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SECURITIES EXPERIENCE
Mr. Hafen devotes a significant part of his practice to representing companies and individuals in securities litigation. He represents both public and private companies seeking funds from public and private markets, as well as venture capital companies involved in investing in such companies. He regularly defends companies, officers and directors facing large and small securities lawsuits or administrative actions.
Mr. Hafen has pursued and defended securities-related shareholder derivative actions, class actions, proxy disputes, and claims by minority shareholders. He has also represented companies and individuals in enforcement actions and civil litigation brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Utah Division of Securities.
While much of Mr. Hafen’s time is devoted to defending companies and individuals facing securities claims, Mr. Hafen also has represented hundred of individual investors over the years. Cases have ranged from pursuing international banks, accounting firms, promoters, and others involved in perpetrating investment fraud through ponzi schemes or other scams, to pursuing claims against companies and individuals for making misrepresentations in offering documents, prospectuses, and investment contracts. For plaintiffs, Mr. Hafen has obtained multiple recoveries in excess of $1 million, including recovering over $15 million for defrauded investors in a single class action.
Mr. Hafen has been repeatedly recognized as a top commercial litigator by Best Lawyers in America, America’s Leading Business Lawyers (Chambers USA) and Benchmark Litigation. For many years, he has been listed by Utah Business magazine as one of Utah’s “Legal Elite” and has been repeatedly recognized as one of the top 75 lawyers in the intermountain area by Mountain States Super Lawyers. He graduated magna cum laude from BYU Law School in 1991, clerked for Monroe McKay, Chief Judge of the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, and worked at one of the nation’s largest law firms, Sidley & Austin (Chicago) from 1992-95.
Securities Practice Areas:
- Class Actions
- Investor Fraud
- Federal and State Enforcement Proceedings
- Proxy Disputes
- Derivative Cliams
- Internal Investigations
