Max W. Berger

Mr. Berger, the firm’s senior founding partner, supervises BLB&G’s litigation practice and prosecutes class and individual actions on behalf of the firm’s clients.

He has litigated many of the firm's most high-profile and significant cases, and has negotiated six of the largest securities fraud settlements in history, each in excess of a billion dollars:  Cendant ($3.3 billion); Citigroup–WorldCom ($2.575 billion); Bank of America/Merrill Lynch ($2.4 billion); JPMorgan Chase–WorldCom ($2 billion); Nortel ($1.3 billion); and McKesson ($1.04 billion).

Mr. Berger’s work has garnered him extensive media attention, and he has been the subject of feature articles in a variety of major media publications.  Unique among his peers, The New York Times highlighted his remarkable track record in an October 2012 profile entitled "Investors’ Billion-Dollar Fraud Fighter," which also discussed his role in the Bank of America/Merrill Lynch Merger litigation.  In 2011, Mr. Berger was twice profiled by The American Lawyer for his role in negotiating a $627 million recovery on behalf of investors in the In re Wachovia Corp. Securities Litigation, and a $516 million recovery in In re Lehman Brothers Equity/Debt Securities Litigation.  Previously, Mr. Berger's role in the WorldCom case generated extensive media coverage including feature articles in BusinessWeek and The American Lawyer. For his outstanding efforts on behalf WorldCom investors, The National Law Journal profiled Mr. Berger (one of only eleven attorneys selected nationwide) in its special annual 2005 "Winning Attorneys" section. He was subsequently featured in a 2006 New York Times article, "A Class-Action Shuffle," which assessed the evolving landscape of the securities litigation arena.

Mr. Berger is widely recognized for his professional excellence and achievements.  Most recently, he was named one of the “100 Most Influential Lawyers in America” by the National Law Journal for being “front and center” in holding Wall Street banks accountable and obtaining over $5 billion in cases arising from the subprime meltdown, and for his work as a “master negotiator” in obtaining numerous multi-billion dollar recoveries for investors.  For the past seven years in a row, he has received the top attorney ranking in plaintiff securities litigation by the Chambers and Partners' Guide to America's Leading Lawyers for Business and is consistently recognized as one of New York's "local litigation stars" by Benchmark Litigation: The Definitive Guide to America's Leading Litigation Firms & Attorneys (published by Institutional Investor and Euromoney).Additionally, since their various inceptions, he has been named a "litigation star" by the Legal 500 US guide, one of "10 Legal Superstars" by Securities Law360, and one of the "500 Leading Lawyers in America" and "100 Securities Litigators You Need to Know" by Lawdragon magazine. Further, The Best Lawyers in America guide has named Mr. Berger a leading lawyer in his field.

Mr. Berger also serves the academic community in numerous capacities as a member of the Dean's Council to Columbia Law School, and as a member of the Board of Trustees of Baruch College.  He has taught Profession of Law, an ethics course at Columbia Law School, and currently serves on the Advisory Board of Columbia Law School's Center on Corporate Governance. In May 2006, he was presented with the Distinguished Alumnus Award for his contributions to Baruch College, and in February 2011, Mr. Berger received Columbia Law School's most prestigious and highest honor, "The Medal for Excellence."  This award is presented annually to Columbia Law School alumni who exemplify the qualities of character, intellect, and social and professional responsibility that the Law School seeks to instill in its students.  Most recently, Mr. Berger was profiled in the Fall 2011 issue of Columbia Law School Magazine.

Mr. Berger is currently a member of the New York State, New York City and American Bar Associations, and is a member of the Federal Bar Council.  His is also an advisor to the American Law Institute's Restatement Third: Economic Torts project, and is a member of the Board of Trustees of The Supreme Court Historical Society, a prestigious non-profit organization committed to preserving the history of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Mr. Berger is a past chairman of the Commercial Litigation Section of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (now known as the American Association for Justice) and lectures for numerous professional organizations. In 1997, Mr. Berger was honored for his outstanding contribution to the public interest by Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, where he was a "Trial Lawyer of the Year" Finalist for his work in Roberts, et al. v. Texaco, the celebrated race discrimination case, on behalf of Texaco's African-American employees.

Among numerous charitable and volunteer works, Mr. Berger is an active supporter of City Year New York, a division of AmeriCorps, dedicated to encouraging young people to devote time to public service. In July 2005, he was named City Year New York's "Idealist of the Year," for his long-time service and work in the community. He and his wife, Dale, have also established the Dale and Max Berger Public Interest Law Fellowship at Columbia Law School and the Max Berger Pre-Law Program at Baruch College.