Serena P. Hallowell

As lead of Motley Rice’s direct-action litigation efforts, and a leader of the firm’s securities fraud team, Serena litigates for some of the world’s largest institutional investors, including pension funds, hedge funds, mutual funds, family offices, and other large institutional investors. She also regularly advises institutional investors and public entities regarding recovery opportunities in connection with fraud-related conduct. She is actively litigating cases against Sotera Health Company, Meta’s directors and officers, Abbott Laboratories, and has recently resolved direct actions against Valeant Pharmaceuticals. Prior to her time at Motley Rice, Serena was the head of a direct-action practice and member of the securities class action group as a partner of a large securities law firm in New York. In that capacity, she was a key member of several litigation teams that achieved multi-million dollar settlements for clients, aggregating close to $500 million.*

Serena has also led opt-out cases against companies, including Valeant Pharmaceuticals, Perrigo Company, and Teva Pharmaceuticals, for a variety of institutional investors seeking to recoup losses stemming from alleged fraud-related conduct. With respect to Valeant, Serena and her team pursued claims under the New Jersey RICO statute and was the first opt-out plaintiff to successfully defeat a motion to dismiss those claims. Certain Valeant actions have since been resolved and in 2025 Serena resolved the last two Valeant matters she was prosecuting on behalf of two large institutional investors (under confidential terms). 

Serena is a frequent speaker in legal circles throughout the country on matters related to securities litigation. 

 *Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. 

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS: 

• 'Justices Should Acknowledge ESG’s Importance to Investors’ Law360 (June 2021)
• ‘Don’t Forget the “E” and the “S” in ESG: Securities Lawsuits Are No Longer Only About Corporate Governance’ NAPPA Report (October 2021)
• 'Mutual Funds Should Consider Shareholder Litigation,’ Law360 (Oct. 8, 2019)
• ‘Around the World in a Decade: The Evolving Landscape of Securities Litigation Post-Morrison,’ NAPPA (Nov. 26, 2019)
• ‘Emulex Highlights Greater Scrutiny of Issues at High Court,’ Law360 (April 25, 2019)
• ‘China Agritech’s Positive Implications for Plaintiffs,’ Law360 (July 3, 2018)
• ‘Direct Actions: A Path to Recovery for Foreign Purchases of Securities,’ The NAPPA Report (Oct. 31, 2017)
• ‘Investor Recovery Strategies Following ANZ Securities,’ Law360 (July 12, 2017)  
• ‘Does ‘Dukes’ Require Full ‘Daubert’ Scrutiny at Class Certification?’ New York Law Journal (Nov. 25, 2011)