Overview

John Stigi is a partner in the Business Trial Practice Group and Co-Leader of the firm's Securities Enforcement and Litigation Team. 

Areas of Practice

John's practice focuses on securities class action and shareholder derivative action defense, SEC investigation defense, internal corporate investigations, and M&A and corporate governance litigation. He represents issuers, officers, directors and auditors in securities and corporate litigation, from the early stages before a complaint is filed through pleading motions, discovery, mediation, trial and appeal. John also advises companies and boards of directors on disclosure and corporate governance issues, as well as directors and officers insurance matters.

John’s practice is national in scope. He appears in federal and state courts throughout California, New York and Delaware, and also has appeared in courts in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, Texas, Utah and Washington. John is a member of the AIG Securities Litigation Panel (class action approved).

John previously practiced in Silicon Valley and New York City where he represented issuers, accountants, banks, brokerage firms, and hedge fund managers in securities, complex commercial, bankruptcy, employment, and real estate litigation. John clerked at the District of Columbia Court of Appeals and was an executive editor of the Virginia Journal of International Law.

Notable Decisions

Notable securities decisions include:

  • Amgen Inc. v. Connecticut Ret. Plan & Trust Funds, 568 U.S. 455 (2013)
  • Calcaterra v. Garrabrants, 848 Fed. Appx. 234 (9th Cir. 2021)
  • Grigsby v. BofI Holding, Inc., 979 F.3d 1198 (9th Cir. 2020)
  • Houston Mun. Employees Pension Sys. v. BofI Holding Inc., 977 F.3d 781 (9th Cir. 2020)
  • In re American Apparel, Inc., 2014 Deriv. S’holder Litig., 696 Fed. Appx. 848 (9th Cir. 2017)
  • Local 731 I.B. of T. Excavators & Pavers Pension Trust Fund v. Diodes, Inc., 810 F.3d 951 (5th Cir. 2016)
  • Vignola v. FAT Brands, Inc., 2020 U.S. Dist. Lexis 73577 (C.D. Cal. Mar. 13, 2020)
  • Miller v. PCM, Inc., 2018 WL 5099722 (C.D. Cal. Jan. 3, 2018)
  • Zhang v. LifeVantage Corp., 2017 WL 2599883 (D. Utah June 15, 2017)
  • Parametric Sound Corp. v. Eighth Judicial Dist. Ct., 133 Nev. 417, 401 P.3d 1100 (2017)
  • Zhao v. International Rectifier Corp., 2011 WL 2447710 (Cal. App. 2d Dist. June 20, 2011).

Experience

Experience

Representative Cases

Securities & Shareholder Derivative Actions

  • Advanced Cell Technologies
  • Alternegy
  • America West
  • American Apparel
  • Amgen
  • Arthur Andersen
  • Axesstel
  • Axos Financial (f/k/a BofI Holding)/HMEPS
  • Axos Financial/Grigsby
  • Axos Financial/Calcaterra
  • Boeing
  • Chordiant Software
  • Deer Consumer Products
  • Deloitte
  • Digital Cornerstone
  • Diodes
  • Ernst & Young
  • Fairchild Corporation
  • FAT Brands/Harris I and II
  • FAT Brands/Rojany and Vignola
  • FAT Brands/Matthews 
  • First Virtual Communications
  • GEM Services, Inc. 
  • Hewlett Packard
  • i2 Technologies
  • International Rectifier
  • Irvine Sensors
  • LBI Media Holdings
  • Legend3D
  • LifeVantage
  • Marvell Technologies
  • National Technical Systems 
  • NCI Building Systems
  • New Age
  • NorthPoint Communications
  • Ontrak 
  • Patriot National
  • PCM
  • Quovadx
  • Redback Networks
  • salesforce.com
  • Silvergate Bank
  • Tullett Prebon
  • VISX
  • Workhorse Group
  • Zales

