Anwar et al v. Fairfield Greenwich Limited et al

Filing 22

MEMORANDUM OF LAW in Support re: #21 MOTION to Appoint Counsel as Interim Co-Lead Counsel for Plaintiffs and the Putative Class. MOTION to Consolidate Cases Subsequently Filed in or Transferred to the Court.. Document filed by Inter-Amrerican Trust, Elvira 1950 Trust, Bonaire Limited, Carlos Gauch, Pasha S. Anwar, Julia Anwar, Pacific West Health Medical Center Inc. Employees Retirement Trust(on Behalf of All Others Similarly Situated). (Attachments: #1 Exhibit A, #2 Exhibit B, #3 Exhibit C, #4 Exhibit D)(Krisiloff, Jody)

EXHIBIT B

LOVELL STEWART HALEBIAN LLP Lovell Stewart Halebian LLP ("LSH") and its predecessors, as Court-appointed lead or co-lead class counsel, have succeeded in obtaining five different class action settlements that recovered, after deduction for all costs and attorneys fees, one hundred cents on each dollar of losses1 of each claiming class member: · · · · · In re NASDAQ Market-Makers Antitrust Litigation, 187 F.R.D. 465, 471 (S.D.N.Y. 1998) ("NASDAQ") ($1,027,000,000); In re Sumitomo Copper Litigation, 74 F. Supp. 2d 393, 395 (S.D.N.Y. 1999) ("Sumitomo") ($149,600,000); Blatt v. Merrill Lynch Fenner & Smith Inc., 94 Civ. 2348 (JAG) (D.N.J.) ("Blatt") ($70,000,000); In re Soybeans Futures Litigation, 89 Civ. 7009 (CRN) (N.D. Ill.) ($21,500,000); and Kaplan v. E.F. Hutton Group, Inc., et al., Civ. Action No. 88-00889 (N.Y. Sup. Ct.) ($8,180,000).

LSH believes that "100¢-on-the-dollar" class action settlements are very rare. We know of no other law firm that has obtained as many "100¢-on-the-dollar" class action settlements. LSH believes that a less important indicator of class action experience, is how the recovery ranks among other settlements under the governing statutory scheme. Three of the above mentioned settlements represented, at the time of approval, the largest class action settlement in the history of the applicable federal statute. See In re NASDAQ Market-Makers Antitrust Litigation, 187 F.R.D. 465, 471 (S.D.N.Y. 1998) ("this all-cash settlement [for $1,027,000,000], achieved through `four years of hard-fought litigation,' apparently is the largest recovery (class action or otherwise) in the hundred year history of the state and federal antitrust laws."); In re Sumitomo Copper Litigation, 74 F. Supp. 2d 393, 395 (S.D.N.Y. 1999) ("The recovery is the largest class action recovery in the 75 plus year history of the Commodity
1

"Losses" means single, actual damages, exclusive of trebling and also exclusive of any prejudgment interest. 1

Exchange Act"); Blatt v. Merrill Lynch Fenner & Smith Inc., 94 Civ. 2348 (JAG) (D.N.J.) ("by far the largest settlement" of class action claims under the Investment Company Act, Securities Class Action Alert letter dated August 17, 2000). We know of no other law firm that has done this either. Also, LSH was one of the Court appointed class counsel in two separate class actions that achieved settlements that represented the second largest class action recovery in the history of the respective statutes: In In re Natural Gas Commodity Litigation, Index No. 03 CV 6186 (VM) (AJP)(S.D.N.Y.), the Firm was appointed as co-lead counsel by the Honorable Victor Marrero and plaintiffs achieved the second largest class action recovery in the history of the CEA ($100,800,000). In In re Brand Name Prescription Drugs Antitrust Litigation, No. 94 C 897 (N.D.

Ill.), the Firm's partner was appointed to the Executive Committee by the Honorable Charles P. Kocoras, and helped achieve the second largest class action settlement up to that time in the history of the federal antitrust laws ($696,657,000 plus other relief). The primary attorneys of LSH and its Bellevue, Washington affiliate, Lovell Mitchell & Barth, are set forth below. I. A. Christopher Lovell: has tried more than sixty cases including more than thirty cases involving investor claims for financial losses under common law breach of fiduciary duty or negligence. has prosecuted more than one hundred class actions since 1980 including many class actions involving hedge fund or mutual fund defendants, e.g., In re Amaranth Natural Gas Commodities Litigation, Master File No. 07 Civ. 6377 (S.D.N.Y.) (SAS) (largest hedge fund collapse in history until the action); Blatt v. Merrill Lynch Fenner & Smith Inc., 94 Civ. 2348 (D.N.J.) (JAG) (alleging variance between investments made and those authorized to be made; largest class action recovery in history of Investment Company Act); Kohen, et al. v. Pacific Investment Management Company LLC, et ano., 05-Civ-4681 (N.D. Ill.) 2

B.

