Who's Liable After GameStop: Litigators' Take
An interview with Kenneth Breen and Phara Guberman
CLE Credit — Approved in 4 States
In early 2021, shares of GameStop (GME) spiked, jumping nearly 1000% amid weeks of volatile trading. In the aftermath, several players, including Robinhood, Redditors, and market makers like Citadel face increased risk of liability and regulatory scrutiny for their roles in the GameStop saga. Kenneth Breen and Phara Guberman, partners at Paul Hastings, explain how the events unfolded and break down the legal issues involved, including market manipulation, breach of contract, and potential FINRA violations. They discuss the standards required to show pump and dump schemes and case law that may provide color on how the events should be evaluated.
Additional Resources
GameStop Stock Trading Poses 'Manipulation' Challenge for Regulators (Kenneth Breen, Phara Guberman, and Rita Fishman on Bloomgberg Law, Jan. 29, 2021)
About Kenneth Breen and Phara Guberman
“GameStop brought together what we’ve described as the perfect storm in the market.”
Kenneth Breen is a partner in the Litigation Department of Paul Hastings and is head of the New York White Collar Defense practice. He focuses his practice on regulatory enforcement and white collar criminal defense, internal corporate investigations and compliance advice. He defends corporations and executives in high-stakes investigations and trials involving a myriad of issues including securities fraud, consumer protection issues, money laundering, and anti-corruption allegations. He is consistently recognized as a leading white collar defense and government investigations lawyer by Chambers USA, America's Leading Lawyers for Business. Prior to private practice, he served as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, where he was Deputy Chief of the Business and Securities Fraud Section; prior to that, in the U.S. Department of Justice Tax Division.He received a B.A. from Boston College and J.D. from the Boston College School of Law.
Phara Guberman is a partner in the Litigation practice of Paul Hastings. She has experience representing clients in high-stakes and sensitive regulatory enforcement and white collar criminal investigations and trials. She also conducts internal investigations for companies, their boards and committees, and handles civil and class action securities matters related to government and internal investigations. She has successfully handled a wide array of regulatory enforcement and white collar criminal matters, including those involving allegations of corporate and accounting fraud, securities fraud, insider trading, misappropriation of trade secrets, consumer protection issues, and money laundering. She was recognized by Law360 in 2018 as one of five national "Rising Stars" in White Collar and as a "Legal Lion" in 2019, and is regularly honored as among the "Top Women Attorneys in New York."She received a B.A. from George Washington University and J.D. from George Washington University Law School.
