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RiskMetrics Group Ranks Top 50 Plaintiffs? Law Firms for 2008Submitted by: Sarah Cohn, Communications

RiskMetrics has released its annual Securities Class Action Services (SCAS) list of the top 50 plaintiffs law firms. The law firms on the SCAS 50 list are ranked by the total dollar amount of final securities class action settlements occurring in 2008 in which the firms served as lead or co-lead counsel.

The top five law firms on this year?s ?SCAS 50? list were Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann; Barroway Topaz Kessler Meltzer & Check; Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins; Labaton Sucharow; and Grant & Eisenhofer.

Grant & Eisenhofer achieved the highest average settlement amount among law firms, averaging $109 million in its three settlements. The average settlement amount is an important indicator of which law firms are consistently bringing and settling high-impact cases. The most active firm regarding the number of settlements was Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins with 29 settlements, leading all firms with respect to the total number of final settlements.

According to Adam Savett, Head of RiskMetrics? Securities Class Action Services, ?We can expect the number of new cases filed, and thus eventual settlements to continue trending at or above historical levels, due in part to the ongoing expansion of the fallout from the credit crisis. While there weren?t any so called ?mega-settlements? finalized in 2008, we saw more than a dozen settlements valued at more than $50 million.?

RiskMetrics has published its ?SCAS 50? list for the past six years. The list is intended to help institutional investors maximize shareholder value by highlighting those firms bringing in the most settlement dollars and playing the most active role in U.S. class action cases.

To access the SCAS 50 for 2008 report, please visit here.

Full post as published by Institutional Shareholder Services -- Corporate Governance Blog on March 25, 2009 (boomark / email).