Murielle Steven Walsh
Partner
OFFICE
New York
PRACTICE AREAS
Securities Litigation
LAW SCHOOL
New York Law School
ADMITTED
New York; United States District Court for the Southern District of New York; United States Courts of Appeals for the Second and Sixth Circuits
CONTACT
Murielle Steven Walsh joined the firm in 1998 and rose to Partner in 2006. In over two decades at Pomerantz, she has successfully led high-profile cases involving #MeToo and other cutting-edge issues in the class action and securities field.
As a Partner, Administrative Partner in charge of recruiting and policymaking, and a member of the firm’s Anti-Harassment and Discrimination Committee, Murielle has shaped the face of Pomerantz to be increasingly diverse, inclusive, and equitable. She is an advocate for equal rights and a mentor to other women in law.
Murielle has earned numerous accolades from esteemed industry publications including Law360, which named her a 2024 Titan of the Plaintiffs Bar. She was named a 2020 Plaintiffs’ Lawyer Trailblazer by the National Law Journal, an award created to “honor a handful of individuals from each practice area that are truly agents of change” and a 2020 Plaintiffs’ Trailblazer by the New York Law Journal.
Lawdragon has recognized Murielle as a Top Plaintiffs’ Financial Lawyer every year since 2019 and she has been ranked as a Top-Rated Securities Litigation Attorney by Super Lawyers® during that same period.
One of Murielle’s most significant achievements was in a securities class action she led against Wynn Resorts and several of its officers, in which Pomerantz was sole Lead Counsel. The litigation arose from the company’s alleged cover-up of a prolonged pattern of sexual misconduct by billionaire casino mogul Stephen Wynn, the company’s founder and former CEO. Wynn is widely viewed as the first high-profile executive whose misconduct was exposed by the #MeToo movement.
In 2023, Murielle obtained an order granting class certification in the case, which is one of the first plaintiffs’ wins in the post-Goldman era, defeating defendants’ arguments that the alleged corrective disclosures were not a sufficient match to the alleged misrepresentations.
In 2024, following six years of fiercely contested litigation, Murielle achieved a groundbreaking $70 million settlement on behalf of Wynn Resorts investors. It is one of the largest—if not the largest—Section 10b-5 settlements tied to #MeToo allegations.
• Murielle led the litigation of In re Livent Noteholders’ Securities Litigation, a securities class action in which she successfully moved for summary judgment on both liability and damages against the Company’s top officers, the former Broadway producers Garth Drabinsky and Myron Gottlieb. The District Court awarded the plaintiffs $36 million, which represented 100% of the class-wide estimated damages. This case is one of the rare examples of a plaintiff prevailing on all counts at the summary judgment stage.
• As the lead litigator of EBC I, Inc. v. Goldman Sachs & Co., Murielle obtained a landmark ruling: that a managing underwriter can owe fiduciary duties of loyalty and care to an issuer in connection with a public offering of the issuer stock, even in the absence of any contractual agreement. Professor John C. Coffee, a renowned Columbia University securities law professor, commenting on the ruling, stated: “It’s going to change the practice of all underwriting.” The case was ultimately settled for a highly favorable (confidential) settlement in favor of the issuer plaintiff.
• As a key member of the team litigating in In re Comverse Technology, Inc. Securities Litigation, Murielle obtained a historic $225 million recovery for the Class. The complaint alleged that executives from telecommunications software company Comverse Technology, Inc. misled investors by backdating stock options on a mass scale, enriching themselves in the process. After these fraudulent practices were uncovered, shares in the company plummeted.
• In a securities class action that Murielle led against Ormat Technologies, Inc., a renewable energy technology company listed on both the NYSE and Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, she not only achieved certification for parallel classes of investors that invested on both exchanges, but she also achieved a favorable monetary settlement for defrauded Ormat investors.
• In 2018, Murielle led the action against Corinthian Colleges—one of the largest for-profit colleges in the country— which arose from Corinthian’s alleged misrepresentations about its job placement rates, enrollment statistics, and more. Murielle secured a $3.3 million settlement for the Class of investors—a noteworthy victory given that two similar cases against Corinthian Colleges had previously been dismissed, and the Company was on the brink of bankruptcy.
Murielle is actively involved in various legal and advocacy organizations. She has served on the Board of Trustees for the non-profit organization Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children (CASA) of Monmouth County for 10 years. She is also a former member of the Honorary Steering Committee of Equal Rights Advocates (ERA), which focuses on specific issues that women face in the legal profession.
For two consecutive years, Murielle was a member of the Securities Litigation Editorial Board for Law 360. She has also served as a Solicitor for the Legal Aid Associates Campaign and engaged in political asylum work with the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.
During law school, Murielle interned with the Kings County District Attorney and worked within the mergers and acquisitions group of Sullivan & Cromwell.
Quote about Murielle for a pull quote: “[Murielle] has a litigation practice that addresses itself directly at the toughest cases aimed at righting some of the most complicated and harmful wrongs.” Jane Southern, founder of the Southern Group, who worked with Murielle on Livent.
Murielle graduated cum laude from New York Law School in 1996, where she was the recipient of the Irving Mariash Scholarship. During law school, Murielle interned with the Kings County District Attorney and worked within the mergers and acquisitions group of Sullivan & Cromwell.
Murielle is admitted to practice in New York; the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York; and the United States Courts of Appeals for the Second and Sixth Circuits.