(RAG) (alleging that world's largest bond fund manipulated U.S. Treasury prices). C. D. E. graduated from New York University School of Law in 1976, receiving the Vanderbilt Award; was associated with Beekman & Bogue from 1976 until 1980; has maintained a private law practice since June 1980 including while being employed as Vice-President and General Counsel of a Fortune 500 company, American Bakeries Company, from 1981 until 1983; has an "AV" rating from Martindale Hubbell; was first appointed by a Court as class action or derivative action counsel in 1981; has spoken about securities litigation and antitrust matters to ABA, New York State, PLI and other attorney audiences for the last fifteen years; has prosecuted many securities cases, e.g.: In In re Initial Public Offering Securities Litigation, 21 MC 92 (S.D.N.Y.) (SAS),

F. G. H. I. (1)

the Firm has served as de facto co-lead counsel in these consolidated 308 class actions alleging fraud and manipulation under the federal securities laws. See In re IPO Securities Litigation, 241 F. Supp.2d 281 (S.D.N.Y. 2003) (motions to dismiss these consolidated class actions alleging manipulation and non-disclosure were denied in substantial part and granted in part); 227 F.R.D. 65 (S.D.N.Y. 2004) (motion for class certification of six forms of cases granted). Defendants were allowed to appeal the grant of class certification. Miles v. Merrill Lynch & Co., No. 04-8026 (2d Cir. June 30, 2005). In a decision dated December 5, 2006, the Court of Appeals reversed the District Court and denied class certification. 471 F.3d 24 (2nd Cir. 2006). By an order dated April 6, 2007, the Court of Appeals denied plaintiffs' petition for rehearing and remanded the case to the District Court for further proceedings. Settlement discussions are ongoing. See Chad Bray, A Settlement Looks Possible in IPO Case, THE WALL STREET

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JOURNAL, October 28, 2008, at C7 ("[T]he parties are discussing a settlement with a recovery of less than $700 million."). (Class members should contact the Firm with questions.) (2) In Black v. Finantra Capital, Inc., et al., 01 Civ. 6819 (S.D.N.Y.) (JSR), the Firm successfully tried and obtained a jury verdict for securities fraud. Although the District Court vacated the verdict, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated it, Black v. Finantra, 418 F. 3d 203 (2d Cir. 2005), leading to a settlement on remand before the final judgment was entered. (3) In In re Global Crossing Securities and ERISA Litigation, 225 F.R.D. 436 (S.D.N.Y. 2004), the Firm was appointed to the Executive Committee in this securities fraud class action in which settlements totaling $320 million have been approved. (4) In In re TCW/DW North American Government Income Trust Securities Litigation, 941 F. Supp. 326 (S.D.N.Y. 1996) (95 Civ. 0167)(PKL), the Firm was appointed to the Executive Committee and co-authored the complaint and the successful opposition to the motion to dismiss. This class action for the alleged failure of the prospectus to emphasize that mortgage-based derivative securities contained in portfolio were especially sensitive to extension of maturity dates when interest rates rose was then settled for $30,000,000 which is one of the of the largest settlements under the Investment Company Act. (5) In Fiala, et al. v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, et al., Index No. 601181/00 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. N.Y. County), the Firm was appointed as Chairman of Co-Lead Counsel in this class action alleging fraud and violation of New York Insurance Law in connection with the then largest insurance company demutualization and the then largest initial public offering ever. See Fiala v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., 776 N.Y.S.2d 29 (1st Dep't 2004); Fiala v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., Slip Op., 2006 WL 4682149 (N.Y. Sup. Ct., May 2, 2006 N.Y.

