Carrie Huff has practiced more than 20 years in commercial litigation with an emphasis in securities and shareholder litigation, class actions, fiduciary disputes and professional ethics/liability of attorneys. Carrie frequently defends corporations and their officers and directors in shareholder derivative suits and securities class actions. She also has extensive experience defending class actions involving a variety of claims such as alleged breach of contract, negligence and statutory violations. In addition, Carrie has defended trustees against claims alleging breach of fiduciary duties and other claims of trust mismanagement. She also has represented attorneys and law firms in malpractice suits and disqualification proceedings. Her practice also includes advising outside and in-house counsel regarding ethical issues such as conflicts of interest, attorney-client privilege and the unauthorized practice of law.

Carrie's recent experience includes:

• Defense of Trust Fiduciary Litigation. Representation of trustees of two large trusts in multi-court litigation against allegations of civil RICO violations, claims of mismanagement related to sale of trust-owned corporation and other breach of fiduciary duty claims. Resolved through global settlement of related litigation in federal, state district and probate courts.
  
• Dismissal of Red-Light Camera Class Action. Defended red-light camera company in federal class action challenging failure to obtain Texas private investigator license, alleging negligence per se, and seeking monetary and injunctive relief. Obtained dismissal of the suit that was affirmed on appeal. Bell v. American Traffic Solutions, Inc., No. 09-10722, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 6001 (5th Cir. Mar. 23, 2010).
  
• Defense of Accounting Restatement Case. Obtained dismissal and denial of class certification for a large pump manufacturer in a federal securities suit alleging accounting misstatements and false earnings projections, which was remanded for further proceedings after appeal and then settled. Obtained dismissal of related shareholder derivative suits pending in New York and Texas alleging that directors and officers breached their fiduciary duties in connection with accounting restatement, merger integration issues and missed earnings projections.
  
• Dismissal of Securities Class Action. Obtained dismissal of a putative securities class action against a company that provides wireless communications services, its chief executive officer, its chief financial officer and two outside directors alleging misrepresentations and omissions regarding the company's subscriber numbers and their effect on accounts receivable and revenue. In re Alamosa Holdings, Inc. Sec. Litig., 382 F. Supp 832 (N.D. Tex. 2005). As a result of the dismissal of the federal securities action, the plaintiffs in a related shareholder derivative case voluntarily dismissed their claims.
  
• Dismissal of Securities Class Action. Obtained dismissal of a putative securities class action brought against the chief executive officer of a wireless communications company alleging the officer made misrepresentations in a press release about funding sources for the company and failed to timely disclose other information about the status of the company. Berger v. Beletic, 248 F. Supp. 2d 597 (N.D. Tex. 2003).
  
• Dismissal of Texas Securities Suit. Obtained dismissal of claims by certain shareholders filed in Texas state court against an oil and gas company and two of its officers alleging misrepresentations in connection with a bidding process for the company's assets and an announcement of certain accounting write-downs, Sherman v. Triton Energy Corp., 124 S.W.3d 272 (Tex. App. -Dallas, 2003), and subsequently obtained summary judgment against the remaining plaintiff shareholders.
  
• Denial of Class Certification in Contract Class Action. Successfully defeated class certification in a federal suit brought against a major national brokerage firm by a customer alleging breach of contract in connection with alleged inaccuracies in the accounting for certain transactions in the customer's account. Kase v. Salomon Smith Barney, Inc., 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16659 (S.D. Tex. Aug. 21, 2003).

Articles and Speeches

Carrie frequently speaks and writes on topics relating to securities issues, corporate governance, attorney-client privilege and ethics. Her articles and speeches include:

• "Back to the Future: A New Wave of FDIC Litigation Impacts D&O, E&O and Fidelity Exposures," panel speaker, Professional Liability Underwriting Society (PLUS) Texas Chapter CE/CLE Workshop, September 2011.
• "Privilege Tips for In-House Counsel with Dual Legal Roles," published in the Dallas Bar Association's Headnotes, April 2010.
• "Protecting the Attorney-Client Privilege for In-House Counsel with Dual Legal and Business Roles," originally published by Bloomberg Finance, L.P., December 2008.
• "What is IFRS and What Does It Mean to In-House Counsel?" published by CorporateCounsel.net, November 2008.
• "Enron Appellate Ruling Rejects Class Certification: Fifth Circuit Holds Secondary Actors Cannot Be Primarily Liable Under Securities Laws For Conduct Alone," Haynes and Boone Alert, March 2007.
• "Roller Coaster Securities Litigation," published in the Dallas Bar Association's Headnotes, August 2005.
• "The SEC's Proposed 'Roadmap' for Transition to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)," presented to the Dallas Bar Association, Securities Section, January 2009.
• "Preserving Attorney-Client Privilege in Class Action Litigation," sponsored by Class Action Law Monitor and Strafford Publications, August 2008.
• "What Every Director Should Know About D&O Insurance," presented to the Women Corporate Directors, Dallas Chapter, January 2008. "Ethical and Other Standards in Investigations," presented at the AICPA Conference on Fraud and Litigation Services, September 2005.
• "Organizational Conflicts and Multijurisdictional Practices," presented to the National Institute of Women Corporate Counsel, June 2004.
• "Overview of Securities Litigation: A Financial Reporting Perspective," presented to The University of Texas at Dallas, May 2004.

Selected Representative Experience

Memberships

• Dallas Bar Association
• State Bar of Texas
• Texas Bar Foundation
• American Bar Association
• Council, State Bar of Texas Antitrust and Business Litigation Section

Online Publications