Serena Hallowell

Practice Areas

Securities Class Actions, Corporate Take Over Litigation, Shareholder Derivative Lawsuits, Securities Fraud, RICO Cases

Career

With nearly 20 years of complex litigation and securities experience, Serena Hallowell has been recognized by her peers as a leader in the plaintiffs’ securities bar. As lead of Motley Rice’s direct-action litigation efforts, and a leader of the firm’s securities fraud team, Serena litigates for some of the world’s largest institutional investors, including pension funds, hedge funds, mutual funds, family offices, and others.

Currently, Serena is litigating a securities class action as co-lead counsel against Sotera Health Company, a global sterilization and lab-testing company related to its misstatements concerning its emissions control systems, exposure to liability from lawsuits alleging that the company failed to limit harmful emissions, and the veracity of the allegations against it. She also represents a state pension fund in a shareholder derivative action against certain Meta executives and board members alleged to have neglected their fiduciary duties in connection with the rampant sex trafficking that takes place on its platforms and their failures with respect to protecting teens and children on Meta’s platforms. Serena is also litigating another securities class action against Abbott Laboratories related to its alleged misleading statements regarding the safety of its baby formula. Serena is also actively litigating two opt-out actions in federal court and one related state court action on behalf of investors stemming from alleged fraud-related conduct by Valeant Pharmaceuticals.

Prior to her time at Motley Rice, Serena was the head of a direct-action practice and member of the securities class action group as a partner of a large securities law firm in New York. In that capacity, she was a key member of several litigation teams that achieved multi-million settlements for clients, aggregating close to $500 million.

Serena was selected to The National Law Journal’s “Elite Women of the Plaintiffs Bar” in 2020 for having consistently excelled in high stakes matters on behalf of plaintiffs. National Law Journal recognized Serena as a Plaintiffs’ Lawyer “Trailblazer” in 2019 for her work in securities opt-out litigation. Legal publication Law360 named her as a “Securities MVP” in 2019, and from 2020 to 2023 Chambers USA recognized her as “Up and Coming” in the area of New York securities litigation for plaintiffs. Serena was selected by Lawdragon as a “Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyer” from 2019 to 2023, and as a “Leading Lawyer in America” from 2019 to 2020. In 2022, Serena was invited to join Law360’s Securities Editorial Advisory Board. Serena is also an active member of the National Association of Public Pension Attorneys (NAPPA), where she currently serve USAs on both the NAPPA Securities Litigation Committee and the NAPPA Fiduciary & Governance Committee.

Serena is a frequent speaker in legal circles on matters related to securities litigation.

Professional Memberships

New York City Bar Association, Securities Litigation Committee

Federal Bar Council

South Asian Bar Association

National Association of Public Pension Attorneys

National Association of Women Lawyers

Publications

'Justices Should Acknowledge ESG’s Importance to Investors’ Law360 (June 2021)

‘Don’t Forget the “E” and the “S” in ESG: Securities Lawsuits Are No Longer Only About Corporate Governance’ NAPPA Report (October 2021)

'Mutual Funds Should Consider Shareholder Litigation,’ Law360 (Oct. 8, 2019)

‘Around the World in a Decade: The Evolving Landscape of Securities Litigation Post-Morrison,’ NAPPA (Nov. 26, 2019)

‘Emulex Highlights Greater Scrutiny of Issues at High Court,’ Law360 (April 25, 2019)

‘China Agritech’s Positive Implications for Plaintiffs,’ Law360 (July 3, 2018)

‘Direct Actions: A Path to Recovery for Foreign Purchases of Securities,’ The NAPPA Report (Oct. 31, 2017)

‘Investor Recovery Strategies Following ANZ Securities,’ Law360 (July 12, 2017)

‘Does ‘Dukes’ Require Full ‘Daubert’ Scrutiny at Class Certification?’ New York Law Journal (Nov. 25, 2011)

Education