Amie Simmons

Amie has a broad practice in complex commercial litigation, appeals, and government and internal investigations. She focuses her practice on high-stakes securities class actions, shareholder derivative suits and appellate matters. She also represents clients in connection with internal investigations and matters involving the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). She has represented public and private companies across a wide variety of industries, including biotech, clean energy, manufacturing, healthcare, ecommerce, software as a service (SaaS), social media and blockchain technology. Amie also maintains a robust pro bono practice and has represented clients in asylum, habeas and civil rights proceedings.

Amie’s recent and current representations include:

Securities litigation

• Successfully secured settlement of multiple securities class actions brought against biopharmaceutical companies and their directors and officers in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, along with shareholder lawsuits brought in the Delaware Court of Chancery, among other jurisdictions
• Achieved successful dismissal of a securities class action brought against a biopharmaceutical company in the Northern District of California and in the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• Achieved successful dismissal of a securities class action brought against a battery manufacturer in the Northern District of California
• Secured partial denial of class certification in a securities class action against a biopharmaceutical company, significantly reducing potential damages
• Represented corporate law professors in an amicus briefing on the Internal Affairs Doctrine before the New York Court of Appeals

Special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) litigation

• Successfully defended a leader in advanced silicon-anode lithium-ion battery development and production in litigation relating to a SPAC transaction

Investigations

• Represented the audit committee of a leader in smart building technologies in an internal investigation relating to its accounting practices
• Defended biopharmaceutical, healthcare and SaaS companies in SEC investigations

Pro bono

• Obtained asylum for clients as members of a protected social group in Mexico in San Francisco Immigration Court
• Secured the release of a wrongfully convicted father in collaboration with the Innocence Project

At the University of Virginia School of Law, Amie was an editor and member of the senior managing board of the Virginia Environmental Law Journal, participated in the Appellate Litigation Clinic, where she briefed a federal criminal appeal in the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and served as a teaching assistant in the first-year legal research and writing course.