M&A/Going Private and Appraisal Actions

  • Corio
  • CrossWorlds Software
  • Dialogic
  • E.piphany
  • Electro Rent
  • Hewlett Packard/Compaq
  • Hewlett Packard/Walter Hewlett
  • HomeFed
  • Imperial Capital 
  • Informa
  • Infoweapons
  • International Rectifier
  • Kreisler/United Flexible
  • Lions Gate Entertainment
  • Majesco
  • Med BioGene
  • National Technical Systems
  • Parametric Sound
  • PCM
  • Physicians Formula
  • Plumtree Software
  • Sport Chalet
  • Suncrest Bank
  • Taylor Made/Adams
  • Taylor Made/Ashworth

Honors

Honors

Best Lawyer in America, Litigation - Securities, Best Lawyers, 2021-2024

Best Lawyer in America, Litigation - Regulatory Enforcement (SEC, Telecom, Energy), Best Lawyers, 2024

Client Service All-Star, BTI Consulting, 2023

Insights

Articles

Corporate & Securities Law Blog Posts

Speaking Engagements

  • Speaker & Panelist, Securities Litigation 2016: From Investigation to Trial, Practising Law Institute, New York, April 2016
  • Speaker & Panelist, Handling a Securities Case 2015: From Investigation to Trial and Everything in Between, Practising Law Institute, New York, April 2015
  • Speaker & Panelist, Director & Officer Liability and Insurance - Hot Topics and New Developments, USC Corporate Governance Summit, Los Angeles, November 2014
  • Speaker & Panelist, When Good Deals Go Bad - How to Avoid Becoming an M&A Casualty, Association for Corporate Growth San Diego, December 2012
  • Chair, Delaware Counsel Speaks: Navigating Delaware Corporate Law in Transactions, San Diego, September 2011
  • Speaker, SEC Enforcement and Securities Class Action Trends Since the Great Recession of 2008, U.S. Law Firm Group Corporate & Securities Committee Section Meeting, San Francisco, May 2010
  • Q&A With Sheppard Mullin's John P. Stigi III, Law360, July 16, 2009
  • Speaker, Deconstructing Ryan v. Gifford, Cal CPA Fraud Section, Los Angeles, February 2008
  • Speaker, Environmental Disclosures, Los Angeles County Bar Association, Los Angeles, February 2008
  • Speaker & Panelist, Securities Litigation, CLE International Conference on Class Actions, San Francisco, January 2008
  • Co-chair, CLE International Conference on Class Actions, Los Angeles, January 2007
  • Podcast, Merrill Lynch v. Dabit, TheCorporateCounsel.net Blog, April 2006
  • Speaker & Panelist, McMaster World Congress Conference on Corporate Governance, Hamilton, Ontario, January 2006
  • Speaker, Washington Metropolitan Area Corporate Counsel Association, SEC Enforcement, Reston, VA, December 2005
  • Speaker & Panelist, International Bar Association Annual Conference, Prague, September 2005
  • Speaker & Panelist, InSight CLE, M&A Litigation, Vancouver, BC, April 2005
  • Speaker & Panelist, Glasser LegalWorks, Electronic Discovery, San Francisco, April 2004
  • Speaker, Venture Capital Task Force, Palo Alto, July 2002

Memberships

Memberships

AIG Securities Litigation Panel Counsel, 2012-present

American Bar Association, 1989-present

New York State Bar Association, Civil Practice Law and Rules Committee, 1996-1999

Los Angeles World Affairs Council, 2006-2009

University of Virginia School of Law National Litigation Panel, 1996-2000

Columbia University Alumni Representative Committee, Regional Co-Chair, 2007-2023

Association of Business Trial Lawyers, 2016-present

Digital Media

Education

J.D., University of Virginia, School of Law, 1987

B.A., Columbia University, 1984, cum laude

Admissions

  • California
  • New York
  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • U.S. Courts of Appeals for the First, Second, Third, Fifth and Ninth Circuits
  • U.S. District Courts for the Central District of California, Northern District of California, Southern District of California, Eastern District of New York and Southern District of New York
Jump to Page

By scrolling this page, clicking a link or continuing to browse our website, you consent to our use of cookies as described in our Cookie and Advertising Policy. If you do not wish to accept cookies from our website, or would like to stop cookies being stored on your device in the future, you can find out more and adjust your preferences here.