Rachel G.
Skaistis

Ms. Skaistis’s extensive board and special committee experience includes:

• Served as independent counsel to the Special Litigation Committee of the Board of Hertz in connection with allegations and issues raised in a stockholder class action and derivative litigation. The parties have since reached a settlement that is pending court approval.
• Advised a Special Litigation Committee of the Board of Alphabet in connection with 6 litigation demand letters and 13 derivative actions. The parties reached a global settlement of the demand letters and derivative actions.
• Represented a Special Committee of independent directors of General Electric (“GE”) in connection with 11 shareholder litigation demands. After the Board concluded that GE did not have a sound legal claim to bring against any current or former GE officer, director or employee, the shareholders filed a derivative action against certain officers and directors. The court rejected the shareholders’ challenges to the independence and scope of Cravath’s investigation and dismissed the action with prejudice.

Ms. Skaistis has also represented special committees of the boards of directors of The Bank of New York Mellon, Cognizant Technology Solutions, The Hartford Financial Services Group, MetLife, Prudential Financial and Twitter (n/k/a X).   

In addition to her special committee work, Ms. Skaistis has a robust litigation practice. Recent matters include:

• Representing the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (“BCBSA”) and more than a dozen member plans in consolidated multidistrict antitrust class action litigation—one of the largest class actions in the country—brought by putative classes of healthcare providers and health insurance subscribers alleging that the Association and its members have used the Association’s agreements to fix prices and limit competition. She also represents BCBSA and various member plans in related opt‑out litigation across the country brought by large self‑funded subscribers and providers.
• Represented Qualcomm and certain of its directors and officers in a consolidated purported shareholder securities class action suit filed in the wake of antitrust investigations and litigation concerning the company’s patent licensing and modem chipset businesses. She also represented Qualcomm and certain of its current and former officers in related stockholder derivative litigation.  
• Represented Biogen in a qui tam action alleging that Biogen caused the submission of false claims to multiple federal healthcare programs through purported kickback schemes related to certain of Biogen’s multiple sclerosis drugs, which settled.

• Represented Novartis Pharmaceuticals in antitrust litigation brought on behalf of putative classes of direct and indirect purchasers, as well as several plaintiffs suing in an individual capacity, alleging an unlawful agreement with another drug manufacturer to delay generic competition for the drug Exforge®. Shortly before trial, Novartis reached a series of settlements with the parties to end nearly five years of litigation.

• Represented Crown Castle International Corp. and certain of its officers and directors in a putative securities class action litigation and related stockholder derivative litigation alleging that Crown Castle made false and misleading statements regarding revenue from its cell tower installation services. She also represented Crown Castle in a related Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation concerning the company’s historical accounting policies. The SEC closed its investigation without recommending any enforcement action. 

Many of the other matters that Ms. Skaistis handles include non-public government and internal investigations related to workplace misconduct, insider trading and the FCPA, domestically and in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. In the global investigations space, she represented Telia Company in connection with FCPA investigations by the SEC, Department of Justice (DOJ) and Swedish and Dutch authorities, resulting in one of the largest FCPA resolutions ever. The resolution did not require the company to retain a compliance monitor, implement changes to its compliance program or periodically self-report on its compliance program to the DOJ or SEC.

Ms. Skaistis’s other clients have included:  Credit Suisse, Deloitte & Touche, INEOS, JPMorgan Chase, Novartis and Time Warner/Warner Media.

Multiple publications such as Global Investigations Review, Chambers USA, The Legal 500 US, Benchmark Litigation, Lawdragon and The Best Lawyers in America have recognized Ms. Skaistis for her work in investigations, securities and business litigation, white collar criminal defense and regulatory enforcement. Ms. Skaistis has been named to Benchmark Litigation’s “Top 250 Women in Litigation” list, Crain’s New York Business’s list of “Notable Women in Law” and by Lawdragon as a nationwide “Legend.”

Ms. Skaistis devotes substantial time to pro bono service. She is a liaison partner for Cravath’s relationship with Montefiore Children’s Hospital and Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, through which the Firm represents patients who need legal services related to their medical care. She also is the liaison partner for Her Justice, an organization that procures pro bono legal services for low-income women and children.

Ms. Skaistis was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She received a B.A. in 1992 from Yale College. After graduating from Yale, Ms. Skaistis worked as a newspaper reporter in Fort Worth, Texas. In 1997, she received a J.D. cum laude from Cornell Law School, where she was Managing Editor of the Cornell Law Review.

Ms. Skaistis joined Cravath in 1997. In 1999, Ms. Skaistis served as a law clerk to Hon. Shira A. Scheindlin of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. She rejoined Cravath in 2000 and was elected a partner in 2004. Ms. Skaistis is a member of the Firm’s Office of the General Counsel and Co‑Chair of the Diversity Committee.