Benjamin F. Jackson, a partner in the Securities Litigation & Investor Protection practice, represents institutional and individual shareholders in derivative lawsuits and securities class actions.
Prior to joining Cohen Milstein, Ben was a litigation associate at a highly regarded national defense firm, where he focused on securities, antitrust, white-collar investigations, and intellectual property litigation.
Ben served as a law clerk to the Honorable Katherine B. Forrest of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and to the Honorable Robert D. Sack of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
While at Harvard Law School, he served as forum chair of the Harvard Law Review and won the Ames Moot Court Competition.
A prolific writer, Ben’s legal publications include Censorship and Freedom of Expression in the Age of Facebook, 44 N.M. L. Rev. 121 (2014); Note, Danger Lurking in the Shadows: Why Regulators Lack the Authority to Effectively Fight Contagion in the Shadow Banking System, 127 Harv. L. Rev. 729 (2013); and Recent Case, U.S. Bank National Ass’n v. Ibanez, 941 N.E.2d 40 (Mass. 2011), 125 Harv. L. Rev. 827 (2012).
Before attending law school, he was a consultant in the financial services practice of a global strategy consulting firm.
- Secretary, Institute for Law and Economic Policy
- Co-chair, Securities and Exchanges Committee, New York County Lawyers Association
- Federal Courts Committee, New York County Lawyers Association
- New York
- Harvard Law School, J.D., magna cum laude, 2013
- Washington University in St. Louis, A.B., summa cum laude, 2008
Law Clerk, the Hon. Robert D. Sack, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2015 – 2016)
Law Clerk, the Hon. Katherine B. Forrest, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (2014 – 2015)
Current Cases
Bayer Securities Litigation
Bayer Securities Litigation (N.D. Cal.): Cohen Milstein is Lead Counsel in this certified securities class action, in which Plaintiffs allege that in connection with its $63 billion acquisition of Monsanto, Bayer misrepresented the rigor of its due diligence and the nature of the legal risk presented by Monsanto’s flagship product, the herbicide Roundup. Bayer investors incurred significant losses after bellwether jury trials in toxic tort cases repeatedly found in favor of the plaintiffs against Monsanto, including finding that Roundup was a “substantial factor” in causing the plaintiffs’ non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and leading to jury awards totaling hundreds of millions of dollars.
In re Bristol-Meyers Squibb CVR Securities Litigation
In re Bristol-Myers Squibb Company CVR Securities Litigation (S.D.N.Y.): Cohen Milstein is sole Lead Counsel in this securities class action arising from Bristol Myers’ alleged subversion of the FDA approval process for the cancer therapy Liso-cel for the purpose of avoiding a $6.4 billion payment to holders of contingent value rights (CVRs).
In re EQT Corporation Securities Litigation
In re EQT Corporation Securities Litigation (W.D. Pa.): Cohen Milstein is Co-Lead Counsel in this securities class action, in which Plaintiffs allege that EQT misrepresented the “substantial synergies” that were expected to arise from a planned merger with rival natural gas producer Rice Energy due to “the contiguous and complementary nature of Rice’s asset base with EQT’s.”
Nikola Corp. Derivative Litigation
Nikola Corporation Derivative Litigation (Del. Ch.): Cohen Milstein is co-lead counsel in a shareholder derivative action against Trevor Milton, the founder and former CEO and Executive Chairman of Nikola Corporation, a zero-emissions vehicle startup company, and certain other current and former directors and officers of Nikola. The action alleges that Milton engaged in an ongoing criminal fraud involving the dissemination of materially false and misleading statements about Nikola’s business, technology and expected financial performance. The action further alleges that Nikola and VectoIQ entered into a de-SPAC transaction harmful to stockholders.
Super Lawyers, Rising Star (2023)
April 10, 2024
Nikola Investors’ SPAC Fraud Suit Moves Ahead
Board directors of electric truck maker Nikola Corp. and the blank-check company that took it public for $3.3 billion in 2020 must face shareholders’ derivative claims of insider trading, securities fraud and merger-related breaches after Delaware’s Court of Chancery on Tuesday denied more than half of the defense’s motions to dismiss. In a telephonic bench […]
In the News | Law360
January 8, 2024
Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll Names Benjamin F. Jackson Partner
Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll has named Benjamin F. Jackson as the firm’s newest partner, effective January 1, 2024. Jackson is a member of the Securities Litigation & Investor Protection practice and is based in New York City. He represents institutional and individual shareholders in derivative lawsuits and securities class actions. He is currently litigating multiple cases involving large corporations including Bayer AG, Nikola Corporation, and EQT Corporation.