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County) (certifying the class). (Notice has been given and Class members should contact the Firm with questions.) (6) In Blatt v. Merrill Lynch Fenner & Smith Inc., 94 Civ. 2348 (D.N.J.) (JAG), ($70,000,000), the Firm was appointed as co-lead counsel and co-authored the complaint and opposition to the motion to dismiss. After discovery, the case settled for $76.5 million settlement which provided claiming class members, after all attorneys fees and costs had been paid, with a positive return on their investment (exclusive of prejudgment interest), and is the largest class action recovery under the Investment Company Act, 15 U.S.C. § 80a-1, et seq. J. In 1983, successfully tried and obtained a jury verdict for virtually all of the

requested damages (and later upheld such verdict on appeal) on what was reportedly the first commodity futures manipulation claim to be tried under the amended Commodity Exchange Act (which created the CFTC and took effect in 1975) as well as on an accompanying price fixing claim. Strobl v. New York Mercantile Exch., 582 F.Supp. 770 (S.D.N.Y. 1984), aff'd, 768 F.2d 22 (2d Cir. 1985)), cert. denied sub nom., Simplot v. Strobl, 474 U.S. 1006 (1985) (after the Department of Justice decided not to bring price-fixing claims under the federal antitrust laws and after the CFTC lost a trial seeking to prove attempted manipulation, the Firm tried and won claims for price fixing and manipulation in a three-week jury trial);2 and K. Has argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in and otherwise prosecuted other

notable class actions: e.g.: In Billing v. Credit Suisse First Boston Ltd., 287 F.Supp.2d 497 (S.D.N.Y. 2003) (dismissing complaint), vacated, 426 F.3d 130 (2d Cir. 2005) ("epic Wall Street conspiracy")
2

At the conclusion of the trial record, the Honorable Lloyd F. MacMahon stated to Mr. Lovell and Defendants' counsel, Peter Fleming, Jr., Esq.: "You both tried a very difficult case very well." 5

(vacating dismissal and remanding for further proceedings), reversed, 127 S.Ct. 2383 (2007), the Firm was appointed Chairman of Co-Lead Counsel in this class action alleging price fixing and manipulation of the spreads of securities. Although the Firm obtained a unanimous decision from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals vacating the dismissal of the claims, the United States Supreme Court reversed. (Christopher Lovell presented Respondents' entire thirty minute argument to the United States Supreme Court). In In re Dynamic Random Access Memory ("DRAM") Antitrust Litigation, MDL No. 1486 (N.D. Cal.), the Firm served as a member of the Executive Committee in this price-fixing class action in which settlements totaling $325,000,000 were obtained for the class. In Leider v. Ralfe, No. 01 Civ. 3137 (S.D.N.Y., later transferred to D.N.J.), the Firm filed the first class action on behalf of consumers alleging price fixing and monopolization by DeBeers in violation of the antitrust laws. The Firm was named sole class counsel for the certified class. Leider v. Ralfe, 2003 WL 22339305 (S.D.N.Y. 2003) (HB) (certifying for class treatment plaintiffs' claims for injunctive relief under the Wilson Tariff Act and Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act). The Firm prosecuted the claims of the certified class until the conclusion of an evidentiary hearing on injunctive relief. On the day before the hearing was to end, De Beers made settlements with other class actions. These settlements were then amended and enhanced to include the Leider case with the other class actions. The amended settlements were later again amended and enhanced resulting in settlements totaling $295,000,000 and substantial injunctive relief for the class. See Sullivan, et al. v. DB Investments, Inc., No. 04-cv-02819SRC-MAS (D.N.J. May 22, 2008) (Final Judgment Order, entered May 27, 2008 (Docket Item No. 306)).

