Lisa Wood has nearly 25 years of experience handling complex business litigation, principally in the areas of securities fraud, accountants liability, and antitrust. She has been selected for inclusion in Chambers USA, The Best Lawyers in America and Massachusetts SuperLawyers for her effectiveness as an antitrust litigator and business counselor.
Lisa’s client representation reflects the breadth of her litigation practice. She has represented many different accounting firms, including the “Big Four” and other national, regional and local firms, in securities and accounting malpractice claims, and in regulatory investigations by the SEC, IRS, and other federal and state authorities. She also advises numerous “Fortune 500” public companies in federal securities and antitrust matters.
Corporate governance matters are a special focus of Lisa’s practice. She assists the audit committees of public companies with internal investigations, whistleblower complaints and SEC investigations, and also advises individual public company officers and directors in federal securities litigation, SEC investigations and internal investigations. In addition, Lisa represents public companies and special board of director committees in corporate litigation in the Delaware Chancery Court and elsewhere, including claims arising out of going-private transactions, acquisitions and changes in control.
In the financial industry Lisa helps mutual funds, hedge funds, and other institutional investors evaluate and pursue securities fraud claims. Broker dealer firms turn to her for guidance in federal securities and other regulatory matters.
Lisa routinely advises clients on the many insurance coverage issues that arise out of business litigation and offers preventative litigation and corporate compliance advice in the securities and antitrust areas. Reflecting her corporate governance emphasis, she is a member of AIG’s select list of counsel for securities and corporate claims covered by D&O insurance policies written by AIG.
In addition to her corporate work, Lisa has handled many complex trusts and estates litigation matters involving will contests, will and trust interpretation, cy pres requests, inter-family disputes, guardianships, and breach of fiduciary duty claims. She is regularly appointed as a guardian ad litem by the Boston Juvenile Court in abuse cases involving children with special educational needs and, earlier in her career, handled special education and student rights litigation for many suburban school systems.
Prior to joining Foley Hoag LLp, Lisa was a litigation partner and co-chair of the Financial Litigation and Antitrust Groups of another major Boston law firm.
Bars and Court Admissions
- Massachusetts
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts
- U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire
- U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
professional / civic involvement
- Appointed by the Supreme Judicial Court to serve as a member of the IOLTA Committee, 2004 - 2008; Elected Chair, 2008
- Appointed by the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts to serve as Chair of the Attorney Advisory Committee charged with assisting the Court in revising and updating its local rules for civil cases
- American Bar Association’s Pro Bono Committee, Chair; Board of Editors of ANTITRUST MAGAZINE, Member; various other leadership positions in the Antitrust and Litigation Sections
- Boston Bar Association, Executive Committee and Council, 1999-2002; Litigation Section, Past Chair
- Serves on the board of directors of several nonprofit corporations, including the Volunteer Lawyers Project, The Boston Bar Foundation and The Boston Club
- LeadBoston Community, Past President
SPEECHES AND CONFERENCES
- "An Interview with the Head of Enforcement for the PCAOB," April 2008
- Faculty Member, Workshop at MIT's Sloan School on Subprime Crisis, March 2008
- “Litigating and Trying an Accountants’ Liability Case,” ALI/ABA Conference on Accountants’ Liability (May 3, 2007)
- “Preparing and Trying Your Civil Case in Federal Court,” MCLE Seminar (March 1, 2007; April 8, 2008)
- “Civil Deposition Practice,” MCLE Seminar (December 5, 2006)
- “Antitrust - Looking for the Bright Lines,” GC New England Antitrust Roundtable Series 2006, Boston (October 25, 2006)
- “Directors and Officers Liability,” Women Corporate Directors Dinner, Boston (October 3, 2006)
- “Avoiding Antitrust Violations in Competitor Collaborations,” Legal Publications Group of Strafford Publications Inc. Program (July 2006, November 2006, and October 2007)
- “Increasing Accountability for Nonprofit Boards - from a Corporate Perspective,” Boston Club Event (January 2006)
- “Serving on a Non-Profit Board: What Are Your Duties,” Boston Bar Association Program (April 2006)
- “Rainmaking Through Pro-Bono,” ABA Annual Meeting (August 2005)
