Theodore J. Leopold has devoted his legal career solely to trial work, leveling the playing field for individuals and communities harmed by negligence and misconduct. Ted has tried landmark cases throughout the country and recovered multi-million-dollar verdicts, including jury verdicts of eight- and nine-figures in the areas of complex product liability, environmental toxic torts, managed care abuse, consumer class actions, and catastrophic injury and wrongful death.
Ted is the co-chair of the firm’s Complex Tort, Environmental Litigation, and Consumer Protection practices, and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee. He has garnered an impressive track record in his more than 35 years of practice. He obtained a $131 million jury verdict against the Ford Motor Company, one of the largest verdicts against an automobile company in U.S. history. He won the largest managed care abuse verdict on behalf of an individual claimant in Florida and second largest individual managed care verdict in U.S. history, which included more than $78.5 million in punitive damages.
Ted has been the court-appointed Interim Co-Lead Class Counsel in two high-profile putative environmental toxic tort class actions, including In re Flint Water Cases, which has resulted in over $659.25 million in settlements and the ongoing Cape Fear River Contaminated Water Class Action Litigation. He also serves as lead counsel in the Cape Fear/Dupont, LensCrafters and General Motors Litigation class actions.
Ted lectures frequently on personal injury, product liability, class action litigation, trial tactics, and consumer justice. He has earned the Florida Bar Civil Trial Certification, the highest level of recognition by the Florida Bar for competency and experience within civil trial law.
Steven J. Toll, co-chair of the Securities Litigation & Investor Protection practice, has built a distinguished career and reputation as a fierce advocate for the rights of shareholders and has guided the strategy and mediation efforts on the firm’s largest and most important matters — both securities fraud and other consumer cases. His skill and steadiness have earned the trust of mediators and the respect of defense counsel.
Steve also serves as a model inside the law firm. For nearly three decades, Cohen Milstein prospered under his leadership as managing partner and a member of the executive committee.
Steve has been lead or principal counsel on some of the most high-profile stock fraud lawsuits in the past 30 years, arguing important matters before the highest courts in the country. He was involved in settling some of the most important mortgage-backed securities (MBS) class-action lawsuits in the aftermath of the financial crisis, including: Countrywide Financial Corp., which settled for $500 million in 2013; Residential Accredited Loans Inc. (RALI), which settled for $335 million in 2014; Harborview MBS, which settled for $275 million, also in 2014; and Novastar MBS, which settled for $165 million in 2019.
Most recently, Steve was involved in the landmark $1 billion settlement with Wells Fargo, ending a three-year securities fraud class action lawsuit brought on behalf of investors nationwide. The settlement is the 17th largest securities class action settlement of all time.
Among Steve’s most important wins is the Harman class action suit, where he argued and won an important ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The Circuit Court reinstated the suit against electronics maker Harman International Industries; the ruling is significant in that it places limits on the protection allowed by the safe harbor rule for forward-looking statements. A $28.25 million settlement was achieved in this action in 2017.
Steve was co-lead counsel in the BP Securities class action securities fraud lawsuit that arose from the devastating Deepwater oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the certification of the class of investors alleged to have been injured by BP’s misrepresentation of the amount of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico, and thus minimizing the extent of the cost and financial impact to BP of the clean-up and resulting damages. In 2017, the court granted final approval to a $175 million settlement reached between BP and lead plaintiffs for the “post-explosion” class.
Steve was co-lead counsel in the consumer class action suit against Lumber Liquidators, a lawsuit that alleged the nationwide retailer sold Chinese-made laminate flooring containing hazardous levels of the carcinogen formaldehyde while falsely labeling their products as meeting or exceeding California emissions standards, a story that was profiled twice on 60 Minutes in 2015. In 2018, the court granted final approval of a settlement of $36 million between Lumber Liquidators and plaintiffs.
Poorad Razavi, a member of the firm’s Complex Tort practice, possesses specialized expertise in handling catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases, concentrating on product liability, toxic tort, and environmental law claims, with a focus on mass torts and class action suits.
