Berman Tabacco has been referred to as “one of the premier plaintiff shops,” with one peer noting, “They have a remarkably low dismissal rate, something like 20%, which is excellent.” One client of the firm’s testifies, “The team at Berman Tabacco are expert litigators. They keep me as their client well-informed of all developments in the cases where they represent us. They monitor our losses in securities-fraud cases and advise us in connection with filing claims in foreign jurisdictions.” Peers are equally effusive in their praise; one speaks of the San Francisco office where the majority of its litigation stars are housed as, “sort of the ‘Bernstein Litowitz of the west.’” While this comparison to one of the country’s other top securities class-action plaintiff shops is meant to be a flattering one, it is not entirely accurate, as Berman Tabacco also operates out of a Boston office. And while Berman is engaged in its fair share of securities class actions, its reach is broader and more diverse; one peer observes, “I’m actually seeing Berman Tabacco more in the antitrust space these days!”
Todd Seaver in the San Francisco office has been particularly active in the antitrust space. Seaver is court-appointed co-lead counsel in an antitrust class action against defendant AbbVie that alleges that AbbVie engaged in a scheme to crush competition for its blockbuster drug, Humira, from cheaper biosimilar alternatives, specifically by entering into agreements with Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) whereby, in exchange for rebate payments, the PBMs ensured that Humira would be positioned favorably on health plan formularies, thereby thwarting the biosimilar competitors’ ability to win sales. As a result, members of the class were allegedly overcharged by billions of dollars. The San Francisco office is also home to some of the firm’s most celebrates securities stars. Nicole Lavalee is liaison counsel for plaintiffs in a securities fraud class action brought on behalf of all persons or entities that purchased or otherwise acquired publicly traded American Depositary Receipts from May 23, 2016 and July 6, 2020, inclusive, and were damaged as a result. The case relates to Bayer’s $63 billion acquisition of Monsanto in 2018. Plaintiffs allege that Bayer made false and misleading statements to investors about the extent of their pre-merger due diligence related to Monsanto, a provider of agricultural and other chemicals, and the litigation risks relating to its top-selling Roundup herbicide product, itself the subject of sprawling product liability litigation. Lavalee and
Daniel Barenbaum are co-counsel in a novel action against PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust on behalf of a nationwide class for violations of California’s Unfair Competition Law, seeking injunctive relief and restitution with regard to two series of PennyMac’s fixed-to-floating rate preferred shares. The preferred shares were issued in 2017 with an initial fixed-rate dividend and set to transition in 2024 to a floating rate based on the three-month London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR). In late 2017—after the preferred shares were issued—the LIBOR panel banks announced that, because of accusations of manipulation, they would stop publishing LIBOR at the end of 2021, and in 2022, the Adjustable Interest Rate (LIBOR) Act was alleged to have been created to decree an orderly and sure process for providing a fair replacement for LIBOR in contracts that referenced the LIBOR benchmark and yet continued past LIBOR’s cessation. Plaintiffs allege that PennyMac unlawfully and unfairly replaced the LIBOR-based benchmark rate with the initial fixed rate instead of transitioning to the floating rate.
Berman Tabacco’s Boston office also houses a stable of securities stars.
Patrick Egan is local counsel for plaintiffs in a securities class action case against DraftKings and certain of its executive officers on behalf of all persons who purchased or otherwise acquired DraftKings’ non-fungible tokens (NFTs) between August 11, 2021 and the present. The complaint alleges that although DraftKings NFTs depict various professional athletes and images, the DraftKings NFTs constitute unregistered securities, and defendants are operating an unregistered securities exchange. Leslie Stern is counsel for shareholder Norfolk County Retirement System a derivative action seeking to hold Walmart’s controlling shareholders, Board of Directors, and senior management accountable for their alleged breaches of fiduciary duty to Walmart’s shareholders in connection with their decisions relating to, and their oversight of, the company’s opioid distribution and dispensing practices. The parties reached a proposed settlement of $123 million and for Walmart to maintain certain corporate governance practices for at least five years. This settlement was approved in December 2024. A client cheers on Stern’s behalf, “Leslie is thoughtful and meticulous in her work. She is straightforward and anticipates questions and client's needs. Together with her colleague
Nathaniel Orenstein they make an excellent team in delivering legal services.”
