The Power of Balance with Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyer Lauren Ormsbee

Photo by Michael Parras.

Culturally we’ve been cautioned, we’ve been warned – we’ve maybe even consented to the notion that for women in the workforce there’s ultimately a choice to be made between family and career. “You can’t have it all,” they like to remind us. Especially if you are working in the hugely competitive, breakneck world of litigation, right?

According to Lauren Ormsbee, that is simply not true. Not only isn’t she buying it, Ormsbee herself is living proof that it’s a myth. The powerhouse attorney begins her new role as Litigation Team Leader at Labaton this month, she has a thriving and celebrated securities litigation practice and is the proud mother of two.

Ormsbee, now a leading woman in the plaintiffs’ bar, started out in Big Law defense. She always had a gift for litigation and a passion for law, but she quickly realized she’d be more at home on the plaintiffs’ side.

“I realized I really want to represent the people whose investments were hurt by alleged fraud and wrongdoing by big corporate entities,” says Ormsbee.

So, when an opportunity arose for Ormsbee to move to the other side of the V., she was quick to take it. And that was where Ormsbee truly hit her stride – she was in the right place, fighting for people she felt connected to. “I'm proud of the work and I'm excited by it because every case is its own challenge,” says Ormsbee. “I think whatever small part we can play in keeping the system honest is a good part to play.”

Securities defense hasn’t traditionally been a place where you find women in leadership roles.

“I think a lot of the reason you might not see as many female securities litigators at the top of their game is some people think you can't do both,” says Ormsbee. “They think they have to go in-house or maybe to the government if they want to have a family. It’s just not true, you don’t have to choose.”

Ormsbee believes that without balance – without the homelife to offset the oftentimes grueling career – one can easily run out of fuel or lose sight of the reasons why we work so hard. With Ormsbee joining the leadership team at Labaton, she is also achieving a balance within the organization – now half of the litigation leadership are women.

By numbers alone, Ormsbee’s already laying the groundwork for what is sure to be an impactful example set for those who come after her. One that speaks to work-life balance; one that shows just how possible it is to be a great parent and an incredible lawyer; and one that inspires others to know that with hard work and dedication, there’s space for it all.

Ormsbee is honored as one of The 2024 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers.

Lawdragon: Congratulations on the move to Labaton as litigation team leader.

Lauren Ormsbee: Thank you! I’ll be joining Carol Villegas, Mike Canty and Al Fatale as a litigation team leader. The four of us, under our trusted advisor Jonathan Gardner, will have our own roster of securities litigation cases. I'll start out probably with six or seven on my roster and I'm sure it'll grow to a dozen or more cases that I’ll be leading. I’ll be making strategic decisions and staffing decisions. I’ll determine which arguments will be argued by me and which will be argued by people on the team. I’ll make the call on depositions, writing assignments and really all of the countless strategic decisions that go into the litigation. I’m excited to have a team of great attorneys to work with, and help to develop and mentor them and get us all success with a great synergy. This is an elevated leadership position for me, and the opportunity here is just really thrilling.

LD: Tell us a bit about your leadership style.

LO: My leadership style is always evolving because I’m always learning. I like to really talk through everything with the team, I like to get a sense of what everyone's strengths are and where they need work. I like to mentor closely and then really give my team the chance to shine. Good leadership is about teaching and trusting. There are times when my 20 plus years of experience can be extremely illuminating for people that are more junior and lacking experience, and I can offer advice – in this deposition you have to be nice, or in this deposition you have to ask only the most basic and direct questions. It’s valuable for people to learn that way, but ultimately I think that letting people be scared and do the next thing that they haven't done yet, is the best way to mentor. It’s the only way to grow your people and get them to the next level in their career, to help them become a partner.

I'll be getting to know the attorneys on my team very well. I've heard great things, and I trust that they're going to be amazing. The cases I’ll be overseeing are going to be in all different stages of litigation so I’m going to need to lean on people. I like to get everyone excited and invested. I want them to feel like they have real ownership in the case. No one's working for me, we're working together for our clients to succeed. They're working to shine, to take a piece of it and run with it. I am here to help everyone succeed.

LD: When did you first decide you wanted to do securities litigation?

LO: My parents are retired schoolteachers. I have a lot of teachers and professors in my family, a carpenter, a chef, but no lawyers. I'm the first lawyer in my family – I broke the mold there. Becoming a lawyer was very organic for me. I always liked to write and to advocate. Law school was a chance I took, and it worked out great. I loved everything about U Penn Law.

When I started at Paul Weiss, I happened into securities litigation. Some of my biggest cases, especially after my clerkship with Judge McMahon, were in the securities litigation field because it was 2002 and there was WorldCom and there was Global Crossing and all of those huge telecom cases, and I was staffed on them. I really took a shine to the practice of litigation but in the back of my mind I knew I wanted to be on the other side.

Almost every single person in my family is in some kind of union. And the bulk of the clients that Labaton represents are pension funds and union funds. In one of my largest cases at Paul Weiss when I was first starting out, the plaintiff was the New York State Common Retirement System – they represented the teachers of New York State, and that's my parents.

