Southern District of New York

Grant & Eisenhofer represents a class of third-party payors who spent billions of dollars on unwarranted prescriptions as a result of Pfizer’s illegal efforts to influence doctors to prescribe Lipitor for unapproved uses. While it is not illegal for doctors to prescribe drugs for off-label uses, a drug company that promotes off-label usage, also known as off-label marketing, is breaking the law.

Northern District of Illinois

Grant & Eisenhofer represents the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana as lead plaintiff in a class action against Hollinger International Inc., accusing corporate officers and directors of the newspaper publisher of filing false and misleading financial statements with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The suit alleges violations of federal and state securities laws, breaches of fiduciary duty and misrepresentation, claiming that shareholders were misled into buying or holding shares. G&E has entered into a tentative settlement with Hollinger that is awaiting approval from the Court.

United States Supreme Court

Grant & Eisenhofer represented the pension funds of the City of New York, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS), Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association (LACERA) and the New York State Common Retirement Fund (NYSCRF) as Counsel for Amici Curiae before the Supreme Court of the United States.

Southern District of New York

Grant & Eisenhofer achieved a $400 million settlement on behalf of the Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio, the State Teachers’ Retirement System of Ohio, the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation and the State of New Jersey’s Division of Investment who served as lead plaintiffs. The case stemmed from allegations that Marsh & McLennan, its officers, directors, auditors and underwriters participated in a fraudulent scheme involving bid-rigging and secret agreements to steer business to certain insurance companies in exchange for kick-back commissions.

Southern District of New York

Grant & Eisenhofer represents Hermes Focus Asset Management Europe, Ltd. as lead plaintiff in a class action arising out of a multi-billion dollar fraud at Parmalat, which the Securities and Exchange Commission has described as “one of the largest and most brazen corporate financial frauds in history.” The court has denied motions to dismiss filed by the company’s auditors, including their international affiliates. A settlement was reached with Parmalat and two investment banks, bringing total investor recovery to approximately $90 million.

Southern District of New York

Grant & Eisenhofer represents Pacific Investment Management Company LLC (PIMCO) as co-lead plaintiff in a securities class action suit. The suit alleges that certain officers and directors of Refco, Inc., as well as other defendants including the company’s auditor and the underwriter of Refco’s securities, violated the federal securities law in connection with the purchase of Refco stock and bonds. Partial settlements to date total $140 million.

District of South Carolina

Grant & Eisenhofer represented numerous public and private funds in a federal securities class action and a series of related individual actions against former officers, directors, auditors and underwriters of Safety-Kleen Corporation who allegedly made false and misleading statements in connection with the sale and issuance of bonds. This was the fifth securities class action to go to trial since the passage of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. At the conclusion of trial, the court entered judgments in the amount of $192 million against Safety-Kleen Corporation’s former CEO and CFO. Settlements totaling $84 million were reached with the company’s outside directors and auditor, bringing the total in judgments and settlements to $276 million.

District of Delaware

Grant & Eisenhofer represented the Florida State Board of Administration as lead plaintiff in this action on behalf of former Chrysler shareholders who exchanged their shares for stock in the new DiamlerChrysler AG, formed in the so-called “merger of equals” between Chrysler and Daimler-Benz. The class claimed that the defendants concealed their true intent to acquire Chrysler as a mere division of Daimler, depriving former Chrysler stockholders of a fair acquisition premium for their shares. Shortly before trial, the defendants agreed to settle the case for $300 million in cash, among the largest securities class action settlements since the enactment of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act.

Eastern District of Michigan

Grant & Eisenhofer represented Deka Investment GmbH and Deka International SA in a securities class action against General Motors and its auditor, Deloitte & Touche LLP, alleging misleading financial reports dating back to 2000. In 2005, investors filed securities class actions in federal court in New York and derivative actions in federal court in Detroit. G&E’s international clients were appointed co-lead plaintiffs in the case, which was consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. The selection of G&E’s clients as co-lead plaintiffs in this case is significant as it indicates that courts are increasingly protecting the interests of both foreign and domestic shareholders. A settlement was reached with GM for $277 million, with GM’s auditor, Deloitte & Touche contributing an additional $26 million. The combined $303 million settlement ranked among the largest shareholder recoveries of 2008.

Southern District of New York

Grant & Eisenhofer represents the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System and the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio as lead plaintiffs in a securities fraud class action against Global Crossing, Ltd. involving the failed business plan of the telecom company and the eventual swapping of telecom capacity with other telecom companies. G&E obtained various partial settlements in the case, totaling $448 million. Among the settlements G&E obtained were settlements with Global Crossing’s former officer and directors, including its former Chairman and founder, Gary Winnick, from whom G&E obtained a personal contribution of $30 million. G&E also obtained settlements with Global Crossing’s former auditor, Arthur Andersen LLP, former outside counsel and a number of investment banks that underwrote public offerings during the class period.

Eastern District of Michigan

Grant & Eisenhofer represents Dutch pension fund Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP as lead plaintiff in a consolidated class action against Delphi Corp. Defendants include Delphi directors and officers in addition to the company’s accounting firm, Deloitte & Touche. The resulting settlement agreements total more than $325 million and include $204 million from Delphi Corp, $80 million from Delphi’s directors and officers insurance and $38 million from Deloitte & Touche, highlighting the importance of holding gatekeepers accountable to institutional investors.

District of New Jersey

Grant & Eisenhofer represents several European institutional investors in the pan-European class action settlement with Royal Dutch Shell relating to misrepresentations concerning its proven oil and gas reserves between 1999 and 2004, when Shell traded as two stocks: Shell Transport & Trading and Royal Dutch Petroleum. After several months of negotiations, settlement was reached, valued at approximately $450 million, including $352.6 million in cash paid from Shell and an expected payment to non-U.S. shareholders of an additional $120 million fine Shell paid to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition to this amount, Shell agreed to pay all fees and expenses relating to the settlement.

The settlement was reached under Dutch law. The Netherlands, the location of Shell’s headquarters, is the only European country that provides for the approval of class action settlements. Pursuant to Dutch law, the Amsterdam Court of Appeals may approve a settlement on a class-wide basis if it finds the settlement to be reasonable. However, Dutch law does not allow aggrieved individuals to petition the court for a class-wide settlement. The power to petition the court to approve a class-wide settlement can only be done through the creation of a special purpose legal entity – a foundation or association. G&E created a foundation with over 100 large institutional investors of Shell as participants or members.

This ground-breaking settlement provides the opportunity for non-U.S. investors to be part of a novel event by resolving a dispute without resorting to litigation. With over 80 percent of Shell’s stock traded on European exchanges, its large shareholders are almost all located in Europe, where the fraudulent activity occurred. Consequently, Shell is supportive of this settlement and hopes to increase goodwill with shareholders by making changes in corporate governance.

District of New Hampshire

Grant & Eisenhofer represented the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana and the Louisiana State Employees’ Retirement System as co-lead plaintiffs in a securities class action against Tyco International, Ltd. involving acquisition accounting fraud and looting of the company’s assets by its former officers and directors. After extensive discovery and litigation, the class reached a historic settlement with Tyco for $2.975 billion, the single largest payment from any corporate defendant in the history of securities class action litigation. The class reached a settlement with Tyco’s former auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, for $225 million, which represents the second highest settlement ever reached with an auditor in a securities litigation. This case put the spotlight on the responsibility of both corporate leaders and outside auditors to protect shareholder interests.