Ho T. Derek

Derek T. Ho

Education

  • Harvard Law School, J.D., magna cum laude, 2001
    • Treasurer, Harvard Law Review, 2000-2001
    • Finalist, Ames Moot Court competition
  • Yale University, M.A., 1998
  • Harvard College, B.A., magna cum laude, 1996
    • Phi Beta Kappa

Clerkships

  • Law Clerk, Justice David H. Souter, U.S. Supreme Court, 2002-2003
  • Law Clerk, Judge Michael Boudin, U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit, 2001-2002

Admitted

  • 2002, New York
  • 2002, Massachusetts
  • 2004, District of Columbia
  • 2009, Supreme Court of the United States

Derek T. Ho litigates high-stakes commercial cases with often billions of dollars at stake.  He has helped clients obtain billions of dollars through trial or settlement.  As both an experienced trial litigator and a seasoned appellate lawyer, Derek represents plaintiffs and defendants in all phases of litigation.

While maintaining a broad commercial litigation practice, Derek has particularly deep experience in antitrust litigation, complex litigation (class actions and MDL proceedings), and False Claims Act litigation.  In addition to securing substantial victories for his clients, his cases have established important legal precedents in those areas.  

Derek also has extensive experience representing litigation finance firms, having represented major players in that industry since its inception.  His successful representations include seminal cases establishing the legality of litigation funding arrangements and the protection of litigation funding agreements and communications from discovery.  

Derek has served as lead appellate counsel in cases in nine federal circuits, as well as in several state appellate courts.  He has been the principal drafter of more than 25 merits and amicus briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Derek maintains an active pro bono practice focused on civil rights litigation.  He serves on the Board of Trustees of The Roxbury Latin School and on the Board of Directors of the Lawyers’ Committee on Civil Rights Under Law and the American Constitution Society.

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Representative Experience

  • Represent former shareholders of Argentina’s national oil company, YPF, in lawsuit against the Argentine Republic for breach of corporate bylaws.  After a multi-day trial, the district court recently rendered a $16.1 billion judgment for his clients.  The case is ongoing.  Petersen Energía Inversora v. Argentine Republic, No. 15-cv-2739 (S.D.N.Y.); Eton Park Capital Management, L.P. v. Argentine Republic, No. 16-cv-8569 (S.D.N.Y.).
  • Serve as MDL co-lead counsel and interim class counsel in a major antitrust MDL against the two leading providers of dealer management systems, CDK Global, LLC and The Reynolds & Reynolds Company.  The district court has denied defendants’ motion for summary judgment.  In re Dealer Management Systems Antitrust Litigation, MDL No. 2817 (N.D. Ill.).
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Achievements

  • The National Law Journal – Winning Litigator Finalist (2024)
  • Law.com Litigator of the Week in antitrust monopolization case, which creates an important precedent on multiple important principles of U.S. antitrust law. Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC v. NTE Carolinas II, LLC
  • Law360 Legal Lion in antitrust monopolization case, which creates an important precedent on multiple important principles of U.S. antitrust law. Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC v. NTE Carolinas II, LLC
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Articles, News & Events

  • Panelist, “Models of Damages Assessment,” Global Class Actions and Mass Torts Perfect Law Conference (May 23, 2024)
  • Panelist, “Ethics Bias/Diversity CLE: Do mandatory bar associations stifle freedom and diversity of thought in the legal profession? Federalist Society (April 20, 2023)
  • Co-author, Discovery in Aid of Foreign Arbitration Proceedings Unfairly Imposes Tremendous Costs on U.S. Companies. Alternatives to the High Cost of Litigation, 40: 58-72 (2022)
  • Panelist, LF Dealmakers’ Forum, “Ask the Experts,”(Sept. 29, 2021)
  • Panelist, Federal Bar Association 2021 Qui Tam Conference, “Defense Strategies (February 19, 2021)
  • Panelist, Global Class Actions Symposium 2020, “Settlements of Global Disputes” (June 25, 2020)
  • Panelist, Third International Conference on International Mass Dispute Resolution, University of Haifa, “Establishing the Existence of a Class by Surveys and Statistics” (March 2019)
  • Presenter, Fifth Circuit Bar Association Appellate Advocacy Seminar, “The Attorney’s Perspective on Briefs and Oral Argument:  Substantive Tips on Brief Writing and Oral Argument” (Oct. 2, 2017)
  • Panelist, Perrin Class Action Conference, “Supreme Court Update,” (May 31, 2017)
  • Panelist, American Conference Institute Class Action Conference, “The Use of Representative or Statistical Evidence to Substantiate Class Claims Post-Tyson Foods v. Bouaphakeo” (Apr. 3, 2017)
  • Panelist, Perrin Class Action Conference, “Supreme Court Update,” (May 17, 2016)
  • Panelist, Bridgeport CLE Conference, “Consumer Class Action Litigation” (January 8, 2016)
  • Panelist, Strafford CLE webinar on “Defeating Rule 23(b)(3)’s Predominance Requirement Using Defenses and Counterclaims” (Aug. 25, 2015)Co-author, Penalizing Tax Petitions:  Why the Erroneous Refund Penalty in Section 6676 Violates Taxpayers’ First Amendment Rights, The Tax Lawyer, Vol. 68, No. 3 (Spring 2015)
  • Invited Guest Speaker, Georgetown University Law Center (2014, 2015), Harvard Law School (2014)
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News