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In In re Air Cargo Shipping Services Antitrust Litigation, 06 MD 1775 (E.D.N.Y.) (CBA), the Firm was appointed U.S. indirect purchaser co-lead counsel on claims alleging price fixing in violation of antitrust and consumer protection laws. One of the thirty-seven defendants has agreed to settle the claims alleged here for $85,000,000. A recommendation has been made to dismiss most of the indirect purchaser claims. The objections to this recommendation are now before the District Court. In In re Soybeans Futures Litigation, 89 Civ. 7009 (CRN) (N.D. Ill.), the Firm served as Chairman of Co-Lead Counsel alleging commodity futures manipulation class action which was settled for $21,500,000 which provided claiming class members, after all attorneys' fees and costs had been paid, with all losses due under plaintiffs' expert's formula (exclusive of prejudgment interest). In Dennison v. BP Products North America, Inc. ("Propane Antitrust"), No. 06 C 3541 (N.D. Ill.), the Firm was appointed Chairman of co-lead counsel on these claims alleging manipulation and price-fixing of propane in violation of the antitrust laws (an as yet non-public agreement in principle to settle this action has been reached). In In re Microsoft Corp. Antitrust Litigation, MDL No. 1332 (D. Md.), the Firm was appointed co-lead counsel in this antitrust litigation which resulted in a partial settlement of the federal claims and many partial settlements of the state antitrust claims. The Firm persistently represented the class and the interests of prospective class members for seven years, including extensive involvement in discovery and preparation for trial (a settlement averted trial). The Firm acted as sole appeal counsel for prospective class members in two separate appeals to the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Kloth v. Microsoft Corp., 444 F.3d 312 (4th Cir. 2006); In re Microsoft Corp. Antitrust Litigation, 355 F.3d 322 (4th Cir. 2004). 7

In Kohen, et al. v. Pacific Investment Management Company LLC, et ano., 05-Civ4681 (N.D. Ill.) (RAG)("PIMCO"), the Firm was named as sole lead counsel in a disputed lead counsel motion for this class action alleging manipulation of U.S. Treasury note futures contracts. See Minute Order, dated December 6, 2005 (Docket Entry No. 38) ("Lovell Stewart has more experience in handling class actions and claims of the type asserted in this action. Lovell Stewart was lead counsel in In re Sumitomo Copper Litigation, 74 F. Supp. 2d 393, 395 (S.D.N.Y.), the largest class action recovery in the over seventy-five year history of the Commodity Exchange Act, was co-lead counsel in In re Soybeans Futures Litigation, 89 C 7009 (N.D. Ill.), and has litigated roughly eleven commodity manipulation claims since 1977. . . . In addition, due to Lovell Stewart's depth of experience in litigating commodity futures manipulation cases, the Court also finds that it has amassed comparatively more knowledge of the applicable law peculiar to such claims."). In PIMCO, Defendants' motion to dismiss has been denied and class certification has been granted by District Court. Kohen v. Pacific Investment Management Co. LLC, 244 F.R.D. 469 (N.D. Ill. 2007). Discovery has concluded. The action was stayed to permit non-binding mediation before the Honorable Daniel Weinstein. See Minute Order, entered February 12, 2008 (Docket Item No. 380). That stay has since been lifted and a F.R.Civ.P. Rule 23(f) appeal is pending in the United States Court of Appeal for the Seventh Circuit. (Class members may contact the Firm for more information.) II. A. B. C. Gary S. Jacobson: was named Valedictorian of John Randolph Tucker High School, Class of 1968; is a 1972 graduate of Yale (with Honors), and a 1976 graduate of the University of Virginia Law School (Law Review 1974-76); has been litigating antitrust cases since 1976, has tried more than twenty-five cases, and has an "AV" rating from Martindale-Hubbell; and 8

D.

has extensive experience in prosecuting antitrust and commodity futures manipulation class actions including arguing the motion to dismiss in Sumitomo (see fn 1), and preparing the Class Certification Brief, the Reply Brief on Class Certification, and the Second Circuit Brief in Opposition to the Petition for Review of plaintiffs' successful class motion in Natural Gas supra, 231 F.R.D. 171 (S.D.N.Y. 2005), petition for review denied, (2d Cir. August 1, 2006). Victor E. Stewart:

III. A. B. C.

was named Valedictorian of St. Marks School Class of 1968; is a 1972 graduate of Yale, B.A., a 1975 graduate of Harvard Business School, M.B.A., and a 1979 graduate of the University of Virginia Law School, J.D.; and has extensive experience in prosecuting securities and commodity futures manipulation claims. This includes second chairing the Strobl trial conducting many depositions in Sumitomo, (see fn 1 supra), and serving as one of three supervising attorneys in charge of document and deposition discovery in In re IPO Sec. Litig., 21 MC 92 (S.D.N.Y.) (SAS) ("IPO Securities")(alleging securities manipulation). Jody Krisiloff:

IV. A. B. C. D.

is a 1976 graduate of Mount Holyoke College, B.A., summa cum laude; is a 1979 graduate of Columbia University School of Law, J.D.; has more than twenty-five years' experience with commercial and securities litigation, including litigating primarily class actions since 1991; and has acted as Chairperson of Co-Lead Counsel for the Firm in Fiala v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., 6 A.D.3d 320, 776 N.Y.S.2d 29 (1st Dep't 2004)("MetLife")(challenging what was at the time the largest demutualization of a mutual insurance company). John Halebian:

V. A.

graduated from Georgetown University (A.B., 1974) and Villanova Law School (J.D. 1977) where he served on the Law Review (1975-77) as a Case and comments Editor and as Editor-in-chief of The Docket, the law school newspaper; since graduating from law school in 1977, has specialized in federal and state corporate and commercial litigation with an emphasis on class actions and securities litigation; was appointed to the Executive Committee in In re Global Crossing Securities 9

B.

