Karina Puttieva, an associate in our Consumer Protection practice, has been invited to speak at the National Consumer Law Center’s Consumer Class Action Symposium at the Hyatt Regency Chicago on October 26-29, 2023.

Ms. Puttieva’s panel, Proving Damages in Price Premium Cases: Models, Experts and the Amendments to FRE Rule 702, is scheduled for 8:45 a.m. on October 29.

Read more about the 2023 Consumer Rights Litigation Conference (CRLC) and Consumer Class Action Symposium.

Laura H. Posner, a partner in our Securities Litigation & Investor Protection practice is invited to speak at National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems (NCPERS) 2023 Fall Conference on October 22 – 25 at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel, Las Vegas, NV.

Ms. Posner’s program, Securing Our Markets: The Essential Role of Public Funds, is scheduled for Monday, October 23 at 9:45 am – 10:30 am.

She will join a distinguished panel of lawyers and senior executives from the Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund, the Fire & Police Pension Association of Colorado, and the Plaintiffs Bar on how public pension funds, through litigation, can help hold publicly held enterprises accountable to their shareholders for engaging in mistatements and fraudulent business practices.

More information about the and the annual Fall Conference can be found on NCPERS website.

Join American Constitution Society (ACS) and Plaintiffs’ Law Association at the University of Virginia (PLAVA) for a special conversation w/ Doug Bunch, partner at Cohen Milstein and former US public delegate to the United Nations. Mr. Bunch’s practice focuses on securities litigation and investor protection, including a recent $1 billion settlement with Wells Fargo for misleading investors. As public delegate to the United Nations, Mr. Bunch worked as a member of the U.S. mission representing the country’s interests at the United Nations.

For more information and registration, see ACS.

Karina Puttieva, an associate in Cohen Milstein’s Consumer Protection practice, has been invited by the People’s Parity Project to speak on a career panel at the 2023 Convening on July 8, 2023 at 10:45 a.m. at the Eaton Hotel in Washington D.C.

Karina’s panel will focus on pursuing a litigation career at a plaintiffs’ law firm.

The People’s Parity Project is a movement of attorneys and law students organizing for a democratized legal system which values people over profits, builds the power of working people, and opposes subordination in any form.

Learn more about the People’s Parity Project.

The Counsel of Institutional Investors (CII) has invited Carol Gilden (Partner, Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC) and Professor Joshua Mitts (Columbia Law School) to discuss the Supreme Court’s recent opinion in Slack v. Pirani, holding that plaintiffs asserting claims under Section 11 of the Securities Act of 1933 must trace shares purchased in a direct listing to a registration statement. Ms. Gilden and Professor Mitts will discuss the amicus brief of law and business professors they authored in Slack, arguing that tracing is possible using accounting methods and time-stamped transactional records. They also will examine the Court’s opinion and ultimate decision to remand the case, as well as the impact on current cases and the potential for Securities and Exchange Commission rulemaking. CII General Counsel Jeff Mahoney will moderate.

The CII webinar is on July 20, 2023 and begins at 1:00 p.m. EDT.

For more information or to register, please contact Council of Institutional Investors.

REMARKS AT

NATIONAL LAW JOURNAL

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD CEREMONY

JULY 13, 2023

Thank you so much for this wonderful recognition.  It’s a real honor to be among the distinguished company of those honored this evening and in years past. 

Like most of us, I’m so preoccupied with upcoming deadlines, that I rarely reflect on how I’ve gotten to where I am today, following the twists and turns of my career and the occasions that have been most meaningful to me.  I hope you’ll allow me to share some reflections.

My interest in civil rights was kindled early in life as I watched with terror the televised accounts of the beatings of African Americans peacefully demonstrating in the South in the 1960s.  My interest grew to a passion in high school where, as a member of the mile relay track team, I was paired with three other runners, all of whom were African American.  Our dependence on each other’s performance brought us together and I began to see the many slights and insults they faced daily that could only be attributed to their race.  As this occurred in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, I realized that the ugly bigotry I saw in parts of the South was also rampant more subtly in the North.  

Early in my career, I joined the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights for Urban Affairs and in 1997 I started a national civil rights practice at what is now Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, where I happily remain a partner today.  For the past 41 years, I have been engaged in the practice of civil rights law and the protection of workers and look forward to continuing to do so, as there’s much more important work to be done.

I have represented victims of discrimination on every ground prohibited by federal law and many state laws, some individually and many collectively in class actions.  I also assisted in the drafting and enactment of significant civil rights legislation, such as the Americans with Disability Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1991 and the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.

Much of the litigation in which I have been engaged has challenged practices at industry leading businesses and governments. Recently, I concluded a class action alleging sex discrimination in pay and promotions on behalf of about 67,000 women at the largest chain of jewelry stores in the country.  Unlike most class litigation, this case proceeded in arbitration.  There were so many unsettled legal issues that the litigation required 15 years to conclude and eventually led to a payment of $175 Million and significant changes to the company’s pay and promotion practices.     

Similarly, I served as lead counsel in representing thousands of chicken processing workers in three separate wage and hour collective actions, resulting in payments of back wages totaling more than $50 Million and changes to the companies’ pay practices.

