Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP > San Francisco, United States > Firm Profile

Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP Offices

Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP
ONE SANSOME STREET
SUITE 1850
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94104
CALIFORNIA
United States
Visit website 1 415 400 3000 1 415 400 3001

Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP > The Legal 500 Rankings

Dispute resolution > M&A litigation: plaintiff Tier 1

Based near Philadelphia and San Francisco, Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP specializes in plaintiff-side cases, currently counting more than 350 institutional investors around the world as its clients. The firm, which  ‘handles serious cases and is in them for the long haul‘, has its centre of gravity in this space in the Pennsylvania office, where Lee Rudy, Daniel Albert and Eric Zagar are the lead partners. Rudy and Zagar acted for plaintiffs in a case against Cardinal Health’s directors and officers regarding the distribution of opioids, which ultimately settled for $124m. The same partners worked with Darren Check as co-lead counsel in a derivative action brought on behalf of Tesla and its minority stockholders challenging the company’s $2bn acquisition of SolarCity. The case is currently on appeal in Delaware Supreme Court. The firm also has a strong bench of associates, among them Grant Goodhart and Maria Starling, who play essential roles in many of the firm’s most high-profile cases.

Practice head(s):

Lee Rudy; Eric Zagar; Daniel Albert

Other key lawyers:

Darren Check; Grant Goodhart; Maria Starling

Work highlights

  • Representing two individual shareholders, in in re CardinalHealth, alleging that Cardinal’s board and certain officers ignored numerous “red flags” that should have alerted them to the company’s failure to abide by opioid distribution laws.
  • Representing Arkansas Teacher Retirement System in a derivative action brought on behalf of Tesla, Inc. and its minority stockholders challenging Tesla’s 2016 $2bn acquisition of SolarCity Corporation, alleging that the deal was essentially a bailout of the financially struggling SolarCity, which was founded and run by Elon Musk’s cousins.
  • Conducted a three-week jury trial on behalf of shareholders of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac against the corporations Federal Housing Finance Agency, regarding the defendants’ conduct in connection with the implementation of the Third Amendment to the Senior Preferred Stock Purchase Agreements between Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the United States Treasury, dated August 17, 2012.

Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: plaintiff Tier 2

‘The team is very strong in litigation and takes good care of its clients’, says a client of Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP in Radnor, Pennsylvania. The firm has a 28-partner practice, one of the largest in this area of law. David Kessler and Darren Check are the most prominent partners in the practice, though there is a deep bench of experienced litigators, among them Gregory Castaldo, Sharan Nirmul and Richard Russo, Jr., who are assisting Check and Kessler in a lead counsel role for Sjunde AP-Fonden and Cleveland Bakers and Teamsters Pension Fund in a securities fraud class action concerning alleged misrepresentations made by General Electric and its former Chief Financial Officer regarding the use of factoring to conceal cash flow problems that existed within GE Power. Jennifer Joost also helped Sjunde AP-Fonden in a major case against Kraft Heinz Company, while Matthew Mustokoff and Andrew Zivitz is handling a case for AMF Pensionsförsäkring AB concerning Celgene’s misrepresentations and omissions about two billion-dollar drugs, Otezla and Ozanimod. Emerging partner talent Naumon Amjed focuses on new matter developments with a focus on analyzing securities class action lawsuits, opt-out actions, SEC whistleblower actions, breach of fiduciary duty cases, data breach actions and oil and gas litigation.

Practice head(s):

Darren Check; David Kessler; Gregory Castaldo; Andrew Zivitz; Sharan Nirmul; Jennifer Joost; Matthew Mustokoff

Other key lawyers:

Naumon Amjed; Richard Russo

Testimonials

‘The team is very strong in litigation and takes good care of us as clients.’

Key clients

AP7 – Seventh Swedish National Pension Fund

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

Work highlights

  • Representing Sjunde AP-Fonden (“AP7”), the firm was appointed sole lead counsel to represent a putative class of investors in consolidated actions in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against General Electric and several of its executive officers.
  • Representing Sjunde AP-Fonden (“AP7”), the firm was appointed sole lead counsel is this securities fraud class action case arising out of Goldman Sachs’ role in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (“1MDB”) money laundering scandal, one of the largest financial frauds in recent memory.
  • Representing Industriens Pensionsforsikring A/S, the firm was appointed lead counsel in this securities fraud class action arising out of Defendants’ representations and omissions regarding Walgreen’s highly publicized earnings target of $9 billion to $9.5 billion for fiscal year 2016 and the negative impact of hyperinflation in generic drug prices combined with unfavorable reimbursement contracts that caused significant reductions in Walgreen’s gross margins and earnings.

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 Email Telephone
Partner Darren J. Check dcheck@ktmc.com 610-822-2235

Lawyer Profiles

Photo Name Position Profile
Jennifer Joost photo Ms Jennifer Joost Partner View Profile
Stacey Kaplan photo Ms Stacey Kaplan Partner View Profile

Memberships

American Bar Association (ABA)
International Law Section of the American Bar Association