Practice Expertise

  • Appellate
  • Business Litigation
  • Class Action, Multidistrict Litigation
  • Climate Change

Areas of Practice

  • Appellate
  • Business Litigation
  • Class Action, Multidistrict Litigation
  • Climate Change
  • Appeals
  • Climate Change Law and Policy
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Complex Consumer and Financial Services ...
  • Corporate and Securities Litigation
  • Energy
  • Environmental Compliance, Litigation and ...
  • Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
  • Financial Services Litigation
  • First Amendment and Free Speech
  • Insurance Coverage
  • Insurance Coverage Counseling and Litigation
  • Issues and Appeals
  • Labor and Employment
  • Litigation
  • Retail
  • Securities Litigation and SEC Enforcement
  • Sustainability and ESG
  • White Collar Defense and Internal ...
  • White Collar, Regulatory Defense and ...
  • View More

Profile

Mr. Regan’s practice focuses on the energy, financial services, data-technology and consumer-retail industries.

He counsels clients in their most vexing matters, often involving regulatory and public relations elements or novel jurisdictional, substantive and procedural issues.  

Shawn handles complex business disputes, securities litigation, government and regulatory investigations, cross-border litigation and putative class/mass actions, involving contracts, torts, fraud and other common law and statutory claims including some intellectual property matters.  He leads our New York office’s Securities Litigation group. 

In addition to his work as lead trial counsel in arbitral forums and state and federal courts, Shawn has argued and been lead counsel of record in numerous successful appeals, including in several United States Circuit Courts of Appeals, the New York State Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of the United States.  He enjoys collaborating with clients and other outside counsel to utilize strategically each team member's skills, attributes and experience to bring about the most effective and efficient result for clients.

Shawn has been appointed to a number of leadership positions in the federal courts of the Second Circuit and the bar. He is a regular invited attendee of the Second Circuit Judicial Conference. He has been appointed by present and past Chief Judges of the SDNY to several positions, including to argue on behalf of the Judges of the Southern District Grievance Committee on matters before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. He has held numerous senior leadership positions in the Federal Bar Council, including chairing each of its signature events, and presently serves as President-elect.

Relevant Experience

Energy: Shawn has extensive experience representing clients in the electric power generation, oil, coal and renewables industries. Over the last decade-plus he has been at the forefront of litigation related to climate change in the federal trial courts, appellate courts and Supreme Court, including the landmark AEP decision. He has represented both electric generation and oil industry clients in climate tort litigation and is the only lawyer to have represented one or more parties in every major climate tort lawsuit filed to-date including the new generation of such suits. Separately, he has defended and advised clients in the coal mining and electric generation industries under investigation by the NY Attorney General with respect to potential securities fraud under New York’s Martin Act. In the project development space, Shawn has represented power producers, grid operators and other parties in litigation and AAA/ICDR arbitrations. His other matters have included a multi-week bench trial for a grid operator concerning allocation of project development costs, and obtaining pre-hearing dismissal on the merits in an arbitration alleging transactions constituted a change-of-control triggering the off-taker’s right to purchase the facility prior to a tax equity transaction and COD. He also prevailed on a matter of first impression regarding application of the federal filed-rate doctrine to the deregulated wholesale energy market.

Financial Services: Shawn represents public and private companies, banks, REITs, mortgage companies and executives in complex civil litigation, government investigations and securities fraud suits. He also counsels institutions on litigation avoidance. Shawn has handled several multi-party lawsuits arising from early redemption of corporate bonds. He advises on and oversees numerous regulatory, litigation and licensing matters for a mortgage servicing company. He was counsel in SEC/CFTC investigations and litigation for a pension fund victimized in a $1.3b ponzi scheme. He is part of a team serving as counsel to a former SEC Commissioner appointed as monitor arising from the SEC/NYAG dark-pools investigations. Highlights of his past experience include defense of a large bank in litigation and FINRA arbitrations related to CDS transactions (obtaining complete victory and recovery of fees), defense and dismissal of 10(b)(5) and other fraud claims brought by foreign investors, obtaining dismissal of a large bank in a putative RICO class action arising from an international ponzi scheme, and winning dismissal of an underwriter bank under the act-of-state doctrine in a suit challenging terms of a foreign-bank issuer’s bond offering. Shawn’s experience defending REITs includes prevailing on a motion to dismiss an 11-count complaint alleging fraud, contract and business tort claims, and second-chairing a trial arising out of a novel tax-advantaged 1031-exchange program involving hedging tools resulting in dismissal of adversary’s claims and pre-verdict settlement payment.

