U. Seth Ottensoser graduated with high honors in 1992 from
Queens College of the City University of New York, where he
was elected to and became a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Mr. Ottensoser
received a J.D. degree in 1995 from the University of Southern
California School of Law. Mr. Ottensoser concentrates his practice
in the areas of merger and acquisition litigation, securities
class actions and corporate litigation. He is a frequent lecturer
on the issues of civil procedure, federal practice, class actions,
and corporate governance and has written extensively and been
published on those matters. Mr. Ottensoser has served as a member
of the Special Committee on Mergers, Acquisitions and Corporate
Control Contests of the Association of the Bar of the City of
New York. Before joining Bernstein Liebhard & Lifshitz,
LLP, he was a partner at Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach,
LLP.
Mr. Ottensoser has been involved in many successful class actions,
including: In re Plains Resources, Inc. Shareholders Litigation,
No. 071-N (Del. Ch. 2004) ($67 million in additional merger
consideration for the public shareholders of Plains Resources);
In re Mony Group, Inc. Shareholder Litigation, No.
20554 (Del. Ch. 2004) (Delaware Chancery Court issued a preliminary
injunction order enjoining the shareholder vote on a merger
of MONY with AXA Financial pending the issuance of curative
disclosures by the MONY defendants. As part of the settlement,
certain of MONY's executives forfeited approximately $7.4 million
in change-of-control payments, funding an increase in the consideration
received by MONY's shareholders in the merger); In re Cablevision Sys. Corp. Shareholders Litigation (sucessfully blocked going-private transaction by controlling shareholder leading to payment of a dividend to shareholders worth approximately $2.5 billion); In re Aetna,
Inc. Securities Litigation ($82.5 million recovery); In
re Triton Energy Ltd. Securities Litigation ($49.5 million
recovery); In re Ascent Entertainment Derivative Litigation
($40 million derivative settlement relating to the sale of the
Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche); In re Waste Management
Derivative Litigation ($25 million recovery); and In
re Kinkos Shareholder Litigation ($8.5 million recovery
for class consisting of approximately 160 shareholders).
Co-Author: "Current Issues Concerning the Directors' Duty of Loyalty: Cases Involving (A) Shareholder Ratification or (B) Allegations of Entrenchment," 1995 ALI-ABA Course Study on Current Issues in Corporate Governance, Nov. 30-Dec. 1, 1995; reprinted in Bank and Corporate Governance Law Reporter, Volume 16, Number 3, May 1996, p. 396; "Emerging Duties and Liabilities of Outside Directors to Ensure That Adequate Information and Control Systems Are in Place: Caremark and Good Faith Attempts," PLI 29th Annual Institute on Securities Regulation, Nov. 5-Nov. 8, 1997, pp. 493-517; "Leveraged Buyouts -- Issues From the Shareholder Plaintiffs' Perspective," Association of Bar of the City of New York, Leveraged Buyouts and Other Private Equity Investments, Structuring and Negotiating Investments in Today's Market, September 24, 2001; "Developments in Private Securities Litigation Pleading Standards and Other Significant Case Law Developments," Practising Law Institute 33rd Annual Institute on Securities Regulation, November 8-10, 2001.
Mr. Ottensoser
is admitted to the Bars of the State of New York, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United
States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts
of New York, the Eastern District of Wisconsin and the District
of Colorado.