Today we released our fifth annual "SCAS 50" report.

Based on data from the SCAS database, the SCAS 50 lists the top 50 plaintiffs' law firms ranked by the total dollar amount of final securities class action settlements occurring in 2007 in which the law firm served as lead or co-lead counsel.

We look at the data in three main ways for each firm - total settlement dollars, total number of settlements, and average value per settlement. I have listed the top five firms in each category below.

The full report is available here.

2007's Top 5 - Total settlement value:

1. Milberg Weiss
2. Grant & Eisenhofer
3. Schiffrin Barroway Topaz & Kessler
4. Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins
5. Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann

2007's Top 5 - Average settlement value:

1. Grant & Eisenhofer
2. Milberg Weiss
3. Labaton Sucharow
4. Schiffrin Barroway Topaz & Kessler
5. Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann

2007's Top 5 - Number of settlements:

1. Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins
2. Schiffrin Barroway Topaz & Kessler
3. Milberg Weiss
4. Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann
5. Weiss & Lurie
5. Cohen Milstein Hausfeld & Toll

A few observations.

1. Comparing the 2007 numbers to last year's rankings, we see that settlement values do indeed seem to be rising. The cutoff for the Top 20 last year - $94.1 million; For this year - $148.5 million. The increase cascades all the way to the end of the list, where last year $8.5 million would get you on the list, but this year, the price of admission is $17.5 million.

2. It is somewhat surprising to see Bernstein Litowitz in the top 5 for the number of settlements (as opposed to dollar value or average) as the firm is known to be very selective in choosing cases, and thus is potentially involved in fewer cases at any given time.

3. This is the first time that both Cohen Milstein and Weiss & Lurie have been ranked in the top 5 for one of our categories. One might ordinarily say that it is nice to see some fresh faces at the top, but both firms (or their predecessor firms) are old stalwarts in the plaintiffs bar. We have yet to see any of the truly new faces in securities litigation (Motley Rice, Kahn Gauthier, etc.) high up on these rankings.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

And the envelope please...

Earlier today we released our first-ever Securities Class Action Services (SCAS) 50 Power Rankings report, which highlights the top 50 plaintiffs law firms by dollar value of securities class action settlements and number of securities class action settlements from 2003 to 2006 in which the law firms served as lead or co-lead counsel.

The report is based on SCAS 50 data from the past four years, since we began publishing the SCAS 50 reports on an annual basis, but introduces the SCAS 50 Power Rankings, which are based on the position of each firm for each SCAS 50 survey year. The top five firms in the SCAS 50 Power Rankings were:

1. Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossman
2. Milberg Weiss
3. Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins
4. Barrack, Rodos & Bacine
5. Grant & Eisenhofer

Bernstein Litowitz also has the distinction of having placed first or second in each of the previous four surveys.

We also looked at the cumulative dollar value of securities class action settlements from 2003 to 2006. The top five law firms by settlement value were:

1. Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins
2. Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossman
3. Barrack, Rodos & Bacine
4. Millberg Weiss
5. Heins Mills & Olson

Of interest, Heins Mills & Olson made the list largely on the strength of a single settlement - the $2.5 Billion AOL Time Warner settlement in 2006. That settlement is one of the five largest securities class action settlements since the PSLRA was enacted.

The top ten firms in terms of number of settlements accounted for more than sixty percent of the securities class action settlements during 2003 to 2006. The top five law firms in terms of number of securities class action settlements were:

1. Millberg Weiss
2. Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins.
3. Schiffrin, Barroway, Topaz & Kessler
4. Berger & Montague
5. Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossman.

The full report is available here, Download file.

Thanks to the entire SCAS research team for the assistance and a special thanks to Brad Horgos for pulling the laboring oar on this report.

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Wednesday, March 2, 2005

Introducing the SCAS Top 100 Settlements Report

Yesterday, ISS' Securities Class Action Services released a new report listing the Top 100 securities class action settlements of all-time.  The report, which will be updated quarterly, provides key information about each settlement including year, amount, court, lead counsel, claims administrator and other information. 

Some quick observations:

• The "low end" for inclusion in the Top 100 now stands at $40 million.
• A $100 million settlement will put you at # 38 on the list.
• 12 of the top 15 settlements have come since the year 2000.

For a snapshot of the Top 25, please click here.

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Monday, November 1, 2004

SCAS Database Free Trial

From time to time we like to offer a free trial of the SCAS Database and email alert service as a thank you to Securities Litigation Watch readers, and we are doing so again now for readers who respond this week.

The SCAS database tracks securities class actions going back over a decade, and can be searched in many powerful ways such as by law firm; court (Circuit, District, State); case status (active, settled, disbursed, dismissed); filing date; settlement date; dismissal date or combinations of any of the above (e.g., all active cases that Milberg Weiss filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland between February 5, 2000 and March 13, 2002).

The SCAS database also provides real-time email alerts (with 24-hour/day coverage) whenever new cases are filed, cases are settled, or other key events, as well as copies of Complaints, Settlement Notices and Claim Forms.

To request the free trial, kindly send an email to scas@issproxy.com with the word "TRIAL" in the subject line, along with the following contact information:

Name
Organization
Address
Phone

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Thursday, March 4, 2004

SCAS Webcast March 17

ISS's Securities Class Action Services will hold its first-ever "webcast" on March 17, 2004. The subject will be fiduciary responsibilities and best practices for institutional investors with respect to monitoring and filing claims in securities class actions. The webcast is free and open to anyone who is interested. It will be led by Sidney Liebesman, a partner with the law firm of Grant & Eisenhofer, and myself.

For further details, please see the invitation below or click here. Please join us!

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Wednesday, January 14, 2004

SCAS Database Free Trial: Updated

Response to my prior post concerning a free trial of the SCAS Database has been tremendous. The free trial is still available to Securities Litigation Watch readers who respond this week. To request the free trial, kindly send an email to scas@issproxy.com with the word "TRIAL" in the subject line, along with the following contact information:

Name
Organization
Address
Phone

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Monday, January 12, 2004

SCAS Database

Today, ISS's Securities Class Action Services released the newest version of its SCAS database, which tracks thousands of securities class actions going back over a decade. The recent enhancements allow users to search the database in powerful new ways, such as by:

--law firm;
--court (Circuit, District, State);
--case status (active, settled, disbursed, dismissed)
--filing date;
--settlement date;
--dismissal date

or combinations of any of the above (e.g., all active cases that Milberg Weiss filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland between February 5, 2000 and March 13, 2002).

The SCAS database also provides real-time email alerts (with 24-hour/day coverage) whenever new cases are filed, cases are settled, or other key events, as well as copies of Complaints, Settlement Notices and Claim Forms.

As a thank you to Securities Litigation Watch readers, I would like to offer a free trial of the new SCAS database to anyone who is interested in checking it out. Send an email to scas@issproxy.com with the word "TRIAL" in the caption and I will send you a user name and password. [Update: Please also include the following basic contact information--Name; Organization; Address; Phone].

Thanks,

Bruce Carton
Executive Director--SCAS

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