I even count among my career milestones the Walmart v. Dukes case, in which I delivered the argument for the side that lost when the Supreme Court reversed the certification of a large class of women sales associates who alleged sex discrimination in compensation and promotions at Walmart.  I jointly conceived of the theory of the case, which the Court rejected.  On remand, I conceived of a way to pursue smaller, regional class cases which, notwithstanding its adoption by the Sixth Circuit, the Supreme Court again rejected, leaving me with the distinction of two losses before the Supreme Court in the same case!

Finally, I want to highlight a civil rights class action brought on behalf of thousands of Native American farmers and ranchers who claimed they were denied equal access to credit by the USDA, the lender of last resort to socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.  After more than a decade of litigation, the parties reached a settlement providing for payment of $760 Million in damages, relief from outstanding debts to the USDA, and fundamental changes to the farm loan program.  But, even more noteworthy than the terms of settlement was our ability to persuade our clients to set aside their distrust of the United States government, engendered by decades in which the government reneged on treaties and treated these first Americans as combatants, to trust a federal court to fairly adjudicate their claims and deliver a meaningful measure of justice. 

Now I’d like to take a moment to look forward.

We face a number of challenges today to the private enforcement of the civil rights laws.  One of the major impediments has been the increased use by employers of mandatory, binding arbitration.  These agreements require that the claims be litigated in non-public proceedings, bar workers from bringing their claims together and often impose limitations considerably greater than the procedures established by Congress. Over time, these arbitration agreements will profoundly diminish the number of rulings that are public, steadily diminishing the common law that has been the centerpiece of our legal system since its inception.

In conclusion, I would be grossly remiss if I didn’t thank my colleagues at the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and my colleagues at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll.  None of us succeed alone. I have thrived because of the steadfast support, brilliant and indefatigable lawyering, good humor and wisdom of my professional colleagues.  And, above all else, I have been sustained through this journey by the unqualified love, unflagging support and wisdom of my wife, Laurie Davis.

Thank you.       

S. Douglas Bunch, a partner in our Securities Litigation & Investor Protection practice, has been invited to speak to William & Mary Law students on pursuing a plaintiff’s practice on November 15, 2023 at 12:50 p.m.

Mr. Bunch (’06) joins a panel of other plaintiffs lawyers and William & Mary Law School alumni.

In addition to having a distinguished career as a securities litigator, Mr. Bunch has also had the unique honor of being appointed by President Joseph R. Biden as Public Delegate of the United States to the United Nations.

The lunch hour panel discussion is hosted by William & Mary Law’s Plaintiffs’ Law Society and the Office of Career Services.

Register and learn more about William & Mary Law School and Office of Career Services.

Michelle C. Yau, chair of Cohen Milstein’s Employee Benefits/ERISA practice, has been invited to speak at Practising Law Institute’s annual 2023 ERISA: The Evolving World, a CLE program, accessible online and in person on July 31 – August 1.

Michelle joins leading ERISA attorneys who will discuss a broad array of topics, including regulatory updates, evolving trends in the offering of investment products and services, opportunities and challenges in implementing new Department of Labor exemptions, trends in asset management, updates on ERISA litigation and plan governance as well as issues relating to corporate transactions and health and welfare plans.

Who Should Attend

This program is appropriate for attorneys, human resources practitioners, and other professionals who work in the areas of employee benefits and retirement plan services.

Register and learn more on Practising Law Institute.

Sharon Robertson has been invited to speak at the 50th Anniversary Milton Handler Lecture on Antitrust at the New York City Bar Association on Thursday, May 25, 2023 at 6:30 p.m.

Program Description:

This year’s Handler Lecture will be given by Timothy Wu, Julius Silver Professor of Law, Science and Technology at Columbia Law School, and recent Special Assistant to the President for Technology and Competition Policy.  Prof. Wu will speak on: “A New Era: The Biden Administration’s Antitrust Policy.”  His remarks will be followed by questions presented by a Panel of prominent antitrust attorneys

Keynote Speaker: 

• Timothy Wu, Julius Silver Professor of Law, Science and Technology, Columbia Law School

Panel:

• Debbie Feinstein, Head of Global Antitrust, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer, LLP
• Kellie Lerner, Co-Chair, Antitrust Practice Group, Robins, Kaplan, LLP
• Sharon Robertson, Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, PLLC
• Ian Conner, Latham & Watkins, LLP

Moderator:

• Daniel Francis, Asst. Professor of Law, NYU School of Law

Learn more about the program on the New York Bar Association website.

Tel Aviv, Israel

Ms. Fryszman’s panel topic was The Long Arm of the Law: Extra-Territorial Application of Labor and Employment Law:
 
Multinational employers and unions face particular challenges in reconciling the dictates of labor and employment laws across borders. In this program, speakers will consider case studies including professional sports leagues in North America and also in the airline industry, where Homeland Security regulations impact all who fly into the United States. The panelists also will review implications of decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court including Spector v. Norwegian Cruise Line Ltd. and Daimler AG v. Baumanand their effect on human rights. Our panel will discuss these cases as well as the broader principles of extra-territorial application of law with particular emphasis on the role of arbitration and cross-border enforcement.