Rachel A. Avan

Bio

Rachel A. Avan, Director, has more than 16 years of experience in securities litigation. She oversees the Firm’s investigation and development of U.S. securities fraud actions and the Firm’s analysis of non-U.S. securities fraud class, group, and individual actions. As a member of the Firm’s Client Services department, she advises institutional investors regarding alternatives for recovery of fraud-related investment losses.   

Ms. Avan has played a key role in securing lead plaintiff appointments for Firm clients in actions such as FibroGen ($28.5 million recovery), Apache ($65 million recovery), James River Holdings ($30 million recovery), TD Bank/First Horizon (ongoing), Chegg ($55 million recovery), and Sprout Social (ongoing), among others. She also has worked closely with her colleagues in the Firm’s Case Development Team to develop the allegations in many proprietary matters, including Walgreens Boots Alliance (ongoing), Shoals Technologies Group (ongoing), and Cerence ($30 million recovery).   

Ms. Avan has significant expertise analyzing the merits, risks, and benefits of potential claims outside the United States—in virtually all countries in which it is possible for injured shareholders to seek a recovery.  She has counseled clients in more than 50 such actions, including in Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, France, and Brazil. She has played an essential role in ensuring that institutional investors receive substantial recoveries through non-U.S. securities litigation, facilitating client participation from case registration through settlement. 

Ms. Avan’s prior experience has laid the foundation for her leadership roles at Saxena White. Her analysis of new and potential matters is informed by her extensive experience as a securities litigator. Prior to joining Saxena White, Ms. Avan was of counsel at another nationally recognized securities litigation firm, where she assisted in prosecuting numerous high-profile securities class actions, including Petrobras ($3 billion recovery), Satyam ($150.5 million recovery), and Barrick Gold ($140 million recovery). She was a member of that firm’s case evaluation team and managed the firm’s non-U.S. securities litigation practice for several years.  

In addition, Ms. Avan has valuable insight into corporate matters, having begun her career as an associate at a corporate law firm. There, she counseled domestic and international public companies regarding compliance with federal and state securities laws.  Her analysis of corporate securities filings is further informed by her previous work assisting with the preparation of responses to inquiries by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). 

Ms. Avan has authored multiple articles relating to U.S. and non-U.S. securities litigation, which have been published in The New York Law Journal, Financial Executive, Law360, and The NAPPA Report, among other publications. For her achievements, Ms. Avan consistently has been recognized by Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters publication.    

Ms. Avan earned her Juris Doctor from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in 2006.  She received her master’s degree in English and American Literature from Boston University in 2002 and her bachelor’s degree, cum laude, in Philosophy and English from Brandeis University in 2000.