Press Releases | Cohen Milstein
November 28, 2023
Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC Announces Notice of Pendency of Class Action to All Persons and Entities That Purchased or Otherwise Acquired Bayer American Depositary Receipts from May 23, 2016 to July 6, 2020, Inclusive
LEGAL NOTICE ATTENTION PURCHASERS OF BAYER AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT (“BAYER”) AMERICAN DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS BETWEEN MAY 23, 2016 AND JULY 6, 2020 SUMMARY NOTICE OF PENDENCY OF CLASS ACTION TO: ALL PERSONS AND ENTITIES THAT PURCHASED OR OTHERWISE ACQUIRED BAYER AMERICAN DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS FROM MAY 23, 2016 TO JULY 6, 2020, INCLUSIVE (THE “CLASS”). YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT A CLASS HAS BEEN CERTIFIED […]
Press Releases
August 15, 2023
Fourth Time’s Not the Charm, Second Circuit Decertifies Goldman
On August 10, 2023, the Second Circuit decertified Arkansas Teacher Retirement System v. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., a long-pending class action against Goldman Sachs related to a $550 million fine for failing to disclose conflicts of interest tied to investments in various collateralized debt obligation transactions. The decision (Goldman IV) raises important implications about what […]
Articles
May 23, 2023
Bayer Investors Get Class Status in Monsanto Deal Risk Suit
Investors alleged failure to perform due diligence Bayer allegedly lost $12.87 billion in market capitalization Two pension funds can represent a class of investors in a lawsuit alleging Bayer AG didn’t adequately vet Roundup herbicide maker Monsanto Co. before buying it and didn’t warn them about cancer litigation risks. The lead plaintiffs cleared a big […]
In the News | Bloomberg Law
May 19, 2023
Bayer Investors Land Class Cert. Over Roundup Litigation
A California federal judge on Friday granted class certification to a group of Bayer AG investors who launched a suit against the company accusing of it downplaying litigation risks related to the weedkiller Roundup after acquiring Monsanto, finding that the suit isn’t trumped by extraterritoriality concerns as claimed by the German multinational. U.S. District Judge […]
In the News | Law360
April 13, 2023
Investors Fight For Class Cert. in Bayer Securities Fraud Suit
Counsel for Bayer AG investors urged a California federal judge Thursday to certify their proposed class action alleging the company downplayed litigation risks related to the weedkiller Roundup after acquiring Monsanto, arguing the shareholders’ stock-drop suit isn’t trumped by extraterritoriality concerns as claimed by the German multinational. The proposed class includes thousands of investors who […]
In the News | Law360
October 27, 2022
Third Circuit Rejects Bid to Overturn Class Certification in EQT Litigation
Cohen Milstein and its co-counsel recently scored an important victory in the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which refused to allow Defendants to appeal the District Court’s class certification decision in In re EQT Corp. Securities Litigation, a federal securities class action relating to the 2017 merger of major natural gas producers EQT Corporation […]
Articles | Shareholder Advocate, Fall 2022
August 29, 2022
Investors in Utah’s Pluralsight Get a 2nd Chance to Prove an Executive Misled Them While He Was Selling His Stock
A Utah judge dismissed a 2019 lawsuit filed by stockholders, but a federals appeals court has now revived some of their case. Without any profits to promote, Pluralsight instead urged investors to watch how its billings to customers were growing, stockholders allege — as executives credited the size and productivity of their salesforce. But after […]
In the News | The Salt Lake Tribune
August 25, 2022
Pluralsight Stockholder Lawsuit Gets New Life from Tenth Circuit
Investors allege salesforce size inflated Utah district court dismissed litigation in 2021 Pluralsight failed to convince the Tenth Circuit to affirm the complete dismissal of an investor lawsuit claiming executives made false claims about the size and productivity of the online education site’s salesforce. The allegations brought by a couple of public employee retirement funds […]
In the News | Bloomberg Law
January 13, 2022
“Investor Alleges Nikola Board Was Blind to Fraud”
A shareholder of battery-electric truck manufacturer Nikola Corp. sued 10 of its officers and directors in Delaware’s Court of Chancery for allegedly allowing the company’s founder to carry out a criminal fraud leading up to and following its $3.3 billion merger with VectoIQ Acquisition Corp. In a 140-page derivative complaint filed late Wednesday, shareholder Barbara […]
In the News | Law360
October 20, 2021
Bayer Will Have to Face Investor Suit Over Roundup Litigation
A California federal judge declined to dismiss a suit against Bayer AG on Tuesday in which investors claim the company downplayed the significance of litigation related to the weedkiller Roundup that it faced after acquiring Monsanto in 2018. U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg denied the dismissal motion in its entirety but noted in his order […]
In the News | Law360
October 20, 2021
“Bayer Must Face Some Investor Allegations on Roundup Deal Risks”
Investors can pursue claims on due diligence statements Allegations on glyphosate safety, litigation risks fall short Bayer AG investors adequately alleged the company misled them about the due diligence it conducted ahead of its acquisition of Roundup herbicide maker Monsanto Co., a federal judge in California said. Investors also accused the pharmaceutical and life sciences […]
In the News | Bloomberg Law