Pomerantz Partner Michael J. Wernke has an exceptional success rate of defeating defendants’ motions to dismiss. Having spent almost ten years on the defense side of securities class actions, including litigating two class action trials that went to jury verdict, Michael has a unique understanding of his adversaries’ strategies as well as class action litigation as whole.
Michael led the Firm’s precedent-setting litigation of Pirnik v. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. et al. (2019). Plaintiffs alleged that Fiat Chrysler concealed from investors that it improperly outfitted its diesel vehicles with “defeat device” software designed to cheat NOx emissions regulations in the U.S. and Europe, and that regulators had accused Fiat Chrysler of violating emissions regulations. The Firm, as Lead Counsel, achieved a $110 million settlement for the Class, representing as much as 20% of recoverable damages, far in excess of the typical rate of recovery in securities class actions of 1.6% to 3.3%. In addition to the favorable recovery, Michael’s arguments to the court established an important precedent that advances investors’ ability to obtain critical information from federal regulators during discovery.
Michael also led the Firm’s securities class action against tobacco giant Altria Group, Inc., achieving a $90 million settlement on behalf of the class of injured investors in 2022. The case concerned Altria’s investment in JUUL Labs, Inc., the leading e-cigarette manufacturer, and Altria’s failure to disclose JUUL’s deliberate marketing of highly addictive nicotine products to children. Altria is the first case to present a fact pattern that had previously only been suggested as viable in dicta by circuit courts. In securing this precedent-setting decision, Michael has forged a new path for investor rights, while simultaneously addressing key ESG issues.
Michael, with Managing Partner Jeremy A. Lieberman, led the Firm’s individual actions against Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. The complaints alleged that, while touting Teva’s robust revenue growth, defendants went to great lengths to conceal the true driver of that growth—collusion with competitors to raise the prices of their generic drug portfolio. Teva is a dual-listed company and the Firm represents several Israeli institutional investors who purchased Teva shares on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. In early 2021, Pomerantz achieved a major victory for global investors when the district court agreed to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the Israeli law claims. In late 2023 and early 2024, Michael achieved favorable, confidential settlements between Teva and each of the Firm's institutional investor clients
Michael received his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2004. He also holds a B.S. in Mathematics and a B.A. in Political Science from Ohio State University, where he graduated summa cum laude.
He serves on the Firm’s Anti-Harassment and Discrimination Committee.
Michael was named one of Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers in 2023, and in 2020 and 2021, Michael was honored as a Super Lawyers® “Top Rated Securities Litigation Attorney.” He was also named a 2020 Plaintiffs’ Lawyer Trailblazer by the National Law Journal, an award created to “honor a handful of individuals from each practice area that are truly agents of change.”
Updated Oct 2024
