Sally J. Berens is an associate in the Palo Alto office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. She practices in the firm's Litigation Department and is a member of the Securities Litigation, White Collar Defense and Investigations, and Appellate Practice Groups. She focuses on internal investigations, complex commercial and class action litigation, including securities and ERISA litigation, and representing clients before various governmental agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the NYSE, FINRA, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Labor. She also has litigated cases pursuant to the Federal and California Voting Rights Acts. She has a breadth of experience practicing before state and federal trial and appellate courts, ranging from first chair jury trial experience to briefing before the United States Supreme Court.
Ms. Berens has an active pro bono practice and is the immediate past Co-Chair of the Amicus Committee of the Silicon Valley Campaign for Legal Services.
Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Berens clerked for the Honorable Andrew J. Kleinfeld of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She has also served as a Deputy District Attorney in Santa Clara County, California. She is admitted to practice in California and before the U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Central, and Eastern Districts of California, the Eastern District of Texas and the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Ninth and Tenth Circuits.
Ms. Berens earned her law degree with honors from the University of Chicago, where she was an Articles Editor of the University of Chicago Legal Forum. She received her A.M. in Comparative Literature and A.B. in Linguistics magna cum laude from Harvard. During college, she was awarded individual All-American honors as a member of the Harvard-Radcliffe Sailing Team.
Recent Publications
Co-author, The Scope of Materiality under Federal Securities Laws Following Matrixx Initiatives, Inc. v. Siracusano and Its Potential Implications for Issuers, Insights: The Corporate and Securities Law Advisor (April 2011)
Author, The Effect of Other Lawsuits on Pleading Materiality and Scienter after Siracusano v. Matrixx Initiatives, Inc., 2010 Emerging Issues 4891 (February 2010).
Co-author, Daubert Challenges to Loss Causation Expert Opinions and Event Studies in Post-Dura Securities Litigation: In re Williams Securities Litigation – WCG Subclass, 2009 Emerging Issues 3970 (July 2009).
Co-author, Securities Litigation: A Practitioner's Guide, Practicing Law Institute (2006-11).
Contributing Author, Current Trends in Federal Securities Litigation, Practicing Law Institute, Securities Litigation and Enforcement Institute (October 2007).
Contributing Author, Current Trends in Federal Securities Litigation, ALI-ABA Post-Graduate Course in Federal Securities Law (June 2007).