Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP > San Francisco, United States > Firm Profile
Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP Offices
ONE SANSOME STREET
SUITE 1850
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94104
CALIFORNIA
United States
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Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP > The Legal 500 Rankings
Dispute resolution > M&A litigation: plaintiff Tier 1
With offices in Radnor, Pennsylvania and San Francisco, Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP is one of the largest and most successful plaintiff-side shareholder litigation firms. It acts on behalf of states attorneys’ general offices and public and private entities, among them municipalities, state agencies, mutual fund managers, sovereign wealth funds, and multi-employer welfare funds. The corporate governance and M&A department handles matters in state and federal courts across the country, as well as being highly active in Delaware. Lee Rudy, Daniel Albert and Eric Zagar, who are all based in the Radnor office, are the key partners. Rudy, who practices in the area of corporate governance litigation with a focus on transactional and derivative cases, and Albert, who has a strong track record in recovering substantial damages for breaches of fiduciary duties, are preparing for a trial arising from a class action related to Discovery, Inc.’s 2022 acquisition of AT&T. Newly promoted partner Grant Goodhart also plays a key role in that matter. Darren Check, who manages the firm’s portfolio monitoring and claims filing service, SecuritiesTracker, also stands out for his role in key matters.Practice head(s):
Lee Rudy; Eric Zagar; Daniel Albert
Other key lawyers:
Key clients
AP7 – Seventh Swedish National Pension Fund
Norges Bank Investment Management
British Airways Pension Trustees Limited
SEB Investment Management AB
Industriens Pensionsforsikring A/S
AMF Pensionsförsäkring AB
Principal Global Financial Group
Franklin Templeton Investments
Nationwide Investment Funds
Nordea Investment Funds (Luxembourg)
Arkansas Teacher Retirement System
Equity-League Pension & Health Trust Funds
United Food & Commercial Workers 464(a) Benefit Funds
Lebanon County Employees’ Retirement Fund
Teamsters Local Union No. 142 Pension Fund
Laborers Joint Pension Trust for Southern Nevada
Iron Workers District Council (Philadelphia & Vicinity) Retirement and Pension Plan
Cleveland Bakers & Teamsters Fund
Orange County Employees’ Retirement System
Naventi Fonder
Universal Investments
Work highlights
- Won a $612 million jury verdict for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac stockholders in three-week retrial of matter against the the Federal Housing Finance Agency arising from its post-financial crisis breach of good faith and fair dealing.
- Representing the Bucks County Employees Retirement Fund (of Pennsylvania), securing a $167.5 million cash resolution for CBS Corporation in sprawling litigation over the merger of CBS and Viacom.
- Representing the Hollywood Firefighters’ Pension Fund, the City of Miramar Retirement Plan and Trust Fund for General Employees, and City of Miramar Management Retirement Plan, along with an individual in litigation over the merger between MSGE and MSG Networks Inc.
Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: plaintiff Tier 1
Based in in Radnor, Pennsylvania, and San Francisco, California, Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP is highly regarded as one of the leading players in securities litigation, its 27-partner practice having amassed a strong track record in representing states attorneys’ general offices, as well as public and private entities, including municipalities, state agencies, mutual fund managers, sovereign wealth funds, and multi-employer welfare funds. In the Radnor office, the practice is led by seven respected partners, with David Kessler and Darren Check the most active in this area of law. Together, they negotiated a $450m settlement for Sjunde AP-Fonden in the long-running litigation concerning misrepresentations made about the carrying value of Kraft Heinz assets, the sustainability of its margins, and the success of the company’s cost-cutting strategy in the wake of its 2015 merger. Sharan Nirmul and Richard Russo, Jr. are the lead partners in a new securities fraud class action concerning representations and omissions made by former executives of Signature Bank and its auditor KPMG about the bank’s emergent risk profile and deficient management of those risks that ultimately caused it to collapse in March 2023. Jennifer Joost and Gregory Castaldo also played key roles in that case. Matthew Mustokoff and Andrew Zivitz, who are involved in the high-profile case In re Celgene Corp. Securities Litigation, and key partner Naumon Amjed also play prominent roles in the practice.Practice head(s):
Darren Check; David Kessler; Gregory Castaldo; Andrew Zivitz; Sharan Nirmul; Jennifer Joost; Matthew Mustokoff
Other key lawyers:
Naumon Amjed; Richard Russo
Key clients
AP7 – Seventh Swedish National Pension Fund
Norges Bank Investment Management
British Airways Pension Trustees Limited
SEB Investment Management AB
Industriens Pensionsforsikring A/S
AMF Pensionsförsäkring AB
Principal Global Financial Group
Franklin Templeton Investments
Nationwide Investment Funds
Nordea Investment Funds (Luxembourg)
Arkansas Teacher Retirement System
Equity-League Pension & Health Trust Funds
United Food & Commercial Workers 464(a) Benefit Funds
Lebanon County Employees’ Retirement Fund
Teamsters Local Union No. 142 Pension Fund
Laborers Joint Pension Trust for Southern Nevada
Iron Workers District Council (Philadelphia & Vicinity) Retirement and Pension Plan
Cleveland Bakers & Teamsters Fund
Orange County Employees’ Retirement System
Naventi Fonder
Universal Investments
Work highlights
- Representing Swedish pension fund Sjunde AP-Fonden, the firm served as co-lead counsel in a securities fraud class action against The Kraft Heinz Company and private equity firm 3G Capital. Throughout 2023, the Firm engaged in wide-reaching fact and expert discovery, ultimately driving the case to resolution. The $450 million recovery is one of the largest recoveries in securities fraud litigations in Seventh Circuit history.
