Legal 500 Ranks BLB&G a National Tier 1 Firm for Securities and M&A Litigation

July 2016

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The Legal 500 USA Guide (“Legal 500”) has named BLB&G a top-tier firm for plaintiff securities litigation – the only firm to have been given this ranking every year since the category’s inception ten years ago.  Also, for the fifth consecutive year, BLB&G is ranked a top plaintiff firm for M&A litigation.

Partners Max Berger and Mark Lebovitch were selected as “Leading Lawyers” in the areas of “Mass tort and class action: plaintiff representation – securities” and “Mergers, acquisitions and buyouts – M&A: litigation,” respectively.  The guide also recommends BLB&G partners Salvatore Graziano, Avi Josefson, John Rizio-Hamilton, Gerald Silk, Jeroen van Kwawegen, and David Wales.

Legal 500 profiles the firm’s renowned securities litigation pratice and describes BLB&G as a “formidable firm that does a great job on the plaintiff side,’ and one that is “known among defense firms a serious player focusing on substantive cases.”  This year’s profile highlights the firm’s work on high-profile cases against Facebook, JPMorgan Chance, and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. 

According to Legal 500, BLB&G’s M&A litigation practice is “formidable” and BLB&G is “undoubtedly a top-tier firm with a long history of litigating some of the most high-profile M&A and derivative cases.”  The publication highlights BLB&G’s success in recovering $153 million in Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. Derivative Litigation, which was the second-largest shareholder derivative settlement in the history of the Delaware Court of Chancery.  It also praises BLB&G’s work for successfully challenging “dead hand proxy puts,” and for its work in appraisal litigation, including the 26% premium BLB&G obtained for investors over the initial merger price of grocer Safeway following its merger with Albertson’s.  Sources praise partner Mark Lebovitch as “sharp, capable’ and as “an especially talented lawyer, the real deal,” and Jeroen van Kwawegen is described as a “rising star.”