Richard Schiffrin is of counsel at Grant & Eisenhofer. He has represented institutional investors and consumers in securities and consumer class actions worldwide. In 2008, Mr. Schiffrin retired as a founding partner of Schiffrin Barroway Topaz & Kessler, LLP.
Mr. Schiffrin has been recognized for his expertise in many prominent cases, including In re Tyco International Ltd. Securities Litigation, the most complex securities class action in history, which resulted in a record $3.2 billion settlement. The $2.975 billion payment by Tyco represents the single largest securities class action recovery from a single corporate defendant in history, while the $225 million settlement with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) represents the largest payment PwC has ever paid to resolve a securities class action and is the second-largest auditor settlement in securities class action history. He also had significant roles in In re AremisSoft Corp. Securities Litigation, a complex case involving litigation in four countries, resulting in a $250 million settlement providing shareholders with a majority of the equity in the reorganized company after embezzlement by former officers; In re Tenet Healthcare Corp., resulting in a $216.5 million settlement and which led to several important corporate governance improvements; Henry v. Sears, et al., one of the largest consumer class actions in history which resulted in a $156 million settlement distributed without the filing of a single proof of claim form by any class member; Wanstrath v. Doctor R. Crants, et al., a derivative action filed against the officers and directors of Prison Realty Trust, Inc., challenging the transfer of assets to a private entity owned by company insiders, resulting in corporate governance reform in addition to the issuance of over 46 million shares to class members; Jordan v. State Farm Insurance Company, resulting in a $225 million settlement and other monetary benefits for current and former State Farm policy-holders; and In re Sotheby’s Holdings, Inc. Derivative Litigation, resulting in a multi-million dollar settlement and significant governance changes.
Mr. Schiffrin is an internationally renowned speaker and lectures frequently on corporate governance and securities litigation. His lectures include: the MultiPensions Conference in Amsterdam, Netherlands; the Public Funds Symposium in Washington, D.C.; the European Pension Symposium in Florence, Italy; and the Pennsylvania Public Employees Retirement Summit (PAPERS) in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Mr. Schiffrin has also taught legal writing and appellate advocacy at John Marshall Law School and served as a faculty member at legal seminars, including the Annual Institute on Securities Regulation, NERA: Finance, Law & Economics – Securities Litigation Seminar, the Tulane Corporate Law Institute, and the CityBar Center for CLE (NYC): Ethical Issues in the Practice of Securities Law.
Mr. Schiffrin is a graduate of DePaul Law School and received a Master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Chicago. After protecting the civil rights of clients for seven years as an Assistant Public Defender with the Office of the Public Defender of Cook County, where he tried hundreds of cases, Mr. Schiffrin founded Schiffrin & Craig, Ltd., representing consumers and individual investors in actions brought against public companies. He is licensed to practice law in Pennsylvania and Illinois and has been admitted to practice before numerous United States District Courts.
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