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Plaintiff Cases

  • RTN lawyers recently completed a settlement of a class action lawsuit that will result in the recovery of $25 million for clients who had 401(k) retirement plans through Merrill Lynch. The amounts recovered will reimburse the clients for excess sales charges on mutual fund investments purchased from Merrill Lynch and includes a return of profits that Merrill Lynch had made from these sales. Merrill Lynch had previously agreed to pay nearly $80 million to these clients through a settlement with its regulator that was supposed to have returned all excess sales charges paid by the clients. The $25 million recovered by RTN and its co-counsel is in addition to the amounts Merrill Lynch had previously paid.
  • RTN attorneys also recovered over $15 million for state employees who lost retirement benefits by following the advice of a broker-dealer who misled multiple state employees regarding the benefits available to them under the state retirement system. The settlement was negotiated after five cases were tried in FINRA arbitration over a 10-month period.
  • Represented one of the world’s largest insurance companies as plaintiff in an auditing malpractice case against one of the “big three” accounting firms. The four week trial resulted in a jury verdict and judgment of in excess of $14 million in favor of our client. The judgment was affirmed on appeal by the United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, and later satisfied in full. The appellate decision in the case is reported as Travelers Casualty & Surety Co. v. Ernst & Young LLP, 542 F.3d 475 (5th Cir. 2008).
  • Represented insurance company as plaintiff in a case against the former officers and directors of a failed ship building company involving multi-million dollar claims for misrepresenting the financial condition of the company. The case was settled for $8 Million prior to trial.
  • Represented 19 different farmers in a products liability claim against a Fortune 10 conglomerate. The lawsuits involving crop damage caused by a fungicide were litigated all over the State of Florida. In one case, the Court entered an order striking the defendant’s pleadings. This order led to what the defendant admitted to be the most favorable settlements it ever paid out, a total in excess of $59 Million
  • Represented the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the FDIC) in a negligence action brought in Federal District Court in South Florida against the former directors and officers of a failed South Florida financial institution. The four-week trial yielded a jury verdict for the FDIC in excess of $18 Million. Prior to trial, obtained in excess of $4 Million in settlements with other directors. Also represented the FDIC in the ensuing successful appeal. The case, FDIC v. Stahl, 89 F. 3d 1510 (11th Cir. 1996) is the leading case on the interplay between the standard of care to which officers and directors are held and the business judgment rule.
  • Represented clients as claimants in several arbitration matters involving accounting malpractice claims that have resulted in over $7 million collected by clients through arbitration awards and settlements.
  • Represented a Peruvian company in a breach of distributorship agreement claim against a large multi-national manufacturer of consumer electronics. A three-week trial yielded a jury verdict in the amount of $5.35 Million. The case was later settled while on appeal.
  • Represented the FDIC in a negligence action against the former officers and directors of a failed financial institution located in South Florida. The claim was settled by the FDIC prior to trial for in excess of $5 Million.
  • Represented the FDIC in many commercial mortgage foreclosure actions including one that involved, in part, a mortgage on allegedly submerged state lands. Case resulted in a settlement of over $7 Million to the FDIC and a recovery of the full amount of the principal loaned by the failed bank at the depths of the 1990’s real estate downturn.