- Practices
- Securities M&A disputes
- Education
- J.D., Yale Law School — Senior Editor, Yale Law JournalB.A., Columbia University, Phi Beta Kappa
- Admissions
- New YorkU.S. District Courts, S.D.N.Y. & E.D.N.Y.U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
- Clerkships
- Law clerk, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
- Contact
- ehayes@westbrookhayes.example
Founding Partner · Chair, Securities Litigation & Enforcement
Eleanor C. Hayes
“Credibility is a currency. Spend it carefully and it compounds.”
Eleanor Hayes spent seven years as a federal prosecutor in Manhattan, trying securities-fraud and public-corruption cases, before co-founding the firm. That experience — knowing precisely how the government builds a case — now shapes how she takes them apart.
She leads the firm's enforcement and securities practice and sits first-chair in its most sensitive board investigations. Directors call her when the question is not only what happened, but what to do by Friday.
Representative matters
Fictional matters shown on a sample site; past results do not guarantee future outcomes.
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01
Represented a public-company CEO through a two-year formal SEC investigation; the staff closed the file without recommending charges.
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02
Won dismissal with prejudice of a securities class action against a listed software company following a 40% single-day stock drop.
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03
Led the board-directed investigation of revenue-recognition practices at a Fortune 500 issuer; findings credited by regulators in declining to pursue the company.
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04
Prosecuted a sovereign-wealth fund's opt-out action to a confidential settlement at 3.1× the class recovery.