Cravath’s New York Office Moves to Two Manhattan West
Helam Gebremariam handles a wide variety of complex litigation cases, including shareholder derivative, mergers and acquisitions, general commercial and securities matters, and antitrust matters.
Ms. Gebremariam has represented a wide variety of clients, including Alcoa, Avon, Bacardi Limited, Bausch Health Companies, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Citigroup, DuPont, Forward Air Corporation, Merck, Minerals Technologies, Nomura International, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, the Board of Directors of Tesla, The Walt Disney Company, Warner Media, Warner Bros Entertainment and Yale New Haven Health. She represents clients in all stages of critical litigation and has significant trial experience.
Some of Ms. Gebremariam’s representative matters include:
Shareholder Derivative and Mergers & Acquisitions
General Commercial and Securities
Antitrust
Represented Bausch Health Companies in federal antitrust litigation concerning an alleged reverse‑payment settlement in a patent lawsuit relating to Glumetza, a type 2 diabetes drug. The action sought treble damages in excess of $6 billion. The parties agreed to settle the litigation just two months before the October 2021 trial date. The court granted final approval of the settlements in February 2022.
Ms. Gebremariam has been recognized by the New York Law Journal as a “Rising Star” and has been included in Lawdragon’s “500 Leading Litigators in America” and “500 X – The Next Generation” lists. She has also been named to Benchmark Litigation’s “40 & Under List,” which recognizes the “best and brightest litigators across the US and Canada,” and has been named a “Future Star” by the publication. Ms. Gebremariam was additionally honored with New York University School of Law’s Black Allied Law Students Association’s 2023 Trailblazer Award and recognized for her “achievements and contributions to the field of law and beyond.” In 2024, she was selected to serve on Law360’s Securities Editorial Advisory Board.
Ms. Gebremariam previously served as Senior Counsel to Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates at the U.S. Department of Justice and Senior Counsel in the Department’s Office for Access to Justice. She was later associated with and became Counsel at a law firm in Washington, D.C. where she advised clients on a host of commercial, regulatory, and strategic matters.
After graduating from law school, Ms. Gebremariam served as a law clerk to Judge Robert P. Patterson, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. She is a member of the New York University School of Law Board of Trustees and an Executive Board Member of the New York University Law Alumni of Color Association. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Immigrant Justice Corps and the Board of Trustees of the Vera Institute of Justice. In 2022, Ms. Gebremariam was selected to join the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity Fellows Program.
Ms. Gebremariam was born in Houston, Texas. She received a B.A. with departmental honors in Political Science from Columbia College in 2007 and a J.D. from New York University School of Law in 2010, where she was Editor‑in‑Chief of the Law Review and an AnBryce Scholar.
Ms. Gebremariam joined Cravath in 2011. In 2015, she left the Firm to work at the U.S. Department of Justice. She rejoined Cravath in 2019 and was elected a partner in 2020. Ms. Gebremariam is a partner liaison to the African American/Black Affinity Group and a member of the Pro Bono Committee.
Some of Ms. Gebremariam’s representative matters include:
Shareholder Derivative and Mergers & Acquisitions
General Commercial and Securities
Antitrust
Represented Bausch Health Companies in federal antitrust litigation concerning an alleged reverse‑payment settlement in a patent lawsuit relating to Glumetza, a type 2 diabetes drug. The action sought treble damages in excess of $6 billion. The parties agreed to settle the litigation just two months before the October 2021 trial date. The court granted final approval of the settlements in February 2022.
Ms. Gebremariam has been recognized by the New York Law Journal as a “Rising Star” and has been included in Lawdragon’s “500 Leading Litigators in America” and “500 X – The Next Generation” lists. She has also been named to Benchmark Litigation’s “40 & Under List,” which recognizes the “best and brightest litigators across the US and Canada,” and has been named a “Future Star” by the publication. Ms. Gebremariam was additionally honored with New York University School of Law’s Black Allied Law Students Association’s 2023 Trailblazer Award and recognized for her “achievements and contributions to the field of law and beyond.” In 2024, she was selected to serve on Law360’s Securities Editorial Advisory Board.
Ms. Gebremariam previously served as Senior Counsel to Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates at the U.S. Department of Justice and Senior Counsel in the Department’s Office for Access to Justice. She was later associated with and became Counsel at a law firm in Washington, D.C. where she advised clients on a host of commercial, regulatory, and strategic matters.
After graduating from law school, Ms. Gebremariam served as a law clerk to Judge Robert P. Patterson, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. She is a member of the New York University School of Law Board of Trustees and an Executive Board Member of the New York University Law Alumni of Color Association. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Immigrant Justice Corps and the Board of Trustees of the Vera Institute of Justice. In 2022, Ms. Gebremariam was selected to join the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity Fellows Program.
