Ann-Elizabeth Ostrager is a partner in S&C’s Litigation Group, a member of the Firm’s Criminal Defense and Investigations Group and co-head of the Labor and Employment Law Group. Ms. Ostrager has a diverse practice, which includes regulatory and internal investigations, employment litigation, securities litigation, and representations of a number of individuals in criminal matters. Her clients include Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, UBS and Volkswagen, among others.
In one of the most closely-watched employment cases of recent years, Ms. Ostrager succeeded in narrowing claims against Goldman Sachs in a class action alleging that it discriminated against more than 3,300 women in pay and promotions. She also convinced the court, over plaintiffs’ objection, to rule that Goldman Sachs could file a motion to compel more than half the class to arbitration.
Ms. Ostrager represented Kinross Gold Corporation in a high-stakes FCPA matter regarding criminal and civil investigations into activities involving the company’s gold mines in Africa. Ms. Ostrager helped Kinross settle a civil probe by the Securities and Exchange Commission for $950,000, which stands as one of the ten-lowest FCPA settlement penalties in the last five years. Previously, she helped convince the Department of Justice to close its criminal probe in 2017 without taking action.
In a criminal defense matter, she represents the former CEO of SBM Offshore in connection with alleged corruption in numerous African and South American countries.
Ms. Ostrager’s other recent representations include a securities fraud case for a major energy company; an internal investigation of alleged gender pay discrimination and retaliation; securities and bankruptcy litigation on behalf of a major financial institution, which followed a DOJ investigation that she successfully resolved without any action against her client; and an arbitration on behalf of a financial and bank holding company involving executive pay.
Ms. Ostrager clerked for the Honorable Dennis Jacobs and the Honorable Richard C. Wesley, both of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.