Our Attorneys

r. Silk's practice focuses on representing institutional investors on matters involving federal and state securities laws, accountants' liability and the fiduciary duties of corporate officials.  He also advises creditors on their rights with respect to pursuing affirmative claims against officers and directors, as well as professionals both inside and outside the bankruptcy context.  Additionally, Mr. Silk is one of the partners who oversee the firm's new matter department, in which he, along with a group of financial analysts and investigators, counsels institutional clients on potential legal claims.  He was the subject of "Picking Winning Securities Cases," a feature article in the June 2005 issue of Bloomberg Markets magazine, which detailed his work for the firm in this capacity.  He was also named one of the “100 Securities Litigators You Need to Know,” one of America's top 500 "rising stars" in the legal profession and one of the 3000 Leading Plaintiffs' Lawyers in America by Lawdragon magazine.  Additionally, Mr. Silk was selected for inclusion in the list of 2006, 2007 and 2008 New York Super Lawyers.  In October of 2008, Mr. Silk was named by Lawdragon magazine as one of the "500 Leading Lawyers in America."

Mr. Silk is currently representing Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan in a securities class action against American International Group, Inc. (AIG) which alleges that AIG misled investors by misrepresenting the nature of the Company's massive exposure to the subprime crisis, specifically billions in losses in credit default swaps.  Mr.Silk is also leading the prosecution of state securities actions on behalf of bond and preferred stock investors in Citigroup and Merrill Lynch.  These cases allege that Citigroup and Merrill Lynch issued securities pursuant to prospectuses that were materially false and misleading in that they misrepresented the value of and exposure to mortgage related and subprime securities as well as exposure arising out of their participation in the auction rate securities market.  Mr. Silk is also actively involved in the firm's prosecution of highly successful M&A litigation, representing shareholders in widely publicized lawsuits, including the litigation arising from the proposed acquisition of Caremark Rx, Inc. by CVS Corporation - which led to an increase of approximately $3.5 billion in the consideration offered to shareholders.

Mr. Silk was one of the principal attorneys responsible for prosecuting the In re Independent Energy Holdings Securities Litigation, a case against the officers and directors of Independent Energy as well as several investment banking firms which underwrote a $200 million secondary offering of ADRs by the U.K.-based Independent Energy.  The Independent Energy litigation was resolved for $48 million.  Mr. Silk has also prosecuted and successfully resolved several other securities class actions, which resulted in substantial cash recoveries for investors, including In re Sykes Enterprises, Inc. Securities Litigation in the Middle District of Florida, and In re OM Group, Inc. Securities Litigation in the Northern District of Ohio.  He was also a member of the litigation team responsible for the successful prosecution of In re Cendant Corporation Securities Litigation in the District of New Jersey, which was resolved for $3.2 billion.

A graduate of the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania and Brooklyn Law School, in 1995-96, Mr. Silk served as a law clerk to the Hon. Steven M. Gold, U.S.M.J., in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Mr. Silk lectures to institutional investors at conferences throughout the country, and has written or substantially contributed to several articles on developments in securities and corporate law, including "The Compensation Game," Lawdragon, Fall 2006; "Institutional Investors as Lead Plaintiffs: Is There A New And Changing Landscape?", 75 St. John's Law Review 31 (Winter 2001); "The Duty To Supervise, Poser, Broker-Dealer Law and Regulation", 3rd Ed. 2000, Chapter 15; "Derivative Litigation In New York after Marx v. Akers", New York Business Law Journal, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Fall 1997).