Ms. Gebremariam was born in Houston, Texas. She received a B.A. with departmental honors in Political Science from Columbia College in 2007 and a J.D. from New York University School of Law in 2010, where she was Editor‑in‑Chief of the Law Review and an AnBryce Scholar.
Ms. Gebremariam joined Cravath in 2011. In 2015, she left the Firm to work at the U.S. Department of Justice. She rejoined Cravath in 2019 and was elected a partner in 2020. Ms. Gebremariam is a partner liaison to the African American/Black Affinity Group and a member of the Pro Bono Committee.
Immigrant Justice Corps
Law360
Leadership Council on Legal Diversity
New York University School of Law
Vera Institute of Justice
Benchmark Litigation
Lawdragon
New York Law Journal
Trailblazer Award, New York University School of Law Black Allied Law Students Association, 2023
Deals & Cases
January 24, 2024
On January 22, 2024, Forward Air Corporation (“Forward”) announced an agreement with Omni Logistics, LLC (“Omni”), a private company that is majority owned by Ridgemont Equity Partners and EVE Partners, LLC, to amend the terms of the existing merger agreement relating to their previously announced acquisition. This agreement ends the litigation between the parties, which will now be dismissed. Under the terms of the amended merger agreement, Omni shareholders will receive $20 million in cash, instead of the $150 million initially agreed, and 35% of Forward’s pro forma common equity (on a fully‑diluted, as‑converted basis), as compared to the 37.7% of Forward’s pro forma common equity (on a fully‑diluted, as‑converted basis) contemplated by the original agreement. Cravath is representing Forward in connection with the transaction and related litigation.
Deals & Cases
December 28, 2023
On November 28, 2023, the Queens County Criminal Court entered an order on consent resentencing pro bono client A.M. and securing her release. A.M. had been incarcerated since June 2010. She was originally sentenced in June 2011, pursuant to a plea agreement, to a 20‑year determinate sentence plus five years’ post‑release supervision for first‑degree manslaughter after her romantic partner, who had subjected her to severe domestic abuse, killed her former partner, who had sex trafficked her and also subjected her to severe domestic abuse.
Deals & Cases
June 09, 2023
On June 6, 2023, the Delaware Supreme Court affirmed the Delaware Court of Chancery’s judgment in favor of Cravath client Elon Musk on all counts in a stockholder derivative suit related to Tesla, Inc.’s (“Tesla”) 2016 acquisition of SolarCity Corp. (“SolarCity”).
Activities
August 28, 2024
On August 26, 2024, Cravath partner Helam Gebremariam was featured as a 2024 “Rising Star” by the New York Law Journal. The accompanying profile published by NYLJ highlights Helam’s representation of clients in complex litigation cases, including shareholder derivative, mergers and acquisitions, general commercial, securities and antitrust matters, as well as her pro bono practice work, including on right to counsel and access to justice issues. The feature also highlights Helam’s role as a partner liaison to the Firm’s African American/Black Affinity Group and her roles on the boards of Immigrant Justice Corps, the Vera Institute of Justice, and the NYU School of Law Board of Trustees. Helam also shared advice for young lawyers, emphasizing her belief that “authenticity is critical to forging meaningful connections in all parts of your life.”
Activities
August 12, 2024
Cravath partners Helam Gebremariam, Sharonmoyee Goswami, Lauren R. Kennedy, David H. Korn, Lauren M. Rosenberg, Brittany L. Sukiennik and Michael J. Zaken were named by Benchmark Litigation to its 2024 “40 & Under List.” The list honors the “the top emerging talent in litigation” of 40 years old and under and was compiled through a process involving peer and client review, along with examination of individual cases.
Activities
July 11, 2024
On July 10, 2024, Cravath partner Helam Gebremariam was named a 2024 “Rising Star” by the New York Law Journal. The award recognizes “the New York legal community’s emerging leaders.” Winners will be honored at an event and featured in online coverage in September.
Activities
June 12, 2024
Cravath partners Helam Gebremariam, Evan Norris and Andrew M. Wark were featured in the 2024 edition of “Practice Perspectives: Vault’s Guide to Legal Practice Areas,” which highlights the experiences of practicing lawyers in more than 20 different areas of the law and is published annually.
Activities
March 21, 2024
Five Cravath partners were selected to serve on Law360’s 2024 Editorial Advisory Boards: Wes Earnhardt (Media & Entertainment), Evan Norris (Cybersecurity & Privacy), Helam Gebremariam (Securities), Bethany A. Pfalzgraf (Mergers & Acquisitions) and Maurio A. Fiore (Private Equity). As Editorial Advisory Board members, they will provide feedback on Law360’s coverage and expert insight on how best to shape future coverage.
