Cara M. Peterman

• Representing a real estate financing company and certain of its directors and officers in putative shareholder class actions for violations of Sections 11, 12(a)(2) and 15 of the 1933 Act and Sections 14(a) and 20(a) of the 1934 Act, pending in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. The class action alleges that defendants made false and misleading statements regarding the company’s commercial real estate loan portfolio.
• Represented a publicly traded higher education services provider, along with certain of its current officers, in a securities class action alleging claims under Section 10(b) and 20(a) of the 1934 Act in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, a shareholder derivative action in the Delaware Court of Chancery, and an FTC action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.
• Representing a multinational health insurance and health care services company in an SEC investigation arising out of a significant cybersecurity incident.
• Representing an automotive technology company in shareholder claims challenging a go-private transaction.
• Represented a global payments technology company in a shareholder derivative action alleging breach of fiduciary duty claims arising out of violations of the FTC Act. We won the case on defendants’ motion to dismiss.
• Represented Dell Technologies Inc. and certain Dell directors in Delaware Chancery Court in litigation arising out of the company’s multibillion-dollar share exchange, and represented Dell in related books and records litigation brought by Carl Icahn.
• Represented Dell Technologies Inc. in Delaware Chancery Court in a stockholder suit challenging the sale of Pivotal Software, Inc. to VMware., Inc.
• Represented a financial services company in a securities class action alleged claims under Section 10(b) and 20(a) of the 1934 Act in the Northern District of Georgia and in an appeal to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
• Represented The Wendy’s Company and certain of its officers and directors in a consolidated shareholder derivative action arising out of a criminal cyberattack.
• Represented the world’s largest home improvement specialty retailer and certain of its officers and directors in consolidated shareholder derivative litigation alleging claims arising out of a third-party criminal cyberattack. The defendants won their motion to dismiss in a precedent-setting decision.
• Represented a communications technology company in an SEC investigation arising out of a cybersecurity incident.
• Represented the board of a warehousing and transportation company in an internal investigation following a series of cyberattacks on the company.
• Represented the Audit Committee of a publicly traded network connectivity company in confidential internal investigation.
• Represented the board-level Special Litigation Committee of a producer and marketer of packaged bakery goods in an investigation arising out of a shareholder demand.
• Represented International Speedway Corporation and certain of its officers and directors in an action alleging breach of fiduciary duty in an acquisition of the company by NASCAR Holdings Inc.
• Represented a multinational property and casualty insurer in a Delaware shareholder derivative action alleging breach of fiduciary duty claims arising out of a related-party transaction.
• Represented one of the country’s largest postsecondary education providers in False Claims Act litigation.

Cara Peterman is a partner with Alston & Bird’s Securities Litigation Group. She represents public companies and their officers and directors in securities class actions, shareholder derivative suits, M&A litigation, and other complex commercial litigation. She also regularly represents clients in investigations brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulators and conducts internal, board-level investigations into alleged corporate misconduct.

Cara additionally counsels corporations and their boards on public disclosure and corporate governance matters, with a concentration on cybersecurity, data-privacy, D&O insurance, and M&A-related issues. Cara is listed in Chambers USA for Litigation: Securities – Georgia and was selected as a member of the Daily Report’s “On the Rise” class in 2021. She speaks frequently on securities litigation trends and executive-level cybersecurity concerns.

Cara received her J.D. from the New York University School of Law and her B.A. from Northwestern University, and she is a member of the State Bars of Georgia and New York. She has served on the board of a nonprofit health care services provider.

Languages

• Spanish

Bar Admissions

• Georgia
• New York

Education

• New York University (J.D., 2009)
• Northwestern University (B.A., 2005)