Languages

• French

Lawyer Overview

Douglas Curtis is a partner in the firm's Securities and Litigation/Controversy Departments. He is a member of the Business Trial Group and the Investigations and Criminal Litigation and Securities Litigation and Enforcement Practice Groups. He joined the firm in 2004.

Practice

A skilled litigator with international experience, Mr. Curtis has handled a wide variety of civil and criminal cases, including matters involving commercial disputes, financial fraud, intellectual property, trade secrets, press freedoms, privacy, fair trade practices, corporate espionage and anti-corruption laws. Mr. Curtis also has substantial experience in the area of corporate governance and compliance in a global context.

Mr. Curtis has an active practice handling complex litigation matters, many of which have gone to trial in both federal and state courts in New York and elsewhere.

Mr. Curtis joined the firm after more than five years as a senior legal executive at Reuters, the world's largest international multimedia news agency. At Reuters, he had responsibility for litigation, ethics and corporate compliance and oversaw internal investigations around the world. Before being promoted to Executive Vice President, Mr. Curtis served as Deputy General Counsel and Head of Litigation for the Americas and then as General Counsel for Continental Europe, the Middle East and Africa.  

Recent Highlights

• Representation of investment bank in lawsuit asserting fraud in connection with the bankruptcy of a subprime loan originator
• Representation of satellite company in successful trial (jury verdict) and appeal of judgment in connection with $50 million commercial dispute
• Representation of software company in ongoing earn-out dispute
• Representation of company licensing certain intellectual property rights in connection with royalty dispute 
• Internal investigations of financial institutions and others in connection with alleged financial and accounting irregularities
• Representation of mutual fund companies in connection with market timing investigations conducted by the SEC and state enforcement agencies 
• Representation of leading telecommunications provider as trial counsel in successful litigation (jury verdict) with a competitive local exchange carrier
• Representation of a national standardized testing organization in successful litigation in the Eastern District of New York over the theft and unauthorized redistribution of secure test forms
• Representation of Project Billboard, a non-partisan public benefit organization engaged in an issues campaign in the period preceding the November 2004 elections, in litigation in the Southern District of New York over the Project's right to disseminate a non-partisan message via privately-held billboards
• Representation of an investment management company in federal litigation in the District of New Jersey over the appropriateness of selling mutual fund "B shares"

Professional Activities

Mr. Curtis served as an Adjunct Professor at the Washington College of Law at American University from 1996 to 1997, teaching a course on "Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility." He is currently a vice chairman of the Board of Directors of The Legal Aid Society, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Center for Law and Economic Justice. Mr. Curtis is a member of the American Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association (where he serves on the Committee on the Commercial Division) and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York (where he serves as a member of the Committee on the Judiciary).

Areas of Practice

• Litigation/Controversy
• Business Trial Group
• Securities
• Securities Litigation
• Investigations and Criminal Litigation
• Litigation and Enforcement

Representative Cases

• Dismissal of Claims Against Saudi Prince Affirmed in Case Stemming from 9/11 , (US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit)
• Loral
• Merrill Lynch Investment Managers , (US District Court for the District of New Jersey)
• Verizon

West Practice Categories

Securities Law

Bar Admissions

• New York
• District of Columbia

Education

• Harvard Law School, 1988
  JD
  Honors: magna cum laude
• Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po), 1985
• Harvard University, 1984
  AB
  Honors: magna cum laude

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New York, NY 10022

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Websites

www.wilmerhale.com