Helam Gebremariam handles a wide variety of complex litigation cases, including shareholder derivative, mergers and acquisitions, general commercial and securities matters, and antitrust matters.
Ms. Gebremariam has represented a wide variety of clients, including Alcoa, Avon, Bacardi Limited, Bausch Health Companies, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Citigroup, DuPont, Forward Air Corporation, Merck, Minerals Technologies, Nomura International, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, the Board of Directors of Tesla, The Walt Disney Company, Warner Media, Warner Bros Entertainment and Yale New Haven Health. She represents clients in all stages of critical litigation and has significant trial experience.
Some of Ms. Gebremariam’s representative matters include:
Shareholder Derivative and Mergers & Acquisitions
General Commercial and Securities
Antitrust
Represented Bausch Health Companies in federal antitrust litigation concerning an alleged reverse‑payment settlement in a patent lawsuit relating to Glumetza, a type 2 diabetes drug. The action sought treble damages in excess of $6 billion. The parties agreed to settle the litigation just two months before the October 2021 trial date. The court granted final approval of the settlements in February 2022.
Ms. Gebremariam has been recognized by the New York Law Journal as a “Rising Star” and has been included in Lawdragon’s “500 Leading Litigators in America” and “500 X – The Next Generation” lists. She has also been named to Benchmark Litigation’s “40 & Under List,” which recognizes the “best and brightest litigators across the US and Canada,” and has been named a “Future Star” by the publication. Ms. Gebremariam was additionally honored with New York University School of Law’s Black Allied Law Students Association’s 2023 Trailblazer Award and recognized for her “achievements and contributions to the field of law and beyond.” In 2024, she was selected to serve on Law360’s Securities Editorial Advisory Board.
Ms. Gebremariam previously served as Senior Counsel to Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates at the U.S. Department of Justice and Senior Counsel in the Department’s Office for Access to Justice. She was later associated with and became Counsel at a law firm in Washington, D.C. where she advised clients on a host of commercial, regulatory, and strategic matters.
After graduating from law school, Ms. Gebremariam served as a law clerk to Judge Robert P. Patterson, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. She is a member of the New York University School of Law Board of Trustees and an Executive Board Member of the New York University Law Alumni of Color Association. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Immigrant Justice Corps and the Board of Trustees of the Vera Institute of Justice. In 2022, Ms. Gebremariam was selected to join the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity Fellows Program.
Ms. Gebremariam was born in Houston, Texas. She received a B.A. with departmental honors in Political Science from Columbia College in 2007 and a J.D. from New York University School of Law in 2010, where she was Editor‑in‑Chief of the Law Review and an AnBryce Scholar.
Ms. Gebremariam joined Cravath in 2011. In 2015, she left the Firm to work at the U.S. Department of Justice. She rejoined Cravath in 2019 and was elected a partner in 2020. Ms. Gebremariam is a partner liaison to the African American/Black Affinity Group and a member of the Pro Bono Committee.
Some of Ms. Gebremariam’s representative matters include:
Shareholder Derivative and Mergers & Acquisitions
General Commercial and Securities
Antitrust
Represented Bausch Health Companies in federal antitrust litigation concerning an alleged reverse‑payment settlement in a patent lawsuit relating to Glumetza, a type 2 diabetes drug. The action sought treble damages in excess of $6 billion. The parties agreed to settle the litigation just two months before the October 2021 trial date. The court granted final approval of the settlements in February 2022.
Ms. Gebremariam has been recognized by the New York Law Journal as a “Rising Star” and has been included in Lawdragon’s “500 Leading Litigators in America” and “500 X – The Next Generation” lists. She has also been named to Benchmark Litigation’s “40 & Under List,” which recognizes the “best and brightest litigators across the US and Canada,” and has been named a “Future Star” by the publication. Ms. Gebremariam was additionally honored with New York University School of Law’s Black Allied Law Students Association’s 2023 Trailblazer Award and recognized for her “achievements and contributions to the field of law and beyond.” In 2024, she was selected to serve on Law360’s Securities Editorial Advisory Board.
Ms. Gebremariam previously served as Senior Counsel to Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates at the U.S. Department of Justice and Senior Counsel in the Department’s Office for Access to Justice. She was later associated with and became Counsel at a law firm in Washington, D.C. where she advised clients on a host of commercial, regulatory, and strategic matters.
After graduating from law school, Ms. Gebremariam served as a law clerk to Judge Robert P. Patterson, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. She is a member of the New York University School of Law Board of Trustees and an Executive Board Member of the New York University Law Alumni of Color Association. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Immigrant Justice Corps and the Board of Trustees of the Vera Institute of Justice. In 2022, Ms. Gebremariam was selected to join the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity Fellows Program.
