On October 5, 2009
The National Law Journal named Bernstein Liebhard LLP to its Plaintiffs’ Hot List for the seventh consecutive year. The Hot List features firms that do “exemplary, cutting-edge work on the plaintiffs’ side.” Describing the selection process, Michael Moline, The Law Journal’s Assistant Managing Editor, stated: “We looked for firms that struck us as representing the bar’s best qualities and that demonstrated unusual flair and creativity.” Of the fifteen firms named to the list in 2009, Bernstein Liebhard LLP is one of only two named for seven straight years.
The Law Journal featured two of the Firm’s recent successes, including the recent global settlement of In re Initial Public Offering Securities Litigation, No. 21 MC 92 (S.D.N.Y.). Senior Partner Stanley D. Bernstein served as chairman of the executive committee and led all plaintiffs’ counsel in litigating this case to a $586 million settlement after more than eight years of litigation. The IPO Litigation, regarded as the largest securities class action in history, consists of more than 300 coordinated actions involving corporate issuers that were brought public between 1998 and 2000. These enormously complex lawsuits alleged that, among other things, the IPO offerings were manipulated by the issuers, their officers and directors, and investment banks to artificially inflate the market price of those securities in violation of the federal securities laws.
The Law Journal also featured the Firm’s recent settlement of In re Beazer Homes U.S.A., Inc. Securities Litigation, No. 1:07-CV-725-CC (N.D. Ga.), in which the Firm represented a union trust fund, and alleged that Beazer Homes made false and misleading statements concerning its loan and mortgage origination practices and reported financial statements. After two years of litigation, the Firm negotiated a settlement of $30.5 million for investors who purchased Beazer stock.