Based in Florida, Poorad represents clients in state and federal courts across the nation. He has litigated claims against all the major insurance carriers, as well as automobile, tire, and component part manufacturers, including General Motors, Toyota, Honda, Chrysler, Takata, and Continental, and highway guardrail manufacturers, installers, and other contractors. Poorad initiated the investigation and discovery of a nationwide vehicle airbag defect resulting in the filing of a subsequent class action against the world’s largest automobile manufacturers, in which he was selected to the Interim Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee.
Poorad brings a unique perspective to his practice given his experience as a former civil litigation defense attorney. He understands the mindset of insurance companies and corporate defendants which allows him to maximize the value of a claim and ensure his clients receive maximum compensation for their injuries.
Poorad also has extensive experience in claims against the Department of Transportation and private state contractors for flawed roadway design and defects. He has litigated multiple roadway design and maintenance defect claims resulting in multimillion dollar settlements and subsequent installation and remediation of guardrails, re-paving, curbing, and rehabilitation of roadways in multiple counties.
A frequent writer and speaker, Poorad has been published in Florida Justice Association’s (FJA) Journal and the American Bar Association (ABA) Journal. Annually, he is invited to speak at FJA seminars, Topics have included “Identifying and Developing Roadway and Guardrail Defect Claims” and the use of technology in litigation for the Palm Beach County Justice Association.
Richard A. Koffman, a partner at Cohen Milstein, co-chair of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee, and former co-chair of the Antitrust practice, litigates antitrust cases on behalf of the victims of corporations engaged in price-fixing, wage-suppression conspiracies, market monopolization, and other unlawful conduct.
Richard has had the honor of serving as court-appointed Lead or Co-Lead Counsel in many landmark antitrust class actions, including the Urethanes Antitrust Litigation, which resulted in the second-largest price-fixing verdict in U.S. history and the largest jury verdict of 2013.
A former Senior Trial Attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust and Civil Rights Divisions, Richard views his role in litigating antitrust lawsuits as an extension of the public interest work he pursued at the DOJ in promoting competition and fighting discrimination.
In law school, Richard was senior editor of the Yale Law Journal.
Robert A. Braun focuses on cutting-edge, industry-changing antitrust and class action litigation on behalf of individuals and businesses harmed by price-fixing and other illegal corporate behavior. He is a partner in the antitrust practice group and serves as the firm’s ethics partner.
Robby helped obtain more than $50 million in settlements in In re Resistors Antitrust Litigation (N.D. Cal.), and has played significant roles in suits involving anticompetitive behavior in the real estate services industry, LIBOR manipulation ($187 million in settlements), price-fixing by manufacturers of metal pipes and fittings ($47 million in settlements across two cases), and “pay-for-delay” and other practices by pharmaceutical companies to limit access to less expensive generic drugs.
Robby is also experienced in international claims litigation. He has represented victims of state-sponsored terrorism in suits amounting to over $1 billion in judgments.
In addition, Robby maintains an active pro bono practice. He has worked on amicus briefs in several notable appeals, provided ethics and litigation counseling to non-profits, and was a member of the legal teams in Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Washington v. Trump (S.D.N.Y.) and District of Columbia v. Trump (D. Md.), which sought to enjoin former President Trump’s unconstitutional receipt of emoluments on behalf of restaurant and hotel plaintiffs and the Attorneys General of Maryland and the District of Columbia.
Robert W. Cobbs is a partner in Cohen Milstein’s Antitrust practice. In this role, he represents individuals and organizations in civil litigation, particularly antitrust class actions.
Rob is highly regarded for playing a managing role in large, high-profile antitrust class actions involving issues such as collusion in the financial markets and wage suppression in highly specialized industries. Such cases include:
- Scharpf, et al. v. General Dynamics Corp., et al. (E.D. Va.): Rob helps oversee this putative wage suppression class action, in which Cohen Milstein represents naval architects and marine engineers against the nation’s largest military shipbuilders and naval engineering consultancy firms. Plaintiffs allege that the defendants engaged in a “no poach” conspiracy involving a “gentlemen’s agreement” not to recruit each other’s naval engineers. Rob recently convinced the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to reverse the lower court’s dismissal on statute of limitations grounds and remand the case for further litigation. On June 13, 2025, the Fourth Circuit denied defendants’ petition to re-hear their appeal en banc.