Ms. Gebremariam was born in Houston, Texas. She received a B.A. with departmental honors in Political Science from Columbia College in 2007 and a J.D. from New York University School of Law in 2010, where she was Editor‑in‑Chief of the Law Review and an AnBryce Scholar.
Ms. Gebremariam joined Cravath in 2011. In 2015, she left the Firm to work at the U.S. Department of Justice. She rejoined Cravath in 2019 and was elected a partner in 2020. Ms. Gebremariam is a partner liaison to the African American/Black Affinity Group and a member of the Pro Bono Committee.
Immigrant Justice Corps
Law360
Leadership Council on Legal Diversity
New York University School of Law
Vera Institute of Justice
Benchmark Litigation
Lawdragon
New York Law Journal
Trailblazer Award, New York University School of Law Black Allied Law Students Association, 2023
Deals & Cases
January 24, 2024
On January 22, 2024, Forward Air Corporation (“Forward”) announced an agreement with Omni Logistics, LLC (“Omni”), a private company that is majority owned by Ridgemont Equity Partners and EVE Partners, LLC, to amend the terms of the existing merger agreement relating to their previously announced acquisition. This agreement ends the litigation between the parties, which will now be dismissed. Under the terms of the amended merger agreement, Omni shareholders will receive $20 million in cash, instead of the $150 million initially agreed, and 35% of Forward’s pro forma common equity (on a fully‑diluted, as‑converted basis), as compared to the 37.7% of Forward’s pro forma common equity (on a fully‑diluted, as‑converted basis) contemplated by the original agreement. Cravath is representing Forward in connection with the transaction and related litigation.
Deals & Cases
December 28, 2023
On November 28, 2023, the Queens County Criminal Court entered an order on consent resentencing pro bono client A.M. and securing her release. A.M. had been incarcerated since June 2010. She was originally sentenced in June 2011, pursuant to a plea agreement, to a 20‑year determinate sentence plus five years’ post‑release supervision for first‑degree manslaughter after her romantic partner, who had subjected her to severe domestic abuse, killed her former partner, who had sex trafficked her and also subjected her to severe domestic abuse.
Deals & Cases
June 09, 2023
On June 6, 2023, the Delaware Supreme Court affirmed the Delaware Court of Chancery’s judgment in favor of Cravath client Elon Musk on all counts in a stockholder derivative suit related to Tesla, Inc.’s (“Tesla”) 2016 acquisition of SolarCity Corp. (“SolarCity”).
Activities
August 28, 2024
On August 26, 2024, Cravath partner Helam Gebremariam was featured as a 2024 “Rising Star” by the New York Law Journal. The accompanying profile published by NYLJ highlights Helam’s representation of clients in complex litigation cases, including shareholder derivative, mergers and acquisitions, general commercial, securities and antitrust matters, as well as her pro bono practice work, including on right to counsel and access to justice issues. The feature also highlights Helam’s role as a partner liaison to the Firm’s African American/Black Affinity Group and her roles on the boards of Immigrant Justice Corps, the Vera Institute of Justice, and the NYU School of Law Board of Trustees. Helam also shared advice for young lawyers, emphasizing her belief that “authenticity is critical to forging meaningful connections in all parts of your life.”
Activities
August 12, 2024
Cravath partners Helam Gebremariam, Sharonmoyee Goswami, Lauren R. Kennedy, David H. Korn, Lauren M. Rosenberg, Brittany L. Sukiennik and Michael J. Zaken were named by Benchmark Litigation to its 2024 “40 & Under List.” The list honors the “the top emerging talent in litigation” of 40 years old and under and was compiled through a process involving peer and client review, along with examination of individual cases.
Activities
July 11, 2024
On July 10, 2024, Cravath partner Helam Gebremariam was named a 2024 “Rising Star” by the New York Law Journal. The award recognizes “the New York legal community’s emerging leaders.” Winners will be honored at an event and featured in online coverage in September.
Activities
June 12, 2024
Cravath partners Helam Gebremariam, Evan Norris and Andrew M. Wark were featured in the 2024 edition of “Practice Perspectives: Vault’s Guide to Legal Practice Areas,” which highlights the experiences of practicing lawyers in more than 20 different areas of the law and is published annually.
Activities
March 21, 2024
Five Cravath partners were selected to serve on Law360’s 2024 Editorial Advisory Boards: Wes Earnhardt (Media & Entertainment), Evan Norris (Cybersecurity & Privacy), Helam Gebremariam (Securities), Bethany A. Pfalzgraf (Mergers & Acquisitions) and Maurio A. Fiore (Private Equity). As Editorial Advisory Board members, they will provide feedback on Law360’s coverage and expert insight on how best to shape future coverage.
Celebrating 200 years of partnership. In 2019, we celebrated our bicentennial. Our history mirrors that of our nation. Integral to our story is our culture.
Attorney Advertising. ©2024 Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP.