Lawrence Deutsch

At the Berger firm, Mr. Deutsch has been involved in numerous major shareholder class action cases.  He recently served as lead counsel in the Delaware Chancery Court on behalf of Class A shareholders in a corporate governance litigation concerning the rights and valuation of their shareholdings.  Defendants in the case were the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, the Exchange's Board of Trustees, and six major Wall Street investment firms.  The case settled for $99 million and also included significant corporate governance provisions.  Chancellor Chandler, when approving the settlement allocation and fee awards on July 2, 2008, complimented counsel's effort and results, stating, "Counsel, again, I want to thank you for your extraordinary efforts in obtaining this result for the class."  The Chancellor had previously described the intensity of the litigation when he had approved the settlement, "All I can tell you, from someone who has only been doing this for roughly 22 years, is that I have yet to see a more fiercely and intensely litigated case than this case.  Never in 22 years have I seen counsel going at it, hammer and tong, like they have gone at it in this case."

Mr. Deutsch currently is court-appointed Lead or a primary attorney in numerous complex litigation cases:  As court-appointed lead counsel In re Revlon, Inc. Securities Litigation (Civil Case No. 1:09-cv-01008-GMS); serving as principal attorney on behalf of  a class of former principals of Towers Perrin (principals of TPAS, an entity of Towers Perrin) within the consolidated case Alan H. Dugan et al v. Towers, Perrin, Forster & Crosby, Inc. et al (Civil Case No. 2:09-cv-05099-MSG); serving as court-appointed lead counsel in In Re Inergy LP Unitholder Litigation (Del. Ch. No. 5816-VCP).

Over the 25 years working in securities litigation, Mr. Deutsch has been a lead attorney on many substantial matters.  Mr. Deutsch served as one of lead counsel in the In re Sunbeam Securities Litigation class action concerning "Chainsaw" Al Dunlap (recovery of over $142 million for the class in 2002).  As counsel on behalf of the City of Philadelphia he served on the Executive Committee for the securities litigation regarding Frank A Dusek, et al v. Mattel Inc., et al (recovery of $122 million for the class in 2006).

Mr. Deutsch recently served as lead counsel for a class of investors in Scudder/Deutsche Bank mutual funds in the nationwide Mutual Funds Market Timing cases.  Mr. Deutsch served on the Plaintiffs' Omnibus Steering Committee for the consortium of all cases.  These cases recovered over $300 million in 2010 for mutual fund purchasers and holders against various participants in widespread schemes to "market time" and late trade mutual funds, including $14million recovered for Scudder/Deutsche Bank mutual fund shareholders.

Mr. Deutsch has also represented plaintiffs in numerous matters of broker/dealer arbitrations, consumer fraud, individual securities disputes and construction litigation.

In addition to his litigation work, Mr. Deutsch has been a member of the firm's Administrative Committee over the past ten years and also manages the firm's paralegals.  He has also regularly represented indigent parties through the Bar Association's VIP Program, including the Bar's highly acclaimed representation of homeowners facing mortgage foreclosure.

Prior to joining the Berger firm, Mr. Deutsch served in the Peace Corps from 1973-1976, serving in Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and Belize.  He then worked for ten years at the United States General Services Administration.