Albrecht Ritter, PLLC
Brian C. Kerr
Partner · M&A & Securities Litigation
Trial counsel for the disputes that follow deals – where the documents, the numbers, and the corporate record decide the case.
Practice
Brian represents companies, boards, senior executives, entrepreneurs, founders, investment funds, and institutional investors in high-stakes disputes arising from mergers and acquisitions, corporate transactions, securities, partnership and governance issues, and other business relationships. His work includes Delaware fiduciary-duty matters, post-close disputes, purchase and partnership agreements, representations and warranties, indemnification, valuation, and fraud – often where the transaction documents, financial analysis, and corporate record will determine the outcome.
Brian brings roughly two decades of plaintiff-side experience and nearly a decade at a leading international law firm. He has prosecuted claims for institutional investors and shareholders, and defended companies in bet-the-company matters – a commercial perspective on how sophisticated counterparties assess risk, value claims, and make decisions when a deal or investment goes sideways. He has appeared in state and federal courts throughout the country, including the Delaware Court of Chancery, and in cross-border proceedings.
Representative engagements
His matters have involved billions of dollars in claimed damages and recoveries, including:
A landmark securities-fraud trial prosecuted on behalf of investors, involving billions of dollars in claimed damages.
Unanimous jury verdict · est. $9B+ · affirmed on appealDefense of a corporation in two separate billion-dollar cases arising from alleged breaches of representations and warranties in mortgage-purchase agreements.
Dismissed on summary judgment on the eve of trial · affirmed on appealDelaware Court of Chancery merger-related action on behalf of shareholders in connection with multiple breaches of fiduciary duties.
Preliminary injunction granted · favorable settlementRepresented a publisher in a wrongful-termination, breach-of-contract, and defamation action seeking damages for an alleged smear campaign.
Settled on confidential termsDefense of a utility company in complex breach-of-contract litigation.
Summary judgment eliminating the lion's share of plaintiff's damagesPublications & speaking
Faculty, Practising Law Institute (PLI), "Art of the Art Deal: An Introduction to the Key Legal Issues in the Buying and Selling of Art."
Host and Presenter, NeueHouse, "Is it Real?" (May 7, 2015) – on the role of science in art authentication.
Selected press
Credentials
Education
- Hofstra Law School, J.D.Dean's Scholar · Hofstra Law Review
- University at Albany, B.A., Economics, summa cum laudeValedictorian · Phi Beta Kappa · Gordon Karp Prize
Admissions
- Connecticut
- New York