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! They get in a decent amount of cases – I think they are a fourth lead in a Eurozone bonds case.” This alluded-to case found name partner
Joseph Tabacco partnering with Todd Seaver, both in the San Francisco office, in a market-manipulation antitrust class-action seeking recovery for US investors and stemming from an alleged conspiracy to fix prices of sovereign debt denominated in euros and issued by multiple European central governments. To date there have been two settlements reached in this action, with the latest one reached in November 2022. In late 2022, plaintiffs filed a separate complaint against new defendants Deutsche Bank and Rabobank, following the public assertion by the European Commission that those two banks were allegedly involved in the alleged price-fixing conspiracy of European Government Bonds.
Seaver has been particularly active in antitrust matters. He provided counsel for Orange County Employees Retirement System, who allege defendants conspired to manipulate the Australian Bank Bill Swap Reference Rate and the prices of derivatives during the class period and, as a result of defendants’ price-fixing conspiracy, they paid more or received less than they should have on their derivatives transactions. The case settled for a total of $186 million, which was approved by the Court in November 2022. Seaver also was retained by a multiemployer pension fund in another antitrust class action on behalf of end-payor plaintiffs in an MDL alleging a far-reaching conspiracy among more than a dozen drug manufacturers to fix the prices of more than 200 generic drugs. Lending further gravitas to Seaver’s stature in the practice, he had the honor of being appointed to the American Antitrust Institute’s advisory board in May 2024.
In the securities space, the firm is continuing to evolve and expand into areas, such as health, considered outside of its “usual” industries. The firm is also examining an increasing amount of opt-out opportunities for its clients, in addition to the class-action work. A peer notes, “They are getting fewer settlements, but they are getting bigger ones!” San Francisco’s Nicole Lavallee is cheered by a client for her “communication, strategy and expertise in the field.” A peer notes, “I’m seeing her on more securities fraud cases, making motions for lead plaintiff.” Lavallee and Boston-based
Patrick Egan secured a settlement in an action that was brought on behalf of investors in Healthcare Services Group, a provider of housekeeping and laundry services to hospitals and other healthcare service organizations. The action alleged that over the course of several years, defendants issued materially false and misleading statements and failed to disclose “earnings management” practices that allowed Healthcare Services to consistently meet or beat earnings per share estimates that, in turn, caused the price of the company’s stock to be artificially inflated. Further, the plaintiff alleged that the company failed to disclose details of an ongoing SEC investigation into the same allegations. After months of discovery and briefing on the plaintiff’s motion for class certification, the parties reached a settlement for $16.8 million, which was granted final approval in January 2022. Settlement administration is ongoing. Egan, who leads the firm’s privacy group, balances work in this novel area with his securities and antitrust hybrid practice. In April 2024, as lead counsel representing the Oklahoma Police Pension and Retirement System, Egan defeated a motion to dismiss federal securities fraud claims against Inotiv, a research contractor specializing in research and development of pharmaceuticals, and several of its executive officers in a case that alleges concealment of, among other things, pervasive mistreatment of animals. In the wake of the discovery of this, Inotiv’s stock price plummeted. After attempting to downplay the allegations, the defendants ponied up a substantial settlement later that spring.
