Michael Dell’Angelo
Michael Dell’Angelo is an Executive Shareholder of Berger Montague PC and serves as the Firm’s General Counsel. He is the Co-Chair of the Firm’s Securities Department and is active in the Antitrust, Commercial Litigation, and Commodities & Financial Instruments practice groups. He is also responsible for the management and strategic direction of the Firm’s Canadian Securities Fraud practice.
Mr. Dell’Angelo has successfully led a wide variety of complex securities, antitrust and commodity cases. He is consistently recognized in the Legal 500 Philadelphia Elite for Commercial Disputes as well as Antitrust: Civil Litigation/Class Actions, Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers, and Super Lawyers.
Many of Mr. Dell’Angelo’s recoveries in securities, Ponzi scheme and fraud-based litigation have yielded recoveries well above recoveries in parallel litigation and between 60% and 100% of total investor losses, after fees and expenses. Such settlements include New Jersey v. Qwest Communications International (N.J. Super. Ct.) (opt-out action that settled for $45 million, recovering many multiples above what New Jersey would have recovered from the related $400 million class action settlement); Brown v. Kinross, No. 02-605 (D. Nevada) ($35.7 million settlement in preferred stock squeeze out case representing 100% of alleged investor losses after fees and expenses); Allred, et al. v. Chicago Title Company, et al., No. 2021-00007823 (San Diego Sup. Ct.) (settlement in $400 million in liquor license lending Ponzi scheme case yielding payment of 70% out-of-pocket investor losses); In re: Peregrine Financial Group Customer Litigation, No. 1:12-cv-5546 (N.D. Ill.) (over $75 million in settlements totaling over 60% of Ponzi scheme investor losses). Particularly notable among such recoveries is Mr. Dell’Angelo’s work in the MF Global litigation. The National Law Journal featured Mr. Dell’Angelo in its profile of Berger Montague for a special annual report entitled “Plaintiffs’ Hot List.” The Hot List profile focused on Mr. Dell’Angelo’s role in the MF Global litigation (In re MF Global Holding Ltd. Inv. Litig., No. 12-MD-2338-VM (S.D.N.Y.)). In MF Global, Mr. Dell’Angelo represented former commodity account holders seeking to recover approximately $1.6 billion of secured customer funds after the highly publicized collapse of MF Global, a major commodities brokerage. At the outset of this high-risk litigation, the odds appeared grim: MF Global had declared bankruptcy, leaving the corporate officers, a bank, and a commodity exchange as the only prospect for the recovery of the class’s misappropriated funds. Four years later, a result few would have believed possible was achieved. Through a series of settlements, the former commodity account holders recovered 100 percent of their missing funds, totaling over $1.6 billion, after fees and expenses.
Additional notable securities settlements include In re CVR Refining, LP Unitholder Litig., Consolidated C.A. No. 2019-0062-KSJM (Del. Ch.) ($78.5 million settlement following a five day bench trial challenging call rights); Dong v. Cloopen Group Holding Limited, et al., No. 1:21-cv-10610 (S.D.N.Y.) ($12 million settlement coordinated with parallel state court action); In re Luckin Coffee Inc. Sec. Litig., Index No. 651939/2020 (Sup. Ct. New York County) (Commercial Division) ($7 million noteholder settlement following corporate liquidation); In re NetBank Securities Litigation, No. 1:07-cv-2298-TCB (N.D. Ga.) ($12.5 million following corporate liquidation); In re Woodbridge Investment Litig., No. 2:18-cv-00103-DMG-MRW (C.D. Cal.) ($54 million Ponzi scheme settlement); PLB Investments LLC, et al. v. Heartland Bank & Trust Co., No. 1:20-cv-01023 (N.D. Ill.) (confidential Ponzi scheme settlement and coordinated settlement with court-appointed receiver in parallel action).
In derivative litigation, Mr. Dell’Angelo was lead counsel in Howell Family Trust DTD 01/27/2004 v. Hollis M. Greenlaw, et al., No. 3:18-cv-02864-M (N.D. Tex.). Following the completion of discovery, the matter settled for monetary relief and meaningful corporate governance measures explicitly directed to changing the practices upon which Plaintiff’s claims were based. During the March 25, 2021 final approval hearing, Judge Brantley Starr praised the Firm’s work:
I think y’all have been a model on how to handle a case like this. So I appreciate the diligence y’all have put in separating the fee negotiations until after the main event is resolved. . . . .; Everything I see here is in great shape, and really a testament to y’all’s diligence and professionalism. So hats off to y’all. . . .; So thanks again for your professionalism in handing this case and handling the stipulated settlement. Y’all are model citizens, and so I wish I could send everyone to y’all’s school of litigation management.
