Nicole C. Lavallee 

Nicole C. Lavallee is the managing partner of Berman Tabacco's San Francisco office and the co-chair of the plaintiff-side class action boutique's securities litigation practice group. She's been with the firm since 1994.

In her lengthy experience representing institutional plaintiffs and others, she calculates that she has recovered more than $1 billion for clients and class members. She frequently advises on asset recovery litigation for many of the largest pension funds and institutional investors in the country.

"We've closed a number of cases recently, and it's good to have them behind us," Lavallee said. She added that in the past, waves of corporate fraud involving accounting and backdating and other misbehavior came and went. "Now we see more one-off fraudulent conduct."

Her job involves detective work, as in her role as lead counsel representing a Utah state retirement system in a securities fraud class action against a corporation that ended with more than $40 million in settlements. In re Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc., 1:18-cv-04993 (S.D. N.Y., filed June 5, 2018).

"Based on our investigations, we alleged that the founder stepped back behind the scenes but was able to pull strings, create fictitious accounts receivables and funnel $300 million into his own bank accounts," she said. Shareholders complained about the stock performance, managed to get seats on the board and uncover part of the plot. The company then declared bankruptcy, seeking to eliminate the shareholders' rights.

Lavallee worked with bankruptcy experts to obtain a modification of the reorganization plan that protected the shareholders' right to pursue their claims. And her team salvaged claims against offshore auditors in Greece -- claims that are difficult to pursue under U.S. securities laws.

The auditors settled for $29.8 million; a deal with the former CEO and the founder is in the works for an additional $11.5 million. "Considering the foreign involvement and the bankruptcy, this is an exceptional recovery overall," Lavallee said.

In a pharma case, she went beyond the original claims to uncover additional wrongdoing. She and her firm were lead counsel for the Alameda County Employees' Retirement Association. The suspicion was that Portola Pharmaceuticals Inc. lied about the extent of the demand for its Andexxa drug, an anticoagulation reversal agent used in uncontrolled bleeding cases.

"We looked more deeply and, with forensic auditors, developed an accounting fraud case that was compelling for the court," Lavallee said. A $17.5 million settlement was approved in March. Hayden v. Portola Pharmaceuticals Inc. et al., 3:20-cv-00367 (N.D. Cal., filed Jan. 16, 2020).

"As a plaintiff attorney, you look beyond what appears to have happened," Lavallee said. "I enjoy the work, the litigation and the investigations."

-- John Roemer