Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP ("Robbins Geller") is an American limited liability partnership, governed by a seven-member Executive Committee with a total of 425 employees. Founding partners are Darren J. Robbins, Paul J. Geller, Samuel H. Rudman, and Michael J. Dowd.
Robbins Geller practices law related to securities fraud, corporate governance, shareholder derivative litigation, options backdating litigation, corporate takeover litigation, insurance, antitrust, consumer fraud, human rights, environment and public health, and intellectual property.[5]
The firm has 10 offices located in San Diego, Atlanta, Boca Raton, Chicago, Manhattan, Melville (NY), Nashville, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.
For the second consecutive year, Robbins Geller was ranked first among all securities class action firms in the SCAS Top 50 Report that was published by Institutional Shareholder Services (“ISS”) in May 2016. According to ISS, the Firm recovered more than $1.5 billion for investors in 2015 (or 50% more than any other law firm). Additionally, the Report highlights the top five firms based on the number of settlements in 2015, and ranked Robbins Geller first in both the total amount recovered for investors and the number of shareholder class action recoveries.
In addition to litigation services, Robbins Geller monitors the investment portfolios of hundreds of institutional investors, including public and multi-employer pension funds, fund managers, banks and insurance companies.
Robbins Geller represents plaintiffs in litigation involving securities fraud, corporate takeovers, shareholder derivative claims, intellectual property, consumer and insurance fraud, and antitrust claims, as well as whistleblower protection and qui tam suits.
Notable cases and record recoveries
Robbins Geller has obtained some of the largest recoveries in history.
Obtained securities class action settlement against Enron in excess of $7.2 billion.
Obtained a settlement of $1.575 billion after 14 years of litigation in Jaffe v. Household Int’l, Inc. (now HSBC Finance Corp.).
Obtained unprecedented corporate governance reforms on behalf of Community Health Systems, Inc. in a case against the company’s directors and officers for breaching their fiduciary duties by causing Community Health to develop and implement admissions criteria that systematically steered patients into unnecessary inpatient admissions, in contravention of Medicare and Medicaid regulations. The governance reforms obtained as part of the settlement include two shareholder-nominated directors, the creation of a Healthcare Law Compliance Coordinator with specified qualifications and duties, a requirement that the Board’s Compensation Committee be comprised solely of independent directors, the implementation of a compensation clawback that will automatically recover compensation improperly paid to the company’s CEO or CFO in the event of a restatement, the establishment of an insider trading controls committee, and the adoption of a political expenditure disclosure policy. In addition to these reforms, $60 million in financial relief was obtained, which is the largest shareholder derivative recovery ever in Tennessee and the Sixth Circuit.
Obtained court approval of a $388 million recovery in nine 2007 residential mortgage-backed securities offerings issued by J.P. Morgan in Fort Worth Emps.’ Ret. Fund v. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
Obtained a $272 million settlement on behalf of Goldman Sachs’ shareholders in NECA-IBEW Health & Welfare Fund v. Goldman Sachs & Co.
Obtained a $215 million settlement for former HCA Holdings, Inc. shareholders.
Obtained a $925 million recovery on behalf of the UnitedHealth Group shareholders.
Securities action recovery of $657 million against WorldCom in In re WorldCom Securities Litigation.
Secured a $500 million settlement against Countrywide Financial Group.
Merger & acquisition recovery of $200 million from Kinder Morgan in In re Kinder Morgan, Inc. Shareholders Litigation. The case was one of the largest securities class action cases to be settled in 2010.
Obtained $629 million recovery in In re AOL Time Warner, Inc. Securities and "ERISA" Litigation. The AOL Time Warner litigation arose out of the merger of AOL and Time Warner, which the companies consummated while AOL was falsifying its financial results. Over 100 of Robbins Geller’s institutional clients followed the firm’s recommendation to "opt-out" of the securities fraud class action settlement and instead pursued individual actions. By doing so, those institutional clients successfully recovered $629 million, approximately 10 times of what they would have received in the class action settlement.