- In re Valve Antitrust Litigation (W.D. Wash.): Rob helps oversee this putative consumer class action, in which Cohen Milstein, as Interim Lead Class Counsel, represents consumers who purchased personal computer video games from third-party game publishers via Valve, Inc’s online retail platform Steam. Consumers allege Valve abused its decades-long dominant position in the PC game market, forcing them to pay higher prices for fewer and lower quality games.
- Iowa Public Employees Retirement System, et al. v. Bank of America Corp., et al. (S.D.N.Y.): Rob helps oversee this groundbreaking putative class action, in which investors accuse Wall Street banks of engaging in a group boycott and conspiring to thwart the modernization of the $1.7 trillion stock loan market. On September 4, 2024, the court granted final approval of a historic $580 million cash settlement and significant injunctive relief against the Wall Street bank defendants. Litigation against Bank of America continues.
- In re Interest Rate Swaps Antitrust Litigation (S.D.N.Y.): Rob helps oversee this groundbreaking putative group boycott class action, in which Cohen Milstein serves as Co-Lead Counsel. Public pension funds allege that Wall Street banks conspired to prevent class members from trading IRS on modern electronic trading platforms and from trading with each other, all to protect their trading profits from inflated bid/ask spreads. On July 11, 2024, in two separate orders, the court granted preliminary approval of $71 million in cash settlements against the defendants.
Rob is respected for his analysis of underlying economic and legal issues and developing deep and nuanced understandings of complex fact patterns. He is also regarded for his appellate skills, which he’s employed before the Fourth, Fifth, and Ninth Circuits and in opposing certiorari before the Supreme Court.
A stalwart advocate of justice, he is regularly called upon to participate in large cross-practice cases against tech giants, oil and gas companies, and other powerful corporations. For several years he assisted in John Doe I v. ExxonMobil Corp. (D.D.C.), a cross-border mass action involving allegations of horrific human rights abuses of Indonesian villagers at the hands of Indonesian soldiers hired by Exxon. After 22 years of litigation, two appeals before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, and one appeal to the Supreme Court, the case settled days before a jury trial was to begin. The mass action team collectively won Public Justice Trial Lawyer of the Year (2024).
During law school, Rob served as a notes editor of the Yale Law Journal and as a submissions editor of the Yale Journal on Regulation.
From 2007-2010 Rob served as a staffer for Chairman Henry Waxman on the House Oversight Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee, where he worked on energy and climate policy and investigations.
S. Douglas Bunch is a partner at Cohen Milstein, a member of the Securities Litigation & Investor Protection practice, and co-chair of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee.
Doug 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.
As a securities litigator, Doug represents individual and institutional investors in securities and shareholder class actions. His work and legal arguments in precedent-setting cases, such as In re Harman International Industries, Inc. Securities Litigation, have earned him numerous accolades, including being named to Benchmark Litigation’s “40 & Under Hot List” and a Law360 “Rising Star – Securities,” honoring lawyers under the age of 40 whose professional accomplishments transcend their age.
Doug is co-founder and chairman of Global Playground, Inc., a nonprofit that builds schools and other educational infrastructure in the developing world and serves or has served on the boards of the Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. He has twice been appointed, in 2016 and again in 2020, by governors of Virginia to the Board of Visitors of the College of William & Mary.
In 2011, Doug was awarded William & Mary’s inaugural W. Taylor Reveley III award, recognizing alumni who have demonstrated a sustained commitment to public service.
Sharon Robertson is a nationally recognized leader in complex, multi-district class actions, with a particular focus on pharmaceutical antitrust litigation.
Sharon spearheads Cohen Milstein’s efforts in pay-for-delay pharmaceutical antitrust lawsuits, a cutting-edge and industry-defining area of law, which allege that the defendant brand manufacturer entered into non-competition agreements with generic manufacturers to delay entry of lower-priced generic products. She also leads the firm’s generic price-fixing cases, which allege that certain generic drug manufacturers conspired to inflate the prices of generic drug products.
