March 25, 2013
Once or twice every decade, The National Law Journal surveys the legal landscape to identify the 100 lawyers who, according to its editors, have helped “shape the legal world through their work in the court room, at the negotiating table, in the classroom or in government,” and who “have taken on the major legal battles and orchestrated the biggest corporate deals.”
In recognition for his role in securing an unparalleled record of major litigation successes on behalf of investors, The National Law Journal has named BLB&G partner Max Berger as one of “The 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America.”
Basing its selections on nominees’ political clout, legal results, media presence, and business and thought leadership, the NLJ credits Berger with being “front and center” in taking “banks to task for class action plaintiffs’ losses stemming from the recession.” Indeed, to date, Berger and BLB&G have obtained over $5 billion for investors in cases arising from the subprime meltdown – including recoveries from Bank of America, Citigroup, Wachovia, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and Wells Fargo.
Described by the publication as “clearly a master at negotiating,” he is alone among his peers in having handled 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).
In a career spanning over 40 years, Berger and the firm have obtained over $25 billion in recoveries on behalf of defrauded investors, and prosecuted seminal cases establishing precedents which have increased market transparency, held wrongdoers accountable, and improved corporate business practices in groundbreaking ways.
“I am enormously gratified to be recognized, and I share this honor with my partners and all the other terrific attorneys and colleagues with whom I have had the privilege to work,” said Berger. “I believe deeply in our practice. Policing the capital markets cannot be done by government alone. Private securities litigation to me has always been an essential tool to safeguard our economic system, and the massive corporate scandals of the last 15 years have proven that our work has only become more important.”