Hannah Ross has over two decades of experience as a civil and criminal litigator. A former prosecutor, she has been a key member and leader of trial teams that have recovered billions of dollars for investors.
Hannah is widely recognized by industry observers for her professional achievements, including by the leading industry ranking guide Chambers USA, in which she was recognized as a "notable practitioner" in the Nationwide Securities Litigation Plaintiff category. Named a "Litigation Star," a "Top U.S. Woman Litigator" and one of the "Top 250 Women in Litigation" in the nation by Benchmark Litigation, she has earned praise as one of the elite in the field. Hannah has been named to Crain’s “Notable Women in Law,” an honor highlighting women at the pinnacle of their profession whose impact radiates well beyond the clients they serve. Hannah has been recognized by The National Law Journal as a member of the "Elite Women of the Plaintiffs' Bar" list three times and as a "Litigation & Plaintiffs’ Lawyer Trailblazer," named a New York "Super Lawyer" by Thomson Reuter's Super Lawyers magazine, honored as a "Titan of the Plaintiffs Bar" by legal newswire Law360, and named one of the top female litigators in the country (1 of 9 finalists for its "Best in Litigation" category) by Euromoney/Legal Media Group. She has also been named to an exclusive group of notable practitioners by Legal 500 for her achievements, and included on the lists of the "500 Leading Lawyers in America" and "500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers" compiled by leading industry publication Lawdragon.
Hannah is a member of the firm's Executive Committee. In addition to her direct litigation responsibilities, she is one of the senior partners at the firm responsible for client development and client relations. A significant part of her practice is dedicated to initial case evaluation and counseling the firm’s institutional investor clients on potential claims. Hannah is also one of the partners who oversees the firm’s Global Securities and Litigation Monitoring Team, which monitors global equities traded in non-U.S. jurisdictions on prospective and pending international securities matters. In that capacity, she advises the firm’s institutional investor clients on their options to recover losses incurred on securities purchased in non-U.S. markets. Hannah is the Chair of the firm’s Diversity Committee and Co-Chair of the firm’s Forum for Institutional Investors and Women’s Forum. She serves on the Corporate Leadership Committee of the New York Women’s Foundation and recently concluded a three-year term on the Council of Institutional Investors’ Market Advisory Council.
Hannah led the BLB&G team that recovered over $2 billion for 35 institutions that invested in the Allianz Structured Alpha Funds. She was a senior member of the team that prosecuted In re Bank of America Securities Litigation, which resulted in a landmark settlement shortly before trial of $2.425 billion, one of the largest securities recoveries ever obtained, and by far the largest recovery achieved in a litigation arising from the financial crisis. Most recently, she was the lead partner in the securities class action arising from the failure of major mid-Atlantic bank Wilmington Trust, which settled for $210 million. Hannah was also a senior member of the trial team that prosecuted the litigation arising from the collapse of former leading brokerage MF Global, which recovered $234.3 million on behalf of investors. In addition, she led the prosecution against Washington Mutual and certain of its former officers and directors for alleged fraudulent conduct in the thrift’s home lending operations, an action which settled for $216.75 million and represents one of the largest settlements achieved in a case related to the fallout of the subprime crisis and the largest recovery ever achieved in a securities class action in the Western District of Washington. Hannah was also a key member of the team prosecuting In re The Mills Corporation Securities Litigation, which settled for $202.75 million, one of the largest recovery ever achieved in a securities class action in Virginia and the Fourth Circuit.
She has been a member of the trial teams in numerous other major securities litigations resulting in recoveries for investors in excess of $6 billion. These include securities class actions against Nortel Networks, New Century Financial Corporation, and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation ("Freddie Mac"), as well as In re Altisource Portfolio Solutions S.A. Securities Litigation, In re DFC Global Corp. Securities Litigation, In re Tronox Securities Litigation, In re Delphi Corporation Securities Litigation, In re Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. Derivative Litigation, In re OM Group, Inc. Securities Litigation, and In re BioScrip, Inc. Securities Litigation.
Hannah has also served as an adjunct faculty member in the trial advocacy program at the Dickinson School of Law of the Pennsylvania State University. Before joining BLB&G, Hannah was a prosecutor in the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office as well as an Assistant District Attorney in the Middlesex County (Massachusetts) District Attorney’s Office.