These cases come on the heels of a government investigation led by the U.S. Department of Justice alleging similar conduct, which, while ongoing, has already resulted in indictments and guilty pleas.
Sharon is also an accomplished trial lawyer, having served as a trial team member in two of the largest antitrust cases tried to verdict:
- In re Urethanes Antitrust Litigation, where the jury returned a $400 million verdict, which was trebled by the Court, as required by antitrust law, resulting in the largest price-fixing verdict in U.S. history.
- In re Nexium Antitrust Litigation, the first pharmaceutical antitrust case to go to trial following the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in FTC v. Actavis, 570 U.S. 756 (2013).
Sharon is a leader inside the firm as well. She serves on the Executive Committee. Prior to joining the Executive Committee, Sharon served as a Co-Chair of the Professional Development and Mentoring Committee and as a member of the Hiring & Diversity Committee for over a decade.
While attending law school, Sharon was an intern in the Litigation Bureau of the Office of the New York State Attorney General and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Additionally, while in law school, she was selected as an Alexander Fellow and spent a semester serving as a full-time Judicial Intern to the Hon. Shira A. Scheindlin, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
In law school, Sharon served as notes editor for the Cardozo Public Law, Policy and Ethics Journal.
Prior to attending law school, Sharon worked on the campaign committee of Councilman John Liu, the first Asian American to be elected to New York City’s City Council.
Laura H. Posner, a partner in the Securities Litigation & Investor Protection practice, has recovered billions on behalf of defrauded investors. Her cases include 6 of the top 100 securities fraud class action settlements of all time, including In re Wells Fargo, the 17th largest securities fraud recovery for investors ever. Laura has also been instrumental in successfully resolving for hundreds of millions of dollars and sweeping governance changes, groundbreaking derivative actions arising out of allegations of sexual misconduct and race discrimination, including obtaining the first ever, and to date only, demand futility decision in such a case.
Laura is also a partner in the firm’s Ethics & Fiduciary Counseling practice, where she works closely with public pension plan trustees and administrators across the country to navigate changing economic conditions and organizational challenges and advises on governance matters and management of investment portfolios.
Prior to joining the firm, Laura was appointed by the New Jersey Attorney General to serve as the Bureau Chief for the New Jersey Bureau of Securities – the top securities regulator in New Jersey. In that capacity, she was responsible for administrating and enforcing the New Jersey Uniform Securities Law and regulations thereunder, as well as managing and overseeing the employees who staff the Bureau of Securities. Cases prosecuted under Laura’s direction as Bureau Chief resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in recoveries for New Jersey residents and more than 20 criminal convictions.
Outside of the firm, Laura is a thought leader on investor protection issues, helming the Institute for Law & Economic Policy, a public policy research and educational foundation focused on the development of securities law and investor and consumer access to the civil justice system, drafting numerous successful amici briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court and appellate courts across the country, and serving on the Public Policy Council of the CFP Board.
Leslie Mitchell Kroeger has committed her professional life to seeking justice for those who have suffered a loss or their sense of hope. A highly accomplished trial attorney, she represents clients in matters involving complex, high-profile environmental toxic tort litigation, qui tam, human rights, and product liability.
Leslie has achieved multiple multi-million-dollar trial verdicts and settlement for her clients. An advocate for child safety, Leslie helped lead the charge for child seat safety in Florida resulting in the passage of SB 518, a state law requiring children under age five to be secured in federally approved child-restraint devices. Since 2012, she has been the force behind Cohen Milstein’s partnership with Safe Kids of Palm Beach County during which time the firm has donated more than 1,100 car and booster seats to area families.
Leslie began her legal career in the courtroom as an Assistant Public Defender for the 18th Judicial Circuit of Florida and later became an Assistant State Attorney in Miami-Dade County, Florida. She then moved into private practice where she continues to handle a variety of complex civil litigation before state and federal courts in Florida and nationwide.