Toby is an accomplished advocate and trial attorney, with over 15 years’ experience successfully advising and representing clients in high-risk and complex disputes. Since joining Quinn Emanuel in 2012, Toby has acted in virtually all aspects of New York state and federal court litigation, including in pro bono, multi-million, and multi-billion dollar proceedings. Toby’s broad-ranging practice focuses on commercial law, structured finance matters, and plaintiff-side antitrust class actions—but also includes counselling and representation of individuals, start-ups, and technology companies on issues as diverse as copyright, employment, defamation, and founders’ disputes.
As plaintiffs’ class counsel, Toby has been instrumental in proceedings alleging manipulation of the U.S. markets for interest rate derivatives, volatility derivatives, precious metals, and health services, which together have recovered over $650 million for consumers and investors. Through his deep experience in structured finance matters, Toby has led or served as a core member of teams that have secured over $2.3 billion in New York state court and over $25 billion in New York federal court. As a first chair trial attorney, Toby’s representation of a plaintiff before a jury has been described by a federal judge as “outstanding,” “phenomenal,” and “terrific,” for a “really, really difficult client.” A graduate of Stanford Law School’s Law, Science and Technology LL.M. program, Toby also routinely advises clients on digital asset issues, has argued blockchain cases in Delaware Chancery Court, and has led seminar classes on cryptocurrency regulation at Stanford Business School.
Prior to joining Quinn Emanuel, Toby was an attorney in a variety of capacities in New Zealand. He commenced his career as a solicitor at one of New Zealand’s leading corporate law firms, where he acted for clients in the oil, electricity, shipping, banking, healthcare, automobile, and pharmaceutical industries. Toby then joined the independent bar as a barrister sole at one of New Zealand’s preeminent barristers’ chambers, where he acted in a broad range of criminal and civil proceedings involving contract, tort, equity, administrative law, insolvency, insurance, copyright, and fraud. Toby also spent several years teaching tort law and jurisprudence at New Zealand’s highest-ranked law faculty, and served as a member of the Executive Council of the New Zealand Bar Association. He has repeatedly been recognized as a Thompson Reuters SuperLaywer’s “Rising Star” for New York.
- AI Now Institute, New York University
- Ambac Assurance Corporation
- AmTrust Financial Services
- Capsule Corp.
- Dandy Inc.
- Federal Housing Finance Agency
- Fir Tree Partners
- National General Insurance
- Numerous individuals, as named plaintiffs in federal class actions
- U.S. Bank National Association
- Vanta Inc.
- Web 3.0 Technologies Foundation
- YKK Corporation of America
- Plaintiff’s Counsel for Ambac Assurance Corporation in a breach of contact claim against two Wall Street banks in respect of insurance policies on residential mortgage-backed securities, which resulted in a settlement of more than $1.8 billion.
- Defense Counsel for AmTrust Financial Services, National General Insurance, and numerous director and officer defendants, in respect of a series of claims arising out of the conservatorship and liquidation of the Tower Insurance companies.
- Plaintiff’s Counsel in U.S. Bank as Trustee in a breach of contact claim against two Wall Street banks in respect of residential mortgage-backed securities which resulted in a settlement of more than $500 million.
- Counsel for various individuals in connection with cryptocurrency matters involving shareholder and employment disputes, founders disputes, wallet hacking and token theft, and investigations by U.S. regulatory authorities.
- Plaintiff’s counsel for Iluka Resources in respect of a multi-million dollar contractual dispute regarding the provision of mineral sands natural resources during alleged supply chain disruptions during COVID-19.
- Plaintiff’s Counsel for Web3 Technologies Foundation, individually and derivatively on behalf of Hypersphere Capital Absolute Fund Ltd., in a proceeding in Texas District Court regarding an investment fund backed by the “DOT” crypto token.
- Class Counsel in Alaska Electrical Pension Fund v. Bank of America, N.A. 1:14-cv-7126, a class action in the S.D.N.Y. that alleged collusive manipulation of the “ISDAfix” benchmark for interest rate derivatives by fourteen Wall Street banks and their broker, and which resulted in settlements of more than $500 million.
- Class Counsel in In Re: Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index Manipulation Antitrust Litigation 1:18-cv-04171, a class action in the N.D. Ill. alleged collusive manipulation of the “VIX fear gauge” benchmark for volatility derivatives.
- Class Counsel in In Re: Commodity Exchange, Inc., Gold Futures And Options Trading Litigation 1:14-MD-2548, a class action in the S.D.N.Y. that alleged collusive manipulation of the “PM Gold Fix” benchmark for the price of gold and gold derivatives and which resulted in settlements of more than $150 million.
- Class Counsel for In Re: Delta Dental Antitrust Litigation 1:19-cv-06734, a class action pending in the N.D. Ill. that alleges collusive horizontal allocation and price fixing in the U.S. market for dental insurance.
- Plaintiff’s Counsel for Federal Housing Finance Agency in a landmark series of lawsuits against Wall Street banks in the S.D.N.Y. that alleged breach of the federal securities laws as to billions of dollars of residential mortgage-backed securities and which resulted in settlements of more than $25 billion.
- Stanford Law School
(LL.M., 2012)- John Hart Ely Prize for Outstanding Performance
- Gerald Gunther Prize for Outstanding Performance
- Co-President, Advanced Degree Students Association
- Editor, Stanford Journal of Law, Science & Policy
- Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholar
- Spencer Mason Scholar
- University of Auckland Law School
(LL.B., with honors, 2007)- Senior Prize in Law (“academic excellence,” top 10% of graduating cohort)
- Senior Prize in Law (“academic excellence,” top 10% of graduating cohort)
- University of Auckland
(B.A., Philosophy, Political Science, 1999)- Senior Prize in Philosophy (“academic excellence,” top 10% of graduating cohort)
- The State Bar of New York
- United States District Court
- Southern District of New York
- Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand
- Bankside Chambers:
- Barrister Sole, 2009-2011
- Barrister Sole, 2009-2011
- Russell McVeagh:
- Litigation Solicitor, 2007-2009
- Litigation Solicitor, 2007-2009
- University of Auckland, Law School
- Teaching Faculty, 2007-2011
- Selected as a SuperLawyer Rising Star (2018) (“Antitrust Litigation”), and SuperLawyer Rising Star (2019) (“Antitrust Litigation”, “Business Litigation”, “Class Actions and Mass Torts”, “Securities Litigation”)
- Recipient of American Antitrust Institute’s Outstanding Antitrust Litigation Achievement in Private Law Practice (2018)