Page 13 - Palm Beach Vol 6 No 3

Over the past year, Geller has spent a lot of time with Boies in San Francisco, the epicenter of a massive consolidated class action on behalf of hundreds of thousands of Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche “Clean Diesel” owners. Geller and Boies are both members of a plainti s’ steering committee litigating the case, a group that San Fran- cisco newspaper, e Recorder, the “class action dream team.”
Among the Robbins Geller lawyers assist- ing Geller on the case is Jason Alperstein, who joined the rm as an associate in De- cember 2015 and rose to the rank of partner a year later. Alperstein’s rst assignment at the rm was to assist Geller in making an application to help lead the Volkswagen case.
“I was excited to be joining the largest class action rm in the country, but at the time I didn’t know I’d also be working on the largest class action in history,” Alper- stein says.
A er considering over 150 applications, including a dozen from Florida, the Hon- orable Charles Breyer appointed Geller to a coveted slot on the leadership team, the only Florida lawyer to make the cut. e case was recently preliminarily resolved in a manner that ensures signi cant restitution payments to class members, requires the buyback of certain vehicles by Volkswagen at pre-scandal prices, and includes environ- mental reparation as well. e value of the settlement, over $16 billion, makes it the largest class action settlement in history.
“Largest” and “billion” are words that are o en used in describing Robbins Geller’s results. Late last year, a federal judge in Chicago granted nal approval to a securi- ties class action against Household Interna-
“ e Household case is an example of our rm’s dogged determination to maxi- mize results for our clients,” says Maureen Mueller, another partner in Geller’s Boca Raton o ce who had moved from Florida to Chicago as part of the Household trial team.
According to Geller, taking cases to trial is one of the factors that distinguishes Rob- bins Geller from many other class action rms. “I’m convinced that our willingness and ability to try cases helps us maximize results in every case,” says Geller.
While class action trials are relatively rare, Geller recalls a period last year when a half dozen or so cases were set to start trial within a one-month period. “It was an exciting time,” Geller says. “We had trial teams ready to go in each case, and before jury selection, we resolved class cases against P zer in New York for $400 million, Psychiatric Solutions in Tennes- see for $65 million, St. Jude in Minnesota for $50 million, and we went to trial and won $148 million in a case against Dole in Delaware.”
An Interesting
Mix of Cases
While many Robbins Geller cases entail
securities and accounting fraud, Geller par-
ticularly relishes the opportunity to take on
challenging class actions involving novel is-
sues. For example, he and his Boca Raton
partners Mark Dearman (Geller’s college
roommate) and Stuart Davidson are lead-
ing a case against the NHL on behalf of
players who su ered repeated concussions.
e class’s expert witness is Dr. Bennet
ers. Robbins Geller was also lead counsel in the widely publicized class action against Trump University, which settled for $25 million shortly before the new president’s inauguration. He received death threats af- ter Trump attacked the rm (and the pre- siding judge) during the campaign.
“ at was unfortunate. My kids saw the email threatening me, which was tough for them,” Geller says. “ e reality is that case was never about politics. It was led long before Trump was running for o ce.”
Despite recovering $25 million for the consumers who brought the case, a remark- able result, Robbins Geller decided to forego collecting a fee for its work, a move Geller is proud of. “ e case was about vulnerable consumers, many elderly, who we allege were defrauded. e timing of the election injected politics into a straightforward con- sumer fraud lawsuit. At the end, we felt that maximizing the class’s recovery and letting the defendant move on to Pennsylvania Av- enue was more important than our fee. It was best for the class and the country.”
Family First
“Busy” would be an understatement in describing Geller’s practice. But no matter how many trials or how much travel, Geller says his rst priority is and always will be his family.
“I want to be the best lawyer and partner I can be, but not at the expense of failing to be the best husband and father I can be,” says Geller.
Geller has been married to his wife, Les- lie, for over 23 years. ey met as under- grads at the University of Florida in 1988
school.
“It’s tough to come to grips with the
fact that that the boys will be o to college soon,” Geller says. “I’ve always known that family time is the most important part of any day, but now I feel that more than ever.”
Omalu, who gained fame for shining light
tional, the former mortgage servicing arm on the debilitating impact of concussions in and have been“
of HSBC, the British multinational banking institution. A er litigating the case for 14 years, including a six-week jury trial result- ing in a verdict for investors and subsequent appeals, the case settled for $1.57 billion. at ranks among the largest securities settlements ever (the largest, $7.2 billion against Enron Corp., was also achieved by Geller’s rm).
the NFL and was played by Will Smith in the movie “Concussion.”
Geller and Davidson are also involved in a cutting-edge case against Facebook over its use of facial recognition so ware, and a privacy related case against Yahoo! over what is alleged to be the largest ever data breach, impacting nearly a billion consum-
largely inseparable since. Geller’s two boys, Jared and Dylan, are in their senior and sophomore years of high
I want to be the best lawyer and partner I can be, but not at the expense of failing to be the best husband and father I can be.”
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