Data-Technology: Shawn has represented and advised companies in the data and technology industries for more than twenty years.  Early in his career, for example, he represented leading companies that revolutionized CRM software, the online affinity marketing industry and online search.  He has also represented incumbent global leaders and emerging FinTech, RegTech, MarTech and IoT disruptors in the mortgage servicing, outsourcing, insurance services, retail, securities trading and construction industries.  His work includes litigation, arbitration, investigations and coordinating licensing and transactional work. 

Consumer-Retail: Shawn has represented consumer product and retail companies ranging from the largest companies to small startups and in-between. His matters include clients in the retail, consumer products, home products, beverage and antiquities sectors, on matters ranging from consumer fraud, commercial contract litigation, lease and property development disputes, government investigations, IP litigation and employment and ERISA class actions. He has defended civil RICO matters and led appeals on novel issues under the NY consumer protection laws including at the NYS Court of Appeals and Second Circuit. He also has counseled companies on long-range risk issues and jury exercises.

Shawn maintains a diverse pro bono and public service practice that has included amicus briefs before the United States Supreme Court on issues of securities law and other issues, achieving political asylum for persecuted refugees, successfully prosecuting actions under the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction and, by appointment of an SDNY judge, representing an elderly woman swindled from her home in a 20-year fraud, ultimately achieving unencumbered return of the property for the client. Shawn also is Chair of the 1162 Foundation, an organization that, among other things, pays off home mortgages for Gold Star Families of Navy SEALS and other select U.S. Special Forces personnel who sacrificed their lives for freedom.

Bar Admissions

  • New York
  • District of Columbia

Education
BA, College of the Holy Cross, 1993

Areas of Practice

  • Appellate
  • Business Litigation
  • Class Action, Multidistrict Litigation
  • Climate Change
  • Appeals
  • Climate Change Law and Policy
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Complex Consumer and Financial Services Litigation
  • Corporate and Securities Litigation
  • Energy
  • Environmental Compliance, Litigation and Defense
  • Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
  • Financial Services Litigation
  • First Amendment and Free Speech
  • Insurance Coverage
  • Insurance Coverage Counseling and Litigation
  • Issues and Appeals
  • Labor and Employment
  • Litigation
  • Retail
  • Securities Litigation and SEC Enforcement
  • Sustainability and ESG
  • White Collar Defense and Internal Investigations
  • White Collar, Regulatory Defense and Investigations

