Doru Gavril

About Doru Gavril

I specialize in creative solutions to high-stakes securities disputes.  My clients include some of the best-known public companies, their boards, and their officers: Alphabet, Tesla, Pinterest, Roblox, Instacart.  Their business is cutting-edge and they expect cutting-edge representation.  We do not follow the playbook; we write it.

I handle the entire ecosystem of securities-related litigation advice:

• Governance advice on delicate corporate decisions
• IPO-related advice
• Internal/board investigations
• Shareholder litigation (derivative and class actions)
• Books and records inspections
• SEC investigations
• Deal litigation
• Founder disputes

A recent analysis by Lex Machina has identified me as one of the top-10 most active securities defense lawyers in the United States. Chambers has ranked me among the best securities litigators in California for several years. Clients remain my best reference.  Here are some of the things they’ve told Chambers this year:

• “Doru is razor-sharp and super detail-oriented.”
• “He has a high level of creativity and desire to find new and different resolutions to problems.”
• “Doru Gavril is an outstanding securities litigator.”

I work with a spectacular team of associates in Silicon Valley and New York, who have invested time to specialize in the federal securities regime and state corporate law.  We have been recognized for pragmatic solutions, excellent rapport and credibility with regulators, and a respectful relationship with adversaries.

Before joining Freshfields as one of the founding partners of the Silicon Valley office, I was a securities litigator at Wilson Sonsini. I received a B.A. from Swarthmore (Political Science and Economics), an M.A. from Harvard (Political Science), and a J.D. from Stanford. I also served as a judicial extern for the Hon. Marilyn Hall Patel in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, and a legislative intern for Senator Carl Levin and Congressman Bob Brady. In my spare time, I enjoy photography, horology, and Rachmaninov.

Recent work

Alphabet: I have defended Google (and later Alphabet) and its directors and officers in all shareholder litigation since the IPO.

Electric vehicles and fossil-alternatives I represent Tesla and its board in shareholder lawsuits, but I’ve also defended other EV manufacturers: Rivian, Lilium (EVTOL), Lightning eMotors (electric service vehicles), and fossil-alternatives companies: EVgo (charging network), Stem (AI power grid optimization), Origin Materials (green plastic alternatives).

Technology: I have defended Pinterest, Roblox, Snap, Instacart in securities and shareholder lawsuits related to their IPOs and other matters;

Cybersecurity: I have defended Mandiant (and previously FireEye) in its securities litigation since its IPO and A10 Networks and its officers and directors in securities and derivative litigation and regulatory investigation in connection with a restatement, obtaining dismissal of all matters.

Hardware technology: Defended ACM Research and AXT, Inc. and their officers in securities litigation related to short-seller attacks;

Life sciences: I defended Zymergen in connection with shareholder litigation related to its sale pipeline, advised ORIC Pharmaceuticals in its successful initial public offering, and defended Tokai Pharmaceuticals and its officers and directors in securities class actions in state and federal courts, resulting in dismissal of class claims.  I have also defended many other life sciences companies, including drug and device companies (Accuray, Align, Acclarent, Avinger, Aztex, PacBio, Pulse Biosciences, Berkeley Labs).