January 24, 2020
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Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP is pleased to announce that Rebecca Boon and Ed Timlin have been promoted to partners of the firm, and Scott Foglietta, C.J. Orrico, John Mills and David Duncan have been promoted to senior counsel. The promotions are effective January 1, 2020.
“We are pleased to celebrate the exceptional abilities of these lawyers and congratulate them on their well deserved promotions,” said managing partner Sal Graziano. “Their passion, skill, and dedication to our clients are exactly what we are looking for as we continue to grow the firm.”
“These lawyers represent the bright future of our firm,” said managing partner Jerry Silk. “They should be proud of their commitment to the BLB&G team and their devotion to our clients’ long term success.”
New Partners
Rebecca E. Boon has been litigating securities fraud and shareholder rights actions for over 10 years, recovering more than a billion dollars for the firm’s institutional investor clients. Rebecca was a senior member of the trial team that prosecuted an unprecedented shareholder derivative litigation against Fox News parent 21st Century Fox, Inc. The litigation resulted in the formation of the landmark Fox News Workplace Professionalism and Inclusion Council, a majority-independent council of experts designed to address and remedy sexual harassment and other workplace misconduct at Fox News. Among numerous others, Rebecca was honored to represent investors in securities class actions against General Motors and Wells Fargo. In addition, Rebecca narrated a feature documentary by Dow Jones’ MarketWatch, discussing the ways that investors can harness their power to create meaningful social change through shareholder litigation, and has lectured at Columbia Law School and multiple conferences on these important issues. Rebecca has been named by Lawdragon as one of the 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers in America, and has also been recognized by Super Lawyers for Securities Litigation. Rebecca received her J.D. from Hofstra University School of Law where she was a Charles H. Revson Foundation Law Students Public Interest Fellow and member of the Hofstra Law Review; she also received the Distinguished Contribution to the School Award and a Merit Scholarship. Rebecca received her B.A. from Vassar College, where she was a Social Justice Community Fellow.
Edward G. Timlin practices out of the firm’s New York office, where he prosecutes corporate governance, shareholder rights, and securities fraud litigation on behalf of the firm’s institutional clients. He served as a senior member of the teams prosecuting several of the firm’s most significant recent litigations, including the Allergan Proxy Violation Litigation, in which the firm achieved a $250 million settlement for Allergan investors challenging an unprecedented insider-trading scheme orchestrated by hedge fund manager Bill Ackman and Valeant Pharmaceuticals. More recently, Edward was a key participant in the December 2019 Dieckman v. Regency trial in front of Delaware Chancellor Andre Bouchard, challenging the $11 billion related-party merger of Regency and Energy Transfer Partners. Prior to joining BLB&G, Edward was a senior litigation associate at a major corporate law firm. Edward received his J.D. from Columbia Law School and B.A. from Cornell University, both with academic honors.
New Senior Counsel
David L. Duncan's practice concentrates on the settlement of class actions and other complex litigation and the administration of class action settlements. Prior to joining BLB&G, David worked as a litigation associate at Debevoise & Plimpton, where he represented clients in a wide variety of commercial litigation, including contract disputes, antitrust and products liability litigation, and international arbitration. In addition, he has represented criminal defendants on appeal in New York State courts and has successfully litigated on behalf of victims of torture and political persecution from Sudan, Côte d'Ivoire and Serbia in seeking asylum in the United States. David received his J.D. from Harvard Law School where he served as an editor of the Harvard Law Review. After law school, he clerked for Judge Amalya L. Kearse of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Scott R. Foglietta focuses his practice on securities fraud, corporate governance and shareholder rights litigation. He is a member of the firm’s New Matter Department, where he, as part of a team of lawyers, financial analysts, and investigators, counsels Taft-Hartley pension funds, public pension funds, and other institutional investors on potential legal claims. In addition to his role in the New Matter Department, Scott was also a key member of the litigation teams responsible for prosecuting City of Sunrise General Employees' Retirement Plan v. FleetCor Technologies, Inc., which resulted in a recovery of $50 million for investors (pending court approval), and In re Lumber Liquidators Holdings, Inc. Securities Litigation, which resulted in a $45 million recovery for investors. For his accomplishments, Scott has been named a New York "Rising Star“ in the area of securities litigation by Thomson Reuters. Before joining the firm, Scott represented institutional and individual clients in a wide variety of complex litigation matters, including securities class actions, commercial litigation, and ERISA litigation. Prior to becoming a lawyer, Scott earned his M.B.A. in finance from Clark University and worked as a capital markets analyst for a boutique investment banking firm. He received his J.D. from Brooklyn Law School.
John J. Mills’ practice focuses on negotiating, documenting and obtaining court approval of the firm’s securities, merger and derivative settlements. Over the past decade, John was actively involved in finalizing many major settlements, including In re Wachovia Preferred Sec. and Bond/Notes Litig. (S.D.N.Y.) ($627 million settlement); In re Wilmington Trust Sec. Litig. (D. Del.) ($210 million settlement); In re Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. Derivative Litig. (Del. Ch.) ($153.75 million settlement); Medina, et al. v. Clovis Oncology, Inc., et al. (D. Colo.) ($142 million settlement); In re News Corp. S’holder Litig. (Del. Ch.) ($139 million recovery and corporate governance enhancements); In re Mut. Funds Invest. Litig. (MFS, Invesco, and Pilgrim Baxter Sub-Tracks) (D. Md.) ($127.036 million total recovery); Fresno County Employees’ Ret. Ass’n, et al. v. comScore, Inc., et al. (S.D.N.Y.) ($110 million settlement); In re El Paso Corp. S’holder Litig. (Del. Ch.) ($110 million settlement); In re Starz Stockholder Litig. (Del. Ch.) ($92.5 million settlement); The Dep’t of the Treasury of the State of New Jersey and its Div. of Invest. v. Cliffs Natural Res. Inc., et al. (N.D. Ohio) ($85 million settlement). John received his J.D. from Brooklyn Law School, cum laude, where he was a Carswell Merit Scholar recipient and a member of The Brooklyn Journal of International Law. He received his B.A. from Duke University.
Christopher J. Orrico’s practice is primarily focused on complex litigation involving corporate governance, corporate transactions, and shareholder rights litigation on behalf of the firm’s institutional, individual, and fund investor clients. Christopher has significant experience representing investors in major Delaware Chancery Court, shareholder rights, securities, antitrust and ERISA litigation, as well as a variety of other business tort litigation. He has litigated these matters through the injunction and trial stages including in the In re Globe Specialty Metals, Inc. Stockholders Litigation and In re Appraisal of Columbia Pipeline Group, Inc. He is currently the lead attorney and obtained a temporary restraining order in the In re Tile Shop Holdings, Inc. Litigation. Christopher obtained his joint J.D. and M.B.A. from Villanova University School of Law and School of Business. He completed the four-year joint degree program in only three years and has served as a guest lecturer on securities litigation for Villanova. Additionally, Christopher obtained his B.A. in Economics from Yale University where he was Captain of the Varsity Baseball Team. He is the author of “If You Ain’t Cheating You Ain’t Trying!”, “"The Shifting Meaning of "Fair Value," From Corwin to Dell: Recent Rulings and Reversals in Delaware's Courts May Spell Trouble for Investors", and “The Shifting Meaning of ‘Fair Value:’ The Delaware Supreme Court’s Reversal of Aruba Clarifies Dell and DFC Global” which were published by The Advocate for Institutional Investors in 2016, 2018 and 2019, respectively. Christopher is a member of the National Italian American Foundation as well as the Villanova Law Alumni Mentoring Program.