C.

and ERISA Litig., 225 F.R.D. 436 (S.D.N.Y. 2004) (three settlements totaling $320 million); D. served as lead or co-lead counsel or as a member of an executive or steering committee in many other class action shareholder litigations around the country that have been successfully prosecuted to conclusion; and a. prosecuted, defended and tried to conclusion several complex commercial and securities fraud litigations on behalf of individual claimants and companies before the New York Stock Exchange, the National Association of Securities Dealers and the American Arbitration Association. These actions generally involved brokerage customer claims of churning or unsuitable investments, and corporate wrongdoing. VI. A. Peggy J. Wedgworth: was named Valedictorian of Trinity Episcopal Day School, Class of 1979; is a 1986 graduate of the University of Alabama School of Law; and placed second in the National Moot Court Competition conducted by the Association of the Bar of the City of New York; tried more than twenty-five criminal cases as an Assistant District Attorney in Brooklyn, New York from 1986 to 1989; has litigated class actions since 1989 including extensive experience with this firm in commodity manipulation and price fixing class actions; and has repeatedly conducted or defended expert discovery in commodity futures manipulation and antitrust class actions. Ian T. Stoll: A. B. C. VIII. A. graduated from the University of California at Berkeley, A.B., in 1987 and the State University of New York, Buffalo School of Law, J.D., in 1996; is admitted to practice in New York and before the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York; and has been associated with this firm since 1998. Craig M. Essenmacher: is a 1997 graduate of Michigan State University - DCL summa cum laude; and in 1994 and 1989 a PhD of Philosophy in Chemistry and a B.S. in Chemistry, respectively, from Michigan State University, the recipient of the Jurisprudence 10

B. C. D. VII.

Award, King Scholarship Program, Alumni Scholarship Award, natural Resources Scholarship Award; B. admitted to practice in the State of Michigan, before the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, and before the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit; and has been associated with this Firm since 2005.

C.

Other attorneys in the Firm are: IX. A. B. C. D. X. A. B. C. D. Adam C. Mayes: is a graduate of Yale University, cum laude, B.A. 1985, and of the University of California, Berkeley, M.A. (Asian Studies) and J.D. 1993; studied at Chiang Mai University, Thailand, and was Legislative Assistant to Members of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, 1993-1997; admitted to practice in California and New York; and has been associated with this Firm since 2005, working primarily on securities disclosure and derivative actions. Merrick Scott Rayle received his law degree from Indiana University in 1970, where he was a member of the Indiana Law Review; served as a Law Clerk to the Hon. Roy L. Stephenson, Circuit Judge, 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, 1970-72; has nearly thirty years' experience in complex commercial litigation, trials, and appeals, including trying over twenty-five cases; and has extensive experience with this Firm since 2001 in prosecuting commodity futures and securities manipulation class actions. Imtiaz A. Siddiqui: A. is a graduate of Tulane Law School, J.D., 2003, cum laude, where he was Editor in Chief of the Tulane Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property and Student Attorney for the Tulane Civil Litigation Law Clinic;

XI.

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B.

was admitted to practice in the State of New York in 2004, and before the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York in 2005; and has been associated with this Firm since 2006, working primarily on briefing in various securities and antitrust class actions. Keith Essenmacher:

C. XII. A. B. C. D. XIII. A. B. C.

is a graduate of Michigan State University in 1995; is a graduate of Michigan State University Law, J.D. 2000; was admitted to practice in the State of Michigan in 2000, and before the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in February 2001; and has conducted electronic and other document discovery in class actions, and prosecuted and tried various individual actions. Christopher M. McGrath: is a 2001 graduate of the University at Missouri, B.A. (with Honors); is a 2004 graduate of the University of Missouri, J.D.; was admitted to practice in New York in 2005; and a. has worked with this Firm since 2005 almost exclusively on commodity futures manipulation cases (Natural Gas and Pimco) and MetLife. Lovell, Mitchell & Barth

XIV.