In international securities litigation, among other matters, Mr. Dell’Angelo represented a large state pension fund against Steinhoff International Holdings, N.V. which resulted in a substantial confidential settlement.
Mr. Dell’Angelo is lead counsel in the following pending securities fraud class actions: Shulman v. Bradley Weston et al., No. 2:23-cv-04121 (D.N.J.); Crivellaro v. Singularity Future Technology Ltd. et al., No. 1:22-cv-07499-BMC (E.D.N.Y.); Pirani v. Medical Properties Trust, Inc. et al., No. 2:23-cv-00486-CLM (N.D. Ala.); Sun v. TAL Education Group, et al., No. 1:22-cv-01015 (S.D.N.Y.); Simons v. AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc., Civ. Action No. 2023-0835-MTZ (Del. Chancery); Schara v. LanzaTech Global, Inc. et al., Civ. Action No. 2024-0505 (Del. Chancery); Schelling v. Microvast Holdings, Inc. et al., No. 4:23-CV-04565 (S.D. Tex.); and In re GPB Capital Holdings, LLC Litigation, Index No. 157679/2019 (Sup. Ct., New York County) (Commercial Division).
In addition to his securities practice, Mr. Dell’Angelo serves as co-lead counsel in a variety of complex antitrust cases, including Le, et al. v. Zuffa, LLC, No. 15-1045 (D. Nev.) ($375 million settlement weeks before a scheduled jury trial in which Mr. Dell’Angelo was to open to the jury). He helped to reach settlements totaling more than $190 million in the multidistrict litigation In re Domestic Drywall Antitrust Litig., No. 13-md-2437 (E.D. Pa.). There, in granting final approval, the court observed that “Plaintiffs’ counsel are experienced antitrust lawyers who have been working in this field of law for many years and have brought with them a sophisticated and highly professional approach to gathering persuasive evidence on the topic of price-fixing.” In re Domestic Drywall Antitrust Litig., No. 13-md-2437, 2018 WL 3439454, at *18 (E.D. Pa. July 17, 2018). “[I]t bears repeating,” the court emphasized, “that the result attained is directly attributable to having highly skilled and experienced lawyers represent the class in these cases.” Id.
Mr. Dell’Angelo also serves or recently served as co-lead counsel or class counsel in numerous cases alleging price-fixing or other wrongdoing affecting a variety of complex financial instruments, including In re Commodity Exchange, Inc., Gold Futures and Options Trading Litig., 1:14-MD-2548-VEC (S.D.N.Y) ($152 million settlement); In re Platinum and Palladium Antitrust Litig., No. 14-cv-09391-GHW (S.D.N.Y.) ($20 million settlement); Contant, et al. v. Bank of America Corp., et al., 1:17-cv-03139-LGS (S.D.N.Y.) ($23.6 million settlement); In re Libor-Based Financial Instruments Antitrust Litig., No. 11-md-2262 (S.D.N.Y.) ($187 million settlement); Alaska Elec. Pension Fund, et al. v. Bank of Am. Corp., et al., No. 14 Civ. 7126-JMF (S.D.N.Y.) ($504.5 million settlement); and In re London Silver Fixing, Ltd. Antitrust Litig., No. 14-md-2573 (S.D.N.Y.) ($38 million settlement).
Mr. Dell’Angelo leads the Berger Montague team innovating cash sweep cases. The team, with co-counsel, are leading many cash sweep cases against some of the largest financial institutions in the country. These cases include JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, Ameriprise, LPL, UBS, Morgan Stanley, Charles Schwab, Raymond James, Stifel, and E*Trade.
He regularly speaks at Continuing Legal Education (CLE) and other seminars and conferences, both domestically and abroad. In response to his CLE, “How to Deal with the Rambo Litigator,” Mr. Dell’Angelo was singled out as “One of the best CLE speakers [attendees] have had the pleasure to see.”