- “Unocal, another battle in the war on Noerr Pennington: Who is winning?,” ABA Section of Antitrust Law Immunities and Exemptions Committee and the Federal Trade Commission Committees Program, Washington, DC (November 10, 2004)
- “Hot Topics in Litigation Ethics” - A Practical Guide To Knotty Litigation Issues, 2004 ABA Corporate Counsel Program
- “A Year in the Life of a High Tech Standards Setting Organization,” ABA Antitrust Spring Meeting, Washington, DC (April 24-26, 2002)
- “Designing and Justifying Distribution Practices in a Changing Doctrinal Environment,” “The 2002 Antitrust Conference: Antitrust Issues in Today’s Economy,” Conference Board, New York (March 7, 2002)
- “Legal Malpractice and Accounting Malpractice,” MCLE - First Annual Massachusetts Litigation Conference (February 28, 2002)
- “Antitrust in the Current Economy,” MCLE - Intellectual Property Conference (June 8, 2001)
- “Microsoft: Where Do We Go From Here,” ABA Antitrust Spring Meeting, Washington DC (March 28-30, 2001)
- “Antitrust Issues in Electronic Commerce,” Law Education Institute - Antitrust Seminar (January 9-14, 2001)
- “Antitrust Issues in B2B Exchanges,” ABA Annual Meeting, New York City (July 2000)
- “Antitrust Issues in High Tech Industries,” MCLE - Intellectual Property Conference (2000)
- “SECs New Rules on Auditor Independence and Audit Committees,” BBA Securities Litigation Seminar (May 18, 2000)
- “Settlement of Pending or Threatening Litigation: Antitrust Pitfalls,” ABA Antitrust Spring Meeting, Washington DC (April 5-7, 2000)
- “Antitrust and Business Competition,” MCLE Presentation (February 2, 2000)
- “Antitrust Issues in High Tech Industries,” Law Education Institute - Antitrust Seminar (January 12, 2000)
- Moderator, “The New Federal Antitrust Competitor Collaboration Guidelines,” ABA Conference on Joint Ventures and Strategic Alliances, Washington DC (November 11-12, 1999)
- “Unfair Trade Practices Acts and State Antitrust Laws: Treble Damages Recoveries Under State Law -- An Overview Of The State Unfair Trade Practice Acts That Provide a Private Right Of Action For Business Torts,” ABA Annual Meeting (August 10, 1999)
- “When Information Exchanges May Pose Criminal Risks,” ABA Antitrust Spring Meeting, Washington, DC (April 15, 1999)
- “Antitrust Risks Associated With Pricing Decisions,” MCLE - ACCA (NACA) Antitrust Seminar (October 21, 1998)
- “Securities Litigation Reform Two Years Later: Accountants and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Potential Gains & Pitfalls Two Years Later,” BBA (March 11, 1998)
- “Sizing Up “The Entity”: The (New) Rules of Engagement for Representing Closely Held Companies (Bus. Torts Within The Company),” MCLE (January 23, 1998)
- “Issues in Accountant Malpractice Cases,” MCLE (April 28, 1997)
- “Punitive Damages Reform: States Take Action, Feds Try Again; Review Of Federal And State Legislative Developments,” ABA Antitrust Spring Meeting (April 1997)
- “Can They Say That? Do They Do That: What Every Marketplace Competitor Should Know About Advertising On The Internet,” ABA Corporate Counsel Litigation Section (February 1997)
- “Accountants and The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Potential Gains And Pitfalls, BBA (December 1996)
- “Proportionate Liability Settlement Procedures And New “Auditor Disclosure” Rules Under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995” (March 1996)
- “Securities Act of 1995,” BBA (March 4, 1996)
- “The Kodak Jury Verdict: Is It A Beacon Or Did Somebody Get Lost In The Dark,” BBA (March 1996)
publications
- Better Discovery Through Document Management, ABA's Trial Practice (2008)
- The Perils of Electronic Filing and Transmission of Documents, ABA's Antitrust Magazine (Spring 2008)
- Experts Only: Out of the Hot Tub and into the Joint Conference, ABA's Antitrust Magazine (Fall 2007)
- Better Discovery Through Document Management, ABA’s Litigation Magazine (Summer 2005)
- Experts in the Tub, ABA’s Antitrust Magazine (Summer 2007)
- Court-Appointed Independent Experts: A Litigator’s Critique, ABA’s Antitrust Magazine (Spring 2007)
- Trying Antitrust Cases Before Generalist Judges, ABA’s Antitrust Magazine (Fall 2006)
- Using Documents in Depositions, ABA’s Antitrust Magazine (Summer 2006)
- Exploring Effective Trial Themes in Antitrust Cases, ABA’s Antitrust Magazine (Spring 2006)
- Cross-Examining an Expert Economist at Trial, ABA’s Antitrust Magazine (Fall 2005)
- Expanded Voir Dire: A Case Study, ABA’s Antitrust Magazine (Summer 2005)
- In Praise of the Noerr-Pennington Doctrine, ABA’s Antitrust Magazine (Fall 2003)
- Chapter Author, Business Torts in Massachusetts, Antitrust Law: A Brief Overview (January 2002)
- The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, MCLE (February 1996)
- Chapter Author, How I Pray (Ballantine Books, 1994)