Jessica Zeldin
Jessica Zeldin is a Partner at Reid Collins & Tsai LLP. Jessica has over twenty-five years of experience litigating corporate and commercial matters. Her practice focuses primarily on representing investors’ interests. She has worked on behalf of minority stockholders and unitholders of master limited partnerships (“MLP”) in class actions, securities claims, state law appraisal proceedings, and derivative litigation. Jessica also has significant experience litigating statutory actions under the Delaware code, such as books and records demands, as well as breach of contract disputes. Although she appears most often in the Delaware Court of Chancery, Jessica has practiced before all the Courts in Delaware.
Notable Representations:
- Securing victory on motion to dismiss MLP case in Delaware Supreme Court that paved the way for a more than $100 million valuation of claims in merger negotiations. Brinckerhoff. v. Enbridge Energy Co., 159 A.3d 242 (Del. 2017).
- Obtaining a post-trial decision that the general partner of an MLP breached its contractual duties by failing to form a subjective belief that a drop-down transaction was in the best interests of the MLP. The Court found the general partner liable for $171 million (prior to reversing based on standing grounds as a result of a merger that occurred after trial). In re El Paso Pipeline Partners, L.P. Deriv. Litig., 2015 WL 1815846 (Del. Ch. Apr. 20, 2015), reversed on standing grounds, El Paso Pipeline GP Company, L.L.C. v. Brinckerhoff, 152 A.3d 1248 (Del. 2016).
- Obtaining the largest Delaware settlement in a state law insider trading-related case ($39 million) and helping to shape the law in this area. See, e.g., Kahn v. Kolberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co., 23 A.3d 831 (Del. 2011); In re Primedia, Inc. S’holders Litig., 67 A.3d 455 (Del. Ch. 2013).
- Securing a $90 million settlement, on the eve of trial, for a small class of former seat holders of one of the nation’s premier options exchanges. See, e.g., In re Phila. Stock Exch., Inc., 965 A.2d 661 (Del. 2009).
- Achieving a multi-million dollar judgment after trial finding that defendants were “corrupt” in their treatment of stockholders. Gesoff v. IIC Indus., 902 A.2d 1130 (Del. Ch. 2006).
- Winning a reversal and remand from the Delaware Supreme Court of a motion to dismiss in what commentators called a “landmark” corporate decision. Gantler v. Stephens, 965 A.2d 695 (Del. 2009).
Jessica is a current member of the Court of Chancery Rules Committee and the Vice Chair of the Board of Professional Responsibility. She is a past Treasurer and Secretary of the Delaware State Bar Association (“DSBA”), and is a past President of the DSBA’s Women and Law Section. She is frequent lecturer on Delaware corporate and alternative entity law topics, and has presented as a panel member at various PLI seminars, Northwestern University’s Annual Securities Regulation Institute, and DSBA’s Recent Developments in Delaware Corporate Law.
In both 2021 and 2020, Jessica was named by Lawdragon as one of the “Top 500 Leading Plaintiff Lawyers” in the U.S. In 2020, Chambers & Partners USA also recognized Jessica as one of the top plaintiff attorneys to practice in the Delaware Court of Chancery.
Prior to joining Reid Collins & Tsai LLP, Jessica practiced with Rosenthal, Monhait & Goddess, P.A, and Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnel LLP, among other firms. She is a graduate of Northwestern University (B.A. 1992), Washington University (M.A. East Asian Studies, 1995), and Washington University School of Law (J.D. Order of the Coif, 1995).