Brian J. Robbins, left, and Felipe J. Arroyo
they often feel disenfranchised to effect change and combat apparent wrongdoing.
The co-founder and managing partner of Robbins Arroyo LLP in San Diego said his firm
steps in to give those shareholders who suspect misconduct by corporate officials
a voice by filing shareholder derivative lawsuits on their behalf.
Robbins Arroyo has established a national track record of success when it takes on
those types of cases, and other shareholder rights litigation.
Serving as co-lead counsel in a derivative case involving Tenet Healthcare Corp.,
the firm negotiated a settlement last decade that included $51.5 million in cash contributions
to Tenet and broad corporate governance reforms.
Prior to that, Robbins Arroyo helped secure $61.5 million recovery for shareholders
of Titan Inc., in one of the largest securities fraud class action settlements in
San Diego's history at the time.
The firm, founded in 2002, has racked up many more victories in the years since, helping
clients realize more than $1 billion of value for themselves and the companies in
which they have invested.
"We are constantly searching under Corporate America's hood to see what they might
be tampering with to the harm of their shareholders and then determining what we can
do about it," said Robbins.
Robbins Arroyo's successes have allowed the firm to grow from three attorneys at the
start to 22 attorneys as of September. The experienced team features both former
federal prosecutors, and corporate defense lawyers from larger firms.
The firm also handles antitrust, ERISA, whistleblower, consumer, and employment law
matters.
To help develop the factual record for its cases, Robbins Arroyo has created its own
corporate research department and it handles e-discovery in-house.
"We have invested in our people and in bettering our resources in ways we believe
make ourselves an even more effective adversary," said Robbins.
Besides securing monetary sums and corporate governance reforms, the firm's litigation
also often results in rulings that assist shareholders in other cases.
In 2012, a JPMorgan Chase & Co. shareholder filed a derivative lawsuit after the company's
board denied his demand that the company take action against those responsible for
the "London Whale" scandal of 2012, which cost JPMorgan $6 billion.
The case was dismissed by federal district court for the Southern District of New
York, but Robbins Arroyo successfully argued before the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals that a "de novo" standard of review should be applied to the district court's
ruling rather than the circuit's long tradition of reviewing dismissals of derivative
suits for "abuse of discretion."
"Previously, that abuse of discretion standard was so deferential it made it difficult
with respect to shareholder derivative cases to have them reviewed fully and fairly
on appeal," said George C. Aguilar, a partner at the firm who worked on the case.
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<b>- LYLE MORAN</b>
#261332
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