Jim Harrod, a BLB&G partner, focuses his practice on representing the firm’s institutional investor clients in securities fraud-related matters. He leads the firm’s Global Securities and Litigation Monitoring Team, which monitors securities actions around the world and advises BLB&G’s institutional clients on potential avenues for recovery in those actions. Jim has more than 25 years of experience prosecuting complex litigation in federal courts and has obtained over $3 billion on behalf of investor classes. He practices out of BLB&G’s New York office.
Jim has litigated many of BLB&G’s most significant securities fraud actions, obtaining record recoveries for the firm’s clients. Most recently, he was a leader of the BLB&G litigation team that recovered over $2 billion for 35 institutions that invested in the Allianz Structured Alpha Funds. Jim’s other high-profile cases include:
- New York State Teachers’ Retirement System v. General Motors Company: Jim prosecuted the securities litigation against General Motors arising from the company’s recall of vehicles with defective ignition switches, recovering $300 million for investors—the second largest securities class action recovery in the Sixth Circuit.
- In re Motorola Securities Litigation: Jim was a key member of a litigation team that represented the State of New Jersey’s Division of Investment in the securities fraud case against Motorola, obtaining a $190 million recovery three days before trial.
Jim has significant knowledge and experience prosecuting claims against foreign issuers and actions brought under foreign law. His recent work in this area includes:
- Roofers' Pension Fund v. Joseph C. Papa, et al.: Jim led the securities case against Perrigo, which asserted claims on behalf of investors under U.S. and Israeli law. Perrigo was recently resolved for $97 million.
- In re Equifax Inc. Securities Litigation: Jim served as lead counsel for German asset manager Union Asset Management AG in litigation against Equifax related to the company’s massive 2017 data breach, obtaining a $149 million recovery for defrauded investors. This remains the largest recovery in a securities class action based on a data breach.
- In re Volkswagen AG Securities Litigation: Jim served as lead counsel in this litigation relating to Volkswagen’s misrepresentations concerning its “clean diesel” cars. The case involved significant international discovery, foreign jurisdictional issues, and overlapping litigation in Europe. The settlement obtained a recovery of 100% of investors damages.
Jim’s experience includes representing institutional investors in cases concerning the issuance of residential mortgage-backed securities prior to the 2008 financial crisis. For example, he led the team that recovered $500 million for investors in In re Bear Stearns Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates Litigation, which brought claims related to the issuance of mortgage pass-through certificates during 2006 and 2007. Jim served as co-lead counsel in a similar action, Plumbers’ & Pipefitters’ Local #562 Supplemental Plan & Trust v. J.P. Morgan Acceptance Corp. I, which recovered $280 million on behalf of a class of investors.
Jim is a frequent speaker to public pension fund organizations and trustees concerning fiduciary duties, emerging issues in securities litigation, and the financial markets. He is also a regular author on topics related to the securities laws. Most recently, he co-authored a Bloomberg Law article examining a common insider trading defense.
In recognition of his outstanding work, Jim was named a “Securities MVP” by Law360 in 2022 and a “Plaintiffs’ Lawyers Trailblazer” by The National Law Journal in 2021. He is regularly recognized as a “Litigation Star” by Benchmark Litigation, among the leading U.S. legal practitioners by Lawdragon, and among the most talented lawyers in New York by Thomson Reuters’ Super Lawyers.
Prior to joining BLB&G, Jim practiced at Wolf Popper LLP for 14 years. He received his J.D. from George Washington University Law School and his B.A. from Skidmore College.