February 19, 2013
National legal periodical Lawdragon has published its annual feature “The 500 Leading Lawyers in America – The Influencers,” and named four BLB&G partners to the list. BLB&G’s Max Berger, Salvatore Graziano, Mark Lebovitch, and Jerry Silk were selected as among "the most interesting and diversely talented lawyers in the world."
Lawdragon’s selection process is based on a combination of written submissions, online votes, and editorial research. The list represents less than 1% of the legal profession. Attorneys named to this list are those who “brought the biggest verdicts and settlements, handled the biggest deals and defined what law practice was in the year just passed.”
As founding partner of BLB&G, “securities class action titan” Max Berger is featured on the magazine’s cover spread as head of the “#1” firm responsible for recovering $1.4 billion in 2011, including $627 million for Wachovia bondholders – the largest subprime-related recovery at the time.
Mr. Graziano is described as “one of Bernstein Litowitz’s star securities litigators,” recognized for his role in successfully pressing the case against Merck over the Vioxx drug through the courts. Mr. Lebovitch is referred to as “(t)ops in plaintiff-side corporate governance,” and is credited for securing “a new standard in the industry” with the creation of a new regulatory oversight committee supported by a dedicated $75 million fund during his prosecution of Pfizer Derivative Litigation. Mr. Silk is recognized for his leadership role in directing the firm’s “industry-leading securities fraud practice,” and for his representation of prominent institutions in cases related to the subprime crisis.