January 24, 2024
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BLB&G is proud to announce Andrew Blumberg, Tom James, and Robert “Rocky” Kravetz have been promoted to partners of the firm, and Lauren Cruz has been promoted to senior counsel. The promotions are effective as of January 1, 2024.
“We congratulate these lawyers on their well-deserved promotions, which are a testament to their excellent legal skills, unwavering commitment to our clients and our team, and hard work,” said Executive Committee member Hannah Ross. “We are excited to work with each of them as they grow in their new roles.”
“Andrew, Tom, Rocky, and Lauren are exceptional litigators who hold senior executives and corporate directors accountable on behalf of our institutional shareholder clients,” said Executive Committee member Jeroen van Kwawegen. “They show tremendous talent and creativity, and we look forward to their future accomplishments.”
New Partners
Andrew Blumberg practices out of the firm's Wilmington office, where he primarily prosecutes corporate governance and fiduciary duty litigation on behalf of the firm's institutional investor clients. Andrew is currently a member of the teams prosecuting In re Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. S’holders Litig.; Santander Consumer Holdings Inc. Stockholders Litigation; Lebanon County Employees’ Retirement Fund v. Collis; Pentwater Capital Management LP v. Calderoni; and Palkon v. Maffei (TripAdvisor). Since joining the firm in 2019, Andrew has been a key member of the teams that prosecuted, among other matters: In re Viacom Inc. Stockholders Litigation ($122.5 million settlement); Hollywood Firefighters’ Pension Fund v. GCI Liberty, Inc. ($110 million settlement and reduction in the controller’s voting power); In re Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation Derivative Litigation ($42.5 million settlement plus improved governance); In re Tilray, Inc. Reorganization Litigation ($39.9 million settlement plus elimination of control); In re Mindbody, Inc. Stockholders Litigation ($27 million partial settlement with director and director’s venture capital fund); and Searles v. DeMartini, et al. ($23 million settlement). Prior to joining the firm, Andrew was a securities litigation associate at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, where he represented clients in corporate governance, appraisal, and securities actions. Prior to joining Weil, Andrew clerked for Chancellor Andre G. Bouchard of the Delaware Court of Chancery. He received his J.D. from Washington University School of Law, cum laude, where he served as a senior editor of the Washington University Law Review, and his MBA from Washington University’s Olin Business School.
Tom James practices out of the firm’s New York Office, where he prosecutes corporate governance and fiduciary duty litigation on behalf of the firm's institutional investor clients. Tom is currently prosecuting a number of high-profile stockholder litigations, including Fischel v. Liberty Media, et al., In re Lordstown Motors Corp. Stockholders Litigation, and Newbold v. McCaw et al. (“AstraSpace”). Tom was a key member of the trial teams in In re CVR Refining, LP Unitholder Litigation, The Williams Companies Stockholder Litigation, and In re Columbia Pipeline Group, Inc. Merger Litigation. Among his other recoveries, Tom has been a key member of teams prosecuting a number of the firm’s most significant litigations, including: The Williams Companies Stockholder Litigation: obtained permanent injunction against stockholder rights plan following expedited post-trial opinion, affirmed on appeal; Fire and Police Retiree Health Care Fund, San Antonio, et al. v. Smith, et al. (Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc.): settlement consisting of $20.5 million cash payment, $5 million dedicated by the Board to implement corporate governance measures, and cancellation of an individual defendant’s stock awards; and In re Tile Shop Holdings, Inc. Litigation: settlement consisting of a $12 million cash payment and significant non-monetary benefits. Before joining the firm, Tom was a securities litigation associate at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, where he, among other things, represented clients in corporate governance, appraisal, and securities actions. Before joining Weil, Tom clerked for Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster of the Delaware Court of Chancery. He received his J.D., cum laude, from Boston College Law School, where he served as a senior editor of the Boston College Law Review.
Robert “Rocky” Kravetz is a partner out of the firm's New York office. Having served as an Assistant United States Attorney and Chief of Appeals for the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Delaware for over thirteen years, Robert has substantial investigative, litigation, trial, and appellate experience involving a wide array of federal criminal offenses, including financial institution, securities, and health care fraud. His extensive experience includes leading large-scale investigations of financial institutions and auditing firms, in concert with securities and banking regulators. He has tried multiple cases to verdict as lead counsel, including a recent securities fraud case involving a bank and its senior executives that yielded multiple guilty pleas and resulted in a trial verdict against the remaining defendants. As Chief of Appeals, Robert supervised the Office's written advocacy and conducted oral arguments before the United States Court of Appeals. He has received the Executive Office of United States Attorneys Director’s Award, one of the Department of Justice’s highest honors, and he was previously named the Federal Bar Association’s Younger Attorney of the Year. Before becoming an Assistant United States Attorney, Robert served as a law clerk to the Honorable D. Michael Fisher on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and to the Honorable Joy Flowers Conti on the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Prior to joining BLB&G, Robert served as an Assistant Professor of Law at Duquesne University School of Law for two years, teaching courses in advanced criminal law and investigations and torts. He continues to serve as an Adjunct Professor at Duquesne. Robert is the past president of the Delaware Chapter of the Federal Bar Association and a recipient of the Caleb R. Layton III Service Award, chosen by the Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Delaware.
New Senior Counsel
Lauren Cruz practices out of the firm’s Los Angeles office, where she prosecutes class actions on behalf of the firm’s institutional investor clients. She is currently a member of the teams prosecuting securities class actions against Silvergate Capital Corporation, ChemoCentryx, Inc., CVS Health Corporation, NVIDIA Corporation, Intel Corporation, and Qualcomm, Inc., among others. Since joining the firm in 2019, Lauren has been a key member of the teams that prosecuted and secured over $1 billion in recoveries for investors, including among other matters: In re Wells Fargo & Company Securities Litigation (landmark $1 billion settlement); In re Mattel, Inc. Securities Litigation ($98 million settlement); Public Employees' Retirement System of Mississippi v. Mohawk Industries, Inc. ($60 million settlement); In re Splunk Inc. Securities Litigation (pending $30 million settlement); In re Impinj, Inc. Securities Litigation ($20 million settlement); In re Merit Medical Systems, Inc. Securities Litigation ($18.25 million settlement); and Israel Sanchez v. Centene Corp. ($7.5 million settlement). Since 2019, Lauren has also been a board member and board secretary of Mental Health Advocacy Services, a non-profit organization that provides free legal services to people with mental health disabilities in Los Angeles. She is also a member of Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles.