ROCKVILLE, Md., May 4 – LAWFUEL – Institutional Shareholder Services
(ISS), the world’s leading provider of proxy voting and corporate governance
services, today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Securities Class
Action Services (SCAS), has released its list of the top 50 plaintiffs’ law
firms ranked by the total dollar amount of final securities class action
settlements occurring in 2003 in which the law firms served as lead or co-lead
counsel.
ISS’s Securities Class Action Services maintains the industry’s most
comprehensive database on securities class action litigation and provides
professional monitoring and claims filing services to investment managers
whose clients have a stake in class action suits. The top five law firms on
this year’s “SCAS 50” list include Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach;
Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossman; Grant & Eisenhofer; Goodkind Labaton
Rudoff & Sucharow; and Barrack, Rodos & Bacine.
SCAS 50 LAW FIRM SETTLEMENT # of AVERAGE
RANK TOTAL SETTLEMENTS
1 Milberg Weiss Bershad
Hynes & Lerach $2,111,824,250 65 $32,489,604
2 Bernstein Litowitz
Berger & Grossman $950,250,000 9 $105,583,333
3 Grant & Eisenhofer $610,500,000 3 $203,500,000
4 Goodkind Labaton
Rudoff & Sucharow $551,000,000 3 $183,666,667
5 Barrack, Rodos & Bacine $390,150,000 5 $78,030,000
“Securities class action settlement amounts were at near-historic levels
in 2003, at more than $3.1 billion” said Bruce Carton, executive director of
SCAS. “The firms on our ‘SCAS 50′ list led the charge, with one firm, Milberg
Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach, having a hand in more than two-thirds of last
year’s settlement dollars.”
While Milberg Weiss obtained more than $2 billion in total settlements and
ranks the highest on the SCAS 50 list, the firm of Bernstein Litowitz Berger &
Grossman achieved the highest average settlement amount among law firms with
at least 5 settlements, at $105.5 million per suit. “The average settlement
amount is an important measure because it is an indicator of which law firms
are consistently bringing and settling high-impact cases,” added Carton.
RANK SCAS 50 LAW FIRM SETTLEMENT # of AVERAGE
RANK TOTAL SETTLEMENTS
1 2 Bernstein Litowitz
Berger & Grossman $950,250,000 9 $105,583,333
2 5 Barrack, Rodos
& Bacine $390,150,000 5 $78,030,000
3 10 Wolf Popper $209,300,000 6 $34,883,333
4 1 Milberg Weiss Bershad
Hynes & Lerach $2,111,824,250 65 $32,489,604
5 9 Wolf Haldenstein
Alder Freeman & Herz $218,876,000 8 $24,852,889
Six of the top ten plaintiffs’ firms ranked by Securities Class Action
Services utilize ISS’s database to monitor class action suits and gain access
to important claims and settlement information. With 15 years of history and
more than 3,400 cases tracked, ISS’ database also serves as an important
compliance tool for asset managers who view it as their fiduciary duty to file
claims in class action settlements on behalf of their investment clients.
Over 100 financial institutions utilize ISS’ database or complete claims
filing service to fulfill this duty.
A copy of the full SCAS 50 report, including a description of the
methodology used to prepare the report, is available at:
http://www.issproxy.com/scas50/ . ISS’s Securities Class Action Services
plans to release this ranking on an annual basis.
About Institutional Shareholder Services
ISS is the world’s leading provider of proxy voting and corporate
governance services. ISS provides proxy research, vote recommendations and
governance advisory services to financial institutions worldwide. Founded in
1985, ISS is headquartered in Maryland and has offices in New York, London,
Toronto, Tokyo and Chicago. Securities Class Action Services (SCAS), a
wholly-owned subsidiary of ISS, maintains the leading database on securities
class action litigation and SEC settlements. SCAS also provides a completely
outsourced claims filing service for institutional clients. Founded in 1988,
SCAS is located in the ISS headquarters in Rockville, Maryland.