I realized I really want to represent the people whose investments were hurt by the alleged fraud and wrongdoing by these big corporate entities. I always found myself leaning that way, even though I was zealously advocating on the other side. That's when I switched over to the plaintiffs’ side and started at Bernstein Litowitz. That was 17 years ago and I didn’t regret it for one day. I love the work I do. I love our clients and I sleep easy every night. I know that keeping investments safe and ensuring that the markets are as honest as they can be, is good work. I'm proud of the work and I'm still excited by it because every case is different. Every case involves a different industry or a different type of wrongdoing or a different legal challenge. Every case is its own challenge, but I think whatever small part we can play in keeping the system honest is a good part to play.

LD: Tell us about a win from early on in your career that was particularly memorable or meaningful?

LO: Fortunately, there's been a lot of good wins. One that's particularly memorable was the first case that I litigated as a partner. The first case I got assigned to soup-to-nuts was actually a case I litigated at Bernstein with Labaton. We were co-lead counsel and that was a case against SCANA Energy. This was a company that was contracted by South Carolina to construct a huge new nuclear energy facility and it was a disaster, it went belly up. There were many investigations. In fact, after our case was resolved and settled, the leaders of the company were criminally convicted.

It was a challenging case. It was exciting because it was my first case as a partner, so it was mine to run with. It was one of those behemoth complaints and I’m very proud of that case. It was a very in-depth investigation and a long complaint, but we got resoundingly over a motion to dismiss and we were able to settle. It was a large number – over $200M – and a great success for the firm. It was my first case that I was in, sink or swim, which was scary. But I feel like I led a good team and it was a great experience. It was also a great introduction to working with Labaton and partially why I was someone they thought of when they needed to fill this leadership position.

I realized I really want to represent the people whose investments were hurt by the alleged fraud and wrongdoing by these big corporate entities.

LD: Is there another case that comes to mind when you think of career highlights?

LO: Another great case, one that played a large role in me making partner at Bernstein Litowitz, was a bank fraud case against Wilmington Trust, a bank in Delaware. They had failed miserably by misrepresenting their underwriting criteria at the tail end of the big market mortgage-backed security meltdown. They put a lot of investors' money in serious jeopardy. That was another case that led to criminal convictions after it was resolved. That was a great all-female team at Bernstein Litowitz, which was really exciting. It was Hannah Ross, Katie Sinderson, and myself. The case had such a lifespan that I think we collectively birthed six children during it.

It was a really intensive case working collaboratively with the government on stays and witnesses and taking lots of depositions – very hard fought on all sides. It was one of the first cases that I really was able to shine, from motion through to summary judgment. It also resulted in a very significant settlement for our clients. It was very challenging. Ironically, with all of the criminal investigations and prosecutions going on, although it obviously corroborates the allegations in our civil complaint, it can sometimes make it difficult to navigate. You have to be sensitive to the criminal prosecution, which sometimes takes priority over the civil litigation. We were able to work collaboratively when necessary with the government and with the SEC, and we eventually got a good result. That was one of the first cases where I was able to take it through all the way and do some great arguments as well as discovery and depositions.

LD: How cool to have an all-female team for a big securities case. Stepping into a leadership role, what does it mean to you to nurture female talent?

LO: Mentoring and developing women litigators has always been a focus of mine. I think mentoring and developing all litigators to be their best is important – male or female. Labaton now has half of the litigation leadership as women and I think that does a lot for women just in showing female litigators in the prime of our careers who are also mothers, leading at one of the best law firms in the practice for the securities bar. Hopefully that alone shows younger female and male attorneys that it's all doable, you can do it and find that balance. People are able to find that balance where you can have a very successful family life and a very successful career. It's not easy, but it's achievable. I really do think that's an inspiration – hopefully to men and women. I hope it's not gender specific because that's how you get gender parity is by men and women both taking the family side as seriously as the work side and then that evens that distribution among everyone.

LD: Who were your mentors, coming up?

LO: I've had strong female and male mentors, but my first mentor in my career was the judge Colleen McMahon at the Southern District [of New York]. She was a trailblazer. She was the first female litigation partner at Paul Weiss. She has three wonderful kids and a family. She's a federal judge and she suffers no fools. She was a great mentor because she is very direct, incredibly smart, and also did all that; had a family, made it work. That's the kind of mentor I want to be.

LD: How do you approach mentoring now?

LO: I want to show by example that you can be invested in your cases and think about them all the time at odd hours of the night or anytime, but you can also make that time to have balance in your life, because without that balance, you won't love the work you do. If the work becomes all consuming, you're definitely missing out on the other part of life and you're not going to have that joy for the work. That's the best thing I could try to impart to the team. I genuinely love what I do, I get excited about my cases, I love to win. But I also have to turn that part of my brain off a part of every day and go home and love that part of my life. My family always comes first.

I hope to be a mentor to both women and men. I think it's exciting to have more and more female leaders in the securities litigation practice. It's a really exciting time. I hope that other female attorneys that might be in Big Law and looking to come over to the plaintiffs’ practice can see this as an exciting path. You can be working at the top of your game, and you don't have to choose between a family or the work. When I was starting, I think a lot of the reason you might not see as many female securities litigators at the top of their game is some people think you can't do both. They think they have to go in-house or maybe to the government if they want to have a family. It’s just not true, you don’t have to choose.