May 27, 2021 @ 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm ET
Anti-trust Litigation Webinar-Municipal Class Actions: When to Opt-Out and When to Lead or Stay in the Class?
Class action antitrust litigation is often the most cost-effective way to obtain damages when a municipal entity is harmed by anti-competitive corporate conduct. In some instances, however, a municipality may do better to opt out of the class and become an active opt-out litigant. Opt-out class members have more input into directing litigation strategy, and have the flexibility to settle without obtaining court approval. Even when settlement is the preferred outcome, better results are achieved when counsel actively pursues discovery and prepares for trial from the outset of the litigation. This session examines the terrain of municipal antitrust suits, the pros and cons of opting out, and how to maximize recoveries.
Speaker: Robert Eisler, Deborah Elman & Suzanne Sangree
Robert Eisler is a director at Grant & Eisenhofer and leads the firm’s antitrust practice. Mr. Eisler has been involved in many significant antitrust class action cases in recent years. He is experienced in numerous industries, including pharmaceuticals, paper products, construction materials, industrial chemicals, processed foods, municipal securities, and consumer goods.
Mr. Eisler is currently serving as co-lead counsel in several cases, including In re Seroquel Antitrust Litigation, In re London Silver Fixing, Ltd. Antitrust Litigation and In re Keurig Green Mountain Single-Serve Coffee Antitrust Litigation. He has served as lead or co-lead counsel in many other significant antitrust cases, including In re Buspirone Antitrust Litigation (which led to a $90 million settlement in which presiding Judge Koeltl stated that the plaintiffs’ attorneys had done “a stupendous job”), In re Ciprofloxacin Hydrochloride Antitrust Litigation, In re Flat Glass Antitrust Litigation, and In re Municipal Derivatives Antitrust Litigation.
Mr. Eisler has played major roles in a number of other significant antitrust cases, including In re Polyurethane Foam Antitrust Litigation, In re Blue Cross/Blue Shield Antitrust Litigation, and In re Linerboard Antitrust Litigation. He also has significant experience litigating antitrust matters in the UK, including cases concerning cartels in a number of industries, such as air cargo services, air passenger services, automotive glass, and pharmaceuticals, among others.
In addition to his antitrust work, Mr. Eisler has extensive experience in securities, derivative, complex commercial and class action litigation at the trial and appellate levels. He has been involved in numerous securities and derivative litigation matters on behalf of public pension funds, municipalities, mutual fund companies and individual investors in state and federal courts.
Mr. Eisler graduated from LaSalle University in 1986, and in 1989, from Villanova University School of Law.
Deborah Elman is a director at Grant & Eisenhofer, where she has nearly two decades’ experience representing both plaintiffs and defendants in high-profile antitrust and securities litigation, with a particular focus litigating claims in the pharmaceutical and financial services industries. She has represented institutional clients and individuals in an array of complex civil litigation cases, including class actions, opt-outs, derivative actions, and arbitrations. Ms. Elman
is also Co-Director of the Grant & Eisenhofer ESG Institute. Currently, Ms. Elman serves as co-lead counsel in several cases, including In re: Seroquel XR (Extended Release Quetiapine Fumarate) Litigation, In re Payment Card Interchange Fee & Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation, In re London Silver Fixing, Ltd. Antitrust Litigation, and In re Keurig Green Mountain Single-Serve Coffee Antitrust Litigation. She is a member of the Executive Committee in In Re: Humira (Adalimumab) Antitrust Litigation, and class counsel in In re Novartis and Par [Exforge] Antitrust Litigation, among others.
Ms. Elman litigated and settled numerous cases related to the financial crisis, including more than fifteen actions arising out of wrongdoing involving the issuance of residential mortgage-backed securities (“RMBS”) and other complex financial products, and was class counsel in Alaska Electrical Pension Fund v. Bank of America Corporation et al. (“ISDAFix”) and In re Foreign Exchange Benchmark Rates Antitrust Litigation (“FOREX”). Additionally, Ms. Elman was a
member of the litigation teams that successfully represented the lead plaintiff in a case dubbed “The Enron of India,” In re Satyam Computer Services Ltd. Securities Litigation, which settled for $150.5 million, and In re Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P. Derivative Litigation, which settled for $27.5 million. She represented institutional investors in In re Merck and Co., Inc. Securities, Derivative & ERISA Litigation and In re Petrobras Securities Litigation, resulting in substantial investor recoveries.
Ms. Elman is a member of the Board of Directors of the Public Justice Foundation; Vice Chair of the Pricing Conduct Committee of the American Bar Association Antitrust Law Section, the founding member of the Amicus Committee for the Committee to Support the Antitrust Laws, and a member of the Class Action & Private Litigation and Health Care & Pharmaceutical
Committees of the New York State Bar Association Antitrust Section. Prior to joining Grant & Eisenhofer, Ms. Elman represented clients before the SEC, DOJ, and state regulators, and participated in numerous appearances before federal and state courts as an associate at a leading New York law firm. Ms. Elman served as a law clerk for the Honorable William L. Standish in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Ms. Elman graduated cum laude in 2001 from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where she was Lead Executive Editor of the Journal of Law and Commerce. She received a Masters of Public Health degree in 1997 from Columbia University, where she also graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1995.
Suzanne Sangree is senior counsel at Grant & Eisenhofer, focusing her practice on the representation of local governments in complex litigation matters stemming from environmental damage, antitrust violations, mass torts, patent manipulation, and securities fraud. Prior to joining Grant & Eisenhofer, Ms. Sangree worked for the City of Baltimore Department of Law for 13 years. She served as the Director of Affirmative Litigation, pursuing environmental, False Claims Act, antitrust, products liability, and consumer-related cases, among other types of litigation. She also held roles as Senior Public Safety Counsel/Chief, Legal Affairs Division; and Chief Solicitor & Director of Training. She additionally served as a member of the Settlement Committee and Executive Committee for the Department of Law.
In 2020, Bloomberg Law recognized Ms. Sangree as a Key Player in 2020 Environmental Litigation. An accomplished speaker, Ms. Sangree spoke on “Climate Damages Tort Litigation” at the environmental law annual conference at Yale Law School and Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies in 2020, among several other engagements. In 2015 the International Municipal Lawyers Association awarded Ms. Sangree its distinguished public service award, and she was named a Top 40 Maryland Lawyer in 2014. Ms. Sangree is the former Chair, Delivery of Legal Services Section Council of the Maryland State Bar Association, and presently serves as a board member for Selective Service Commission, Region I Local Board. Ms. Sangree earned her LL.M. from Harvard Law School and her J.D. from City University of New York Law School at Queens. She received her B.A., cum laude, from Wesleyan University.