- Representing Swedish pension fund Sjunde AP-Fonden and Swedish fund AMF Pensionsförsäkring AB, respectfully, the firm successfully overcame motions for summary judgment by The General Electric Company and Celgene Corporation in two separate securities fraud class actions, sending the claims of these Plaintiffs and the Classes that they represent to trial.
- Representing investors E. Öhman J:or Fonder AB and Stichting Pensioenfonds PGB, the firm secured a very rare reversal at the Ninth Circuit of a dismissal of a securities fraud class action against the world’s largest maker of graphic processing units, NVIDIA Corporation. The suit arises from alleged misrepresentations about the true extent of NVIDIA’s cryptocurrency-related sales, and will now proceed to fact discovery.
Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP > Firm Profile
Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP is one of the largest firms in the world specializing in the prosecution of complex litigation on a contingent basis. Kessler Topaz has developed a worldwide reputation for excellence in the areas of shareholder, consumer protection and antitrust, and fiduciary litigation. Headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania, just outside Philadelphia, and with an office in San Francisco, California, Kessler Topaz is comprised of a highly skilled team of attorneys, paralegals, in-house investigators, legal clerks and other personnel. The firm proudly notes that it has recovered billions of dollars on behalf of its clients.
Kessler Topaz’s shareholder litigation practice focuses on the prosecution of securities fraud claims brought against public companies as well as their officers, directors, and advisors. With a large and sophisticated client base — comprised of over 350 institutional investors of all types from around the world — Kessler Topaz has been entrusted to lead some of the most important actions being litigated in our field today.
In addition, Kessler Topaz has been a leader in implementing important corporate governance reforms designed to protect shareholder rights, improve shareholder value and prevent corporate mismanagement. The firm has a robust shareholder derivative and mergers and acquisition litigation department which represents institutional investors in many important shareholder derivative actions. This department also specializes in takeover litigation, actively representing institutional investors in actions where shareholders are not receiving fair value for their investments.
Notably, the firm has also been at the forefront of representing institutional investors in non-US jurisdictions in light of the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Morrison v. National Australia Bank. The firm has previously, or is currently representing institutional investors in actions in Canada, Brazil, Australia, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Portugal, and Japan.
Indeed, Kessler Topaz has secured many of the largest global shareholder recoveries in history, including:
- $3.2bn settlement in In re Tyco International, Ltd. Securities Litigation;
- $2.425bn settlement in In re Bank of America Corp. Securities Litigation;
- $2bn trial judgment in In re Southern Peru Copper Corp. Derivative Litigation (largest damage award in Delaware Court of Chancery history);
- $3.9bn increase in value in In re Genentech, Inc. Shareholder Litigation;
- €1.3bn recovery in settlement with Ageas, N.V.(the Netherlands; successor entity to Fortis Bank, N.V.; largest shareholder recovery in Europe to date)
- £900m settlement in a group action against Royal Bank of Scotland (U.K.);
- €323.8m recovery in the groundbreaking Royal Dutch Shell European Litigation (the Netherlands)
Finally, Kessler Topaz also dedicates a large portion of its practice to complex litigation on behalf of consumers as well as public and private entities, including municipalities, state agencies, and multi-employer welfare funds. Kessler Topaz’s consumer protection efforts are global in scope and include consumer fraud and antitrust practice groups.
Main Contacts
| Department | Name | Telephone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Partner | Darren J. Check | dcheck@ktmc.com | 610-822-2235 |
Lawyer Profiles
| Photo | Name | Position | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Ms Jennifer Joost | Partner | View Profile |
|
Ms Stacey Kaplan | Partner | View Profile |