Brenda R. Sharton
Areas of Practice
Brenda Sharton is a partner in the firm’s Litigation Department. She has a national litigation and counseling practice in the areas of commercial litigation, financial services and intellectual property. Ms. Sharton joined Goodwin Procter in 1991 and was elected to the partnership in 1997. She spends much of her time advising and representing corporations, their senior executives and boards of directors in complex business litigation.
Work for Clients
Ms. Sharton has extensive experience in all manner of commercial litigation and civil regulatory matters including contract, banking and trust, securities, tort, fiduciary duty, minority shareholder, data privacy and security, trademark, copyright, trade secret and non-compete claims. She has successfully tried cases to conclusion in federal and state courts as well as represented clients in the full range of ADR procedures. In addition to trial work, Ms. Sharton has handled investigations and civil enforcement actions brought by an alphabet soup of federal and state regulators, including the SEC, IRS, FDIC, DOL, FDA, HUD, NASD, OTS and the OCC.
Recent representative cases include the successful resolution of a one billion dollar claim against a Fortune 50 client; the successful resolution of a $35 million claim against a $2 billion client accused of interference with an acquisition; an internal investigation involving a revenue recognition issue at the Japanese subsidiary of a public company; representation of a public company subsidiary faced with a data security breach; and the successful defense of a major mutual fund company in connection with SEC and FDIC investigations.
In the financial services area, Ms. Sharton has represented major financial institutions including Bank of America, Countrywide, State Street, Citigroup, Citizens, IBT, GE Capital, Marsh & McLennan, Putnam, Fifth Third, and numerous bankers’ trade associations. In the intellectual...more » Ms. Sharton has extensive experience in all manner of commercial litigation and civil regulatory matters including contract, banking and trust, securities, tort, fiduciary duty, minority shareholder, data privacy and security, trademark, copyright, trade secret and non-compete claims. She has successfully tried cases to conclusion in federal and state courts as well as represented clients in the full range of ADR procedures. In addition to trial work, Ms. Sharton has handled investigations and civil enforcement actions brought by an alphabet soup of federal and state regulators, including the SEC, IRS, FDIC, DOL, FDA, HUD, NASD, OTS and the OCC.
Recent representative cases include the successful resolution of a one billion dollar claim against a Fortune 50 client; the successful resolution of a $35 million claim against a $2 billion client accused of interference with an acquisition; an internal investigation involving a revenue recognition issue at the Japanese subsidiary of a public company; representation of a public company subsidiary faced with a data security breach; and the successful defense of a major mutual fund company in connection with SEC and FDIC investigations.
In the financial services area, Ms. Sharton has represented major financial institutions including Bank of America, Countrywide, State Street, Citigroup, Citizens, IBT, GE Capital, Marsh & McLennan, Putnam, Fifth Third, and numerous bankers’ trade associations. In the intellectual property area, she has represented major corporations (including New Balance and Eastman Kodak), as well as startups, in disputes involving products ranging from computer operating system architecture to mailpost designs and hockey sticks. less »
Publications/Presentations
Ms. Sharton’s written publications include “The Risks of E-Mail Communication” in ABA’s Business Law Today (September/October 2007); “How Do the New Rules on Electronic Discovery Affect You?” Goodwin Procter’s Financial Services Client Alert (December 2006); “Dramatic Changes to Discovery Rules,” Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly (April 2004); “Online Privacy Protection,” The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel (October 2001); “Privacy: The Next Frontier in Online Regulation?,” Boston Bar Journal (March 2001); “Domain Name Disputes: To Sue or Not to Sue,” Boston Bar Journal (September 2000); and “What’s in a (dot.com) Name?” in Boston Business Journal (March 2000). Her recent presentations include “The Risks of E-Mail Communications,” ABA webinar presented to 400 members of the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association (2006; also for New York CLE presentations); “The Attorney-Client Privilege in a Highly Regulated Environment,” New York CLE presentations (2005, 2006); “Hot Topics in Financial Services: What To Do When the Regulators Call,” for the American Corporate Counsel Association (2005); and “Massachusetts Bankers Association, et al. v. Bowler, Insurance Preemption Litigation: Paving the Way for Banks to Sell Insurance in Massachusetts,” for Massachusetts Bankers Association (2003).
Professional Experience
Ms. Sharton taught for several years as an adjunct professor of law at Boston College Law School. She served as a law clerk to Justice Joseph R. Nolan of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court from 1990-1991
Bar and Court Admissions
A member of the Massachusetts state bar, Ms. Sharton is admitted before the Federal District Court for the District of Massachusetts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First and Second Circuits, the U.S. Tax Court and the U.S. Supreme Court. In addition, she has litigated in the courts of New York, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maryland, Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, Texas, Minnesota, Ohio, Michigan, California and Washington state.
Honors and Awards
For the past four consecutive years, Ms. Sharton has been named in Boston magazine as a “Massachusetts Super Lawyer” in the area of business litigation. She also has been named in the Super Lawyers listing of the “Top 50 Female Lawyers in Massachusetts.” In 2004, Ms. Sharton received the Annual Shining Star Award from the Victim Rights Law Center in Boston for her pro bono work on behalf of rape survivors. In addition to her own work, she has supervised more than 25 Goodwin Procter attorneys who have donated more than 1200 hours to the Rape Survivors Law Project.
Education
J.D., Boston College Law School, 1990 (summa cum laude, Order of the Coif)
B.S., Boston College, School of Management, 1987 (magna cum laude)
At Boston College Law School, Ms. Sharton was valedictorian and served as an editor of the Boston College Law Review.
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