Professional Career

Significant Accomplishments
  • Energy: Obtained dismissal in highly publicized nuisance lawsuits brought by New York Attorney General Elliot Spitzer, other state Attorneys General and several private land trusts alleging that various utilities substantially contribute to global warming: State of Connecticut, et al. v. American Electric Power, et al. and Open Space Institute, Inc., et al. v. American Electric Power, et al., 406 F.Supp.2d 265 (S.D.N.Y. 2005), appeal pending. Mr. Regan was the principal liaison with the court and with all Attorneys General. He also presented oral argument on certain jurisdictional issues on behalf of several defendants in the case.
  • Energy: Obtained dismissal of putative statewide class action lawsuit seeking compensation under theories of nuisance, negligence, trespass and fraudulent concealment for all damages arising from Hurricane Katrina on the ground that defendants' emissions of carbon dioxide contributed to global climate change and thereby intensified the storm and its resultant damage.
  • Energy: Obtained dismissal for several national energy companies in mass tort suit asserting claims of negligence, nuisance and conspiracy, seeking injunctive relief and money damages arising from alleged impact of climate change on native Alaskan village.
  • Energy: Tried multi-week bench trial concerning implementation of federal energy tariffs governing allocation of project development costs for new power generation facilities.
  • Energy: Prevailed for energy industry client in first-impression matter involving applicability of federal filed-rate doctrine to deregulated wholesale energy market, achieving significant stay of federal court case under the primary jurisdiction doctrine.
  • Energy: Advising energy industry clients with respect to SEC disclosures and proceedings.
  • Financial Services: Obtained dismissal for Fortune 50 bank in putative RICO class action arising from international fraud allegedly committed by the Trans Continental family of companies and former boy-band producer Lou Pearlman.
  • Financial Services: Representing Fortune 50 bank in suits related to credit default derivative swap transactions and CDOs in which counterparties seek to vitiate obligations.
  • Financial Services: Representing a leading European bank in connection with federal class action related to ponzi scheme perpetrated by Bernard Madoff.
  • Financial Services: Representing major manufacturing company in prosecuting claims to recover significant investment losses arising from investment in ponzi scheme currently in Receivership.
  • Financial Services: Successfully defended national bank in suit by hedge fund concerning alleged violations of equity conversion rights in credit agreement, allegedly frustrating fund's opportunity to acquire majority interest at substantial discount.
  • Financial Services: Member of team that obtained dismissal for Fortune 20 bank, under the act-of-state doctrine, in putative class action challenging terms of a domestic bond offering available exclusively to India foreign nationals. 
  • Financial Services: Litigation and trials of customer and broker disputes before NYSE and FINRA panels, including commodity futures, derivatives, equities and other products.
  • Financial Services: Defending variety of putative class actions related to mortgages and foreclosure practices.
  • Financial Services: Efficiently defended and resolved putative class actions arising under Electronic Funds Transfer Act.
  • Business Litigation: Obtained dismissal of novel putative class action against leading manufacturing and services company arising out of employee malfeasance in failing to properly register pesticides.
  • Business Litigation: Part of team prosecuting civil actions alleging widespread fraud by certain purveyors and auction houses in markets for collector wines.
  • Business Litigation: Part of team investigating, counseling and defending claims arising from the alleged Black Market Peso Exchange and related legal issues including extraterritorial application of the RICO Act and the federal Revenue Rule.
  • Business Litigation: Second-chaired trial arising out of novel tax-advantaged, REIT property exchange program involving sophisticated hedging vehicles, resulting in dismissal of adversary's claims and pre-verdict settlement payment to client.
  • Business Litigation: Defended telecom industry dispute involving breaches of alleged exclusive national distributor and maintenance agreement, misappropriation of intellectual property and tortious interference with third-party contracts.
  • Business Litigation: Defended claims and prosecuted counterclaims for national hotel chain against Fortune 100 telecom provider, defeating motion to dismiss under filed-tariff doctrine by showing that services had been "de-tariffed" by the FCC.
  • Business Litigation: Obtained summary judgment in multi-plaintiff action alleging sexual harassment, pregnancy and disability discrimination and other improprieties, establishing several points of first impression under Nevada law. (2001 WL 681782 (Nev. Dist. Ct.)).
  • Business Litigation: Won summary judgment in long-running multi-plaintiff case alleging same-sex harassment, retaliation and assault (NYS Sup. Ct. Onondaga Co., Case No. 98-0413).
  • Investigations: Significant experience representing companies in alleged securities fraud investigations by Attorney General under New York's Martin Act.
  • Investigations: Prepare and counsel witnesses before state and federal grand juries.
  • Investigations: Regularly work with white-collar lawyers in regulatory, civil and other issues related to federal and state government investigations.
  • Technology & IP: Successfully defended internet search engine in challenge under the Lanham Act to advertising program, obtaining dismissal on the ground that engine's internal use of trademarked names -- allowing competitors to use trademarked names as triggers for their own advertising -- did not constitute a "trademark use" because such use was not visible to the public. (2006 WL 2811711 (N.D.N.Y))  
  • Technology & IP: Prosecuted patent infringement actions in federal courts concerning one of the world's most successful prescription pharmaceuticals.
  • Technology & IP: Successfully prosecuted case before WIPO to recapture celebrated athlete's domain name from cybersquatter, a result highlighted in Sports Illustrated (WIPO, No. D2000-0598).
  • Technology & IP: Led team of attorneys obtaining summary judgment to defeat contract and tort claims related to software licensing agreement and prevail on counterclaims for payments due.


Professional Associations
  • Federal Bar Council
  • NYS Bar Association: Commercial & Federal Litigation Section
  • Supreme Court of the United States Historical Society

Professional Activities and Experience
  • New York Super Lawyers, Top Rated Business Litigation Attorney (2007, 2010-2017). A description of the selection methodology can be found on Super Lawyers’ webpage.
  • United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Grievance Committee, Attorney Panel (2013-present)
  • Federal Bar Council:
    - Executive Committee (2016-present)
    - Executive Director Search Committee (2016-2017)
    - Board of Trustees (2010-present)
    - Chair, Law Day Dinner (2015)
    - Chair, Winter Bench & Bar Conference (2013)
    - Chair, Spring Judicial Reception (2001)
    - Awards Committee (2014-present)
    - Inn of Court: Master, Judicial Liaison & Member (2000-present)
  • Supreme Court of the United States Historical Society, New York City Chair (2015-2017)
  • NYS Bar Association, Empire State Counsel Award (2011-2016)
  • Board of Visitors, The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law (2008-2016)


Articles

  • A U.S. Perspective of GHG Regulation and Climate Risk Reporting, Environmental Finance
  • NY’s Highest Court Rejects Expansion of Common Interest Doctrine and Upholds Narrow Privilege Rule, Corporate Counsel
  • Uncertainty Looms For Digital Currency Providers and Regulators, New York Law Journal, special report on White Collar Crime

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