor for Nutter’s client, a Big Four accounting firm. Nutter’s client was alleged to have committed accounting malpractice for not detecting a fraud during the course of its annual audits. The plaintiff was seeking approximately $30 million in alleged actual and punitive damages. After a three-week trial in the Business Litigation Session of the Massachusetts Superior Court, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Nutter’s client and the judge dismissed all remaining claims. Nutter’s trial team included Ian Roffman, Nelson Apjohn, and Melanie Woodward, and they tried the case with co-counsel George Salter of Hogan Lovells (NY).

In a significant victory for a Nutter client -- a star portfolio manager for a large national asset management firm -- the Securities and Exchange Commission closed its investigation of the portfolio manager without recommending any enforcement action. The SEC was investigating the client in connection with several trades made prior to public announcements of secondary offerings.

Successfully represented companies and boards in multiple merger-related shareholder class actions.

Represented senior hedge fund portfolio manager in SEC investigation relating to possible trading improprieties.

Represented multiple individuals in SEC investigation relating to use of expert networks by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Represented many companies and individuals in more than a dozen insider trading investigations.

Successfully represented broker from national brokerage firm in state securities investigation concerning selling practices. No charges filed.

Successfully represented trader from national financial services firm in investigations relating to credit default swaps. No charges filed.

Conducted internal investigation for audit committee of public biotechnology company concerning securities law compliance.

After a client’s competitor acquired a client’s exclusive supplier and threatened to terminate the client’s supply of a key component, we sued the competitor and supplier. In a month-long trial, we obtained a jury verdict holding the competitor and a supplier liable for breach of contract, tortious interference, and misappropriation of trade secrets, ultimately leading to a favorable judgment for declaratory and injunctive relief, double damages, and a multimillion dollar legal fee award under Massachusetts’s unfair trade practices statute.

Represented several executives of large cap public company in SEC investigation relating to revenue recognition and accounting policies. No charges filed.

Advised state government entity concerning federal securities investigation.

Represented senior executive of large cap national financial services company in SEC investigation relating to subprime. No charges filed.

Conducted internal investigation for a special litigation committee of a Fortune 500 company concerning alleged fraudulent accounting and insider trading by officers and directors.

Won dismissal of civil RICO claims against regional healthcare organization.

Represented chief financial officer of multi-national public company in FCPA investigation.

Nutter served as legal counsel to Eastern Bank Corporation, the mutual holding company of Eastern Bank, in its conversion to a fully public stock holding company known as Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ Global Select Market: EBC).

Nutter successfully obtained a settlement on behalf of its client Fidelity Bank in connection with a multi-district litigation class action relating to the TelexFree international Ponzi scheme. The Court approved the $22.5 million settlement and entered judgment dismissing the claims with prejudice. The legal team was led by Ian Roffman, chair of Nutter’s Securities Enforcement and Litigation practice, and included Joe Toomey, Ken Ehrlich, and Tom Curry.