Steven C. Mitchell

Steve focuses on advising pension funds and institutional investors. Prior to joining Lovell Mitchell & Barth, Steve was a partner at a national firm where he assisted with the actions leading to the 1998 $206 billion "Master Settlement Agreement" with big tobacco. He also held the position of chief counsel of the trial bureau in the office of the Arizona attorney general. As chief counsel, Steve prosecuted and supervised major cases involving civil and criminal racketeering, political crimes, murder and fraud. His many successes earned him the title of Arizona Attorney General Prosecutor of the Year in 1992. While working as an assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Arizona, Steve served as senior trial attorney and lead counsel to prosecute a group of radical environmentalists who conspired to sabotage a nuclear generating station and a nuclear weapons facility. XV. Karl P. Barth 12

Karl represents investors seeking to protect assets and recover investment losses from companies engaged in securities and accounting wrongdoing. Prior to starting the Bellevue office of LM&B, Karl was a partner at another national firm specializing in securities class action litigation. Formerly, he was a Senior Consultant at a national financial consulting firm specializing in expert witness testimony on accounting and financial issues. Karl has performed the preliminary investigation and drafted the initial complaint in numerous high-profile securities fraud cases that have won large recoveries for his clients against 12 companies such as Boeing, Einstein Noah Bagel Corp., Identix, Midcom Communications, Midisoft, Oppenheimer Delta Partners, Pepsi Puerto Rico Bottling Co., PriceCostco, Templeton Vietnam Opportunities Fund and Wall Data. These cases typically assert claims against the officers and directors of the corporate defendant, its outside auditors, and other responsible parties and involve sophisticated financial and accounting issues. Karl has worked on the legal, financial and accounting aspects of numerous cases, including the following representative sample: · In the Identix litigation, Karl had primary responsibility for his firm's position as colead counsel in this securities fraud case that was filed in the Northern District of California. Karl researched the legal, accounting and factual aspects of the complaint, which included allegations that the Company falsified revenues in its financial statements in violation of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ("GAAP") and SEC regulations. The case settled for a large percentage of estimated losses, and the recovered money has been distributed to class members; · In the Pepsi Puerto Rico Bottling case, Karl performed the initial analysis and drafted the initial complaint on behalf of an institutional investor acting as a class representative for all injured investors. The case involved allegations of fraudulent financial reporting, and was resolved on very favorable terms for the class; · In Boston Chicken Securities Litigation, Karl uncovered Boston Chicken's complex financial accounting and reporting structure and revealed massive fraud to shareholders and bondholders. Karl drafted and filed the first securities fraud complaint against the company, its' officers, accountants and underwriters; and · In the Morrison Knudsen Securities Litigation, Karl investigated the widespread accounting and auditing improprieties committed by MK and its independent auditor and prepared an amended complaint making detailed allegations of the accounting misconduct by the Company, and audit misconduct by its independent accountant. Shortly after this amended complaint was filed, the case settled for approximately $70 million, including a multimillion dollar settlement from the auditor, making it one of largest securities settlements in the history of the Pacific Northwest. Karl graduated from Georgetown University Law Center, and from the University of Virginia with a B.S. in Accounting. Karl is a licensed Certified Public Accountant and a 13

Certified Fraud Examiner. He is admitted to practice in various state and federal courts throughout the country. XVI. Richard L. Sullivan

Richard received a B.A. degree with honors from the University of South Carolina and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. He focuses on client development. XVII. Keri L. Greenheck

Keri received her law degree from Lewis & Clark Law School and is admitted to practice in California and Washington. Keri previously worked at Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach where she specialized in class action securities litigation. Later, she worked for Hagens Berman LLP where she again specialized in class action securities litigation, working on cases against Sonus Pharmaceuticals, Boston Chicken and Boeing, among others. XVIII. Dennis Cotto

Mr. Cotto has over 20 years of legal experience in federal contracting, securities, real estate and corporate law. Mr. Cotto holds a Bachelors Degree from Hampshire College, Amherst, Massachusetts and a Juris Doctorate Degree from the Georgetown University Law Center. He is a member in good standing of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, the District of Columbia Bar Association, and the United States Supreme Court.

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