Secured a $627 million settlement in In re Wachovia Preferred Sec. & Bond/Notes Litigation. The global recovery, including $590 million from Wells Fargo and $37 million from Wachovia’s auditor, KPMG, is one of the largest recoveries under the Securities Act of 1933 arising out of the credit crisis. The suit focused on Wachovia’s exposure to "pick-a-pay" loans, which the bank’s offering materials assured were of "pristine credit quality." Investors had alleged that these loans were made to subprime borrowers, many of whom defaulted, which ultimately led to a massive impairment of the bank’s mortgage portfolio, and alleged that Wachovia’s offering documents materially misstated and failed to disclose the true nature and quality of Wachovia’s mortgage loan portfolio, which exposed the bank to tens of billions of dollars in losses on mortgage-related assets and misled investors. Robbins Geller was one of these firms appointed to represent the class.
Obtained a $600 million recovery for Cardinal Health shareholders in In re Cardinal Health, Inc. Securities Litigation.
Obtained final approval of a $590.5 million settlement with three private equity firms: Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, the Blackstone Group and TPG. The accusations were that the three firms colluded with one another to drive down the prices of corporate takeover targets. This resulted in investors receiving less per share for their shares in the target companies. The case was filed as Kirk Dahl, et al. v. Bain Capital Partners, LLC, et al. Robbins Geller was one of these firms appointed to represent the class.
Obtained a $400 million class action settlement with Pfizer, Inc. in Jones v. Pfizer Inc. Pfizer was accused of misleading investors in connection with off-label marketing, making false statements to shareholders, and making misleading statements about various government investigations.
Obtained a $265 million settlement in In re Massey Energy Co. Securities Litigation. The shareholder suit stemmed from a coal mine accident. Massey Energy, its executives and its board were targeted in civil and criminal actions since the April 5, 2010 explosion at its Upper Big Branch mine in Raleigh County, West Virginia, which killed 29 workers. A government investigation found that the explosion was the result of basic safety violations and unlawful policies and practices. Robbins Geller represented shareholders that claimed Massey made false and misleading statements and omissions about its health and safety practices, policies and results, and that its true conduct was revealed through the Upper Big Branch disaster and subsequent disclosures.
Secured a $67 million settlement in City of Westland Police and Fire Retirement System v. Stumpf. The shareholder derivative action alleged Wells Fargo’s directors’ failure to disclose their lack of cooperation in a federal investigation into the bank’s mortgage and foreclosure practices. The shareholder suit arises from allegations that Wells Fargo participated in "robosigning," i.e. mass-processing foreclosure documents.
Secured a significant recovery in a case against Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc., Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's Rating Services in Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank v. Morgan Stanley & Co. The details of the settlement were confidential, but the case resulted in documents never seen by the public before that gave a behind the scenes look at how the ratings companies work and their role in the financial crisis on Wall Street
Recognition and rankings
Many Robbins Geller attorneys have been recognized as leaders in their field by various publications and organizations.
Best Lawyers® selected Darren J. Robbins, Paul J. Geller, Michael J. Dowd and Patrick J. Coughlin to its “2017 Best Lawyers in America” list.
The National Law Journal named Randall J. Baron as a 2016 M&A Trailblazer.
Lawdragon selected the Firm’s named partners, Darren J. Robbins, Paul J. Geller, Samuel H. Rudman and Michael J. Dowd, to its list of the top 500 Leading Lawyers in America for 2016.
Chambers & Partners Ranks the firm a Band 1 Law Firm, the highest rating available both nationally and statewide in California and New York from 2014-2016.
The Legal 500 ranked the firm as a top law firm in 2016 for “Securities Litigation – Plaintiff” and “M&A Litigation – Plaintiff.”
Benchmark Litigation ranked the firm as a “Highly Recommended” plaintiffs firm for 2016-2017, has named the firm a Top Plaintiff Firm for 2010-2017 and has named partners Lucas Olts and Daniel Pfefferbaum to its nationwide Under 40 Hot List for 2016-2017.
Law360 named the firm as one of the nation’s Securities Practice Groups of the Year 2015-2016.
BTI Consulting Group named the firm one of the Most Feared Litigation Firms for 2014-2015.
Forbes selected the firm to its 2014-2015 Legal Black Book.
The National Law Journal named the firm to its "Elite Trial Lawyers" finalist list in 2014-2016, named the firm as the Securities Winner for 2016, and named the firm to its "Plaintiffs' Hot List" for 2004-2009, 2011, 2013-2014.
U.S. News Ranked Robbins Geller a National Tier 1 Firm.
In 2012, A. Rick Atwood, Jr. and Randall J. Baron were named Attorneys of the Year by California Lawyer.
California Lawyer named Michael J. Dowd Attorney of the Year in 2010.
