Jeffrey A. Barrack

Partner | Philadelphia, PA

Biography

Jeffrey A. Barrack, a partner in Barrack, Rodos & Bacine, focuses his practice on securities fraud litigation on behalf of institutional investors and has been an important member of the litigation teams that have prosecuted major securities class actions to their landmark conclusions. Jeff has also successfully advocated corporate governance and excessive executive compensation reforms through shareholder rights claims asserted in direct and derivative cases alleging corporate directors’ breaches of fiduciary and other legal duties.  Before joining BR&B in 1996, he served under the Philadelphia District Attorney and the United States Attorney assisting in the prosecution of complex white-collar crime in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Jeff has extensive trial experience while at BR&B, serving as the lead attorney on auditing and accounting issues in In re WorldCom, Inc. Securities Litigation and participating in the four week trial of the only non-settling defendant.  He also served as a trial attorney in In re Apollo Group Inc. Securities Litigation, in which he and his litigation team secured a unanimous verdict for investors in January 2008 after two months of trial, resulting in a recovery of $145 million after a prolonged appellate process.

Jeff has lectured on private securities litigation at the Beasley School of Law at Temple University, has been a featured columnist on securities litigation in The Legal Intelligencer, the oldest law journal in the United States, and has written on trial practice for the American Journal of Trial Advocacy.  He has been repeatedly honored by the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania as an attorney whose “work has been recognized by the judiciary as exemplary.”

Notable Cases

  • In re WorldCom, Inc. Securities Litigation, Master File No. 02-Civ-3288 (DLC), before the Honorable Denise L. Cote in the Southern District of New York, which yielded a record-breaking recovery of $6.19 billion.
  • In re McKesson HBOC, Inc. Securities Litigation, No. C-99-20743-RMW, before the Honorable Ronald M. Whyte in the Northern District of California, which resulted in settlements totaling $1.052 billion, the largest securities fraud class action recovery in the Northern District of California.
  • In re Apollo Group Inc. Securities Litigation, No. CV-04-2147 PHX-JAT , (D. Ariz.) , before the Honorable James A. Teilborg in the District of Arizona, which resulted in a $145 million recovery for injured shareholders after a two-month jury trial with a unanimous verdict for investors, and a prolonged appellate process.
  • Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System v. Bank of America Corp., et al., Civil Action No. 1:11-cv-733-WHP, before the Honorable William H. Pauley, III, in the Southern District of New York, which settled after nearly six years of intesive litigation for $335 million.
  • In re Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. Securities, Derivative and ERISA Litigation, Master File No.: 1:07-cv-9633-JSR-DFE, before the Honorable Judge Jed S. Rakoff in the Southern District of New York, a securities fraud class action arising from the 2008 financial crisis, which settled for $475 million.
  • In re The Mills Corporation Securities Litigation, Civil Action No. 1:06-cv-00077 (LO/TRJ), before the Honorable Liam O’Grady, in the Eastern District of Virginia, which settled for $202.75 million, the largest securities litigation recovery even in the Eastern District of Virginia.
  • In re R&G Financial Corporation Securities Litigation, Master File No. 05 Civ. 4186 (JES), before the Honorable John E. Sprizzo in the Southern District of New York, which settled for $51 million from corporate defendants and the company’s independent public accounting firm.
  • In re WageWorks, Inc. Securities Litigation, Case No. 4:18-cv-01523-JSW, before the Honorable Jeffrey S. White in the Northern District of California, which settled for $30 million.
  • In re Bridgestone Securities Litigation, Master File No. 3:01-cv-0017, before the Honorable Robert L. Echols in the Middle District of Tennessee, which settled for $30 million from the Japanese corporation.
  • In re Roadrunner Transportation Systems, Inc. Securities Litigation, No. 2:17-cv-144-PP, before the Honorable Pamela Pepper in the Eastern District of Wisconsin, which settled for $20 million.
  • In re DaimlerChrysler AG Securities Litigation, Master Docket No. 00-0993 (JJF), before the Honorable Joseph J. Farnan, Jr. in the District of Delaware, which settled for $300 million.
  • In re Sunbeam Securities Litigation, No. 98-8258-CIV-MIDDLEBROOKS, before the Honorable Donald M. Middlebrooks in the Southern District of Florida , which resulted in a $140 million settlement from corporate defendants and the company’s independent public accounting firm.

Current Cases

  • Allegheny County Employees’ Retirement System, et al. v. Energy Transfer LP, et al., Case No. 2:20-cv-00200-GAM, before the Honorable Gerald A. McHugh in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
  • In re Generic Pharmaceuticals Pricing Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 2:16-md-02724-CMR, before the Honorable Cynthia M. Rufe in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Education

  • Temple University School of Law
    Philadelphia, PA  |  J.D. 1996
  • Boston College
    Boston, MA | M.A., Developmental Psychology, 1992
  • Clark University
    Worcester, MA | B.A., Philosophy, 1990

Admissions

  • Pennsylvania, 1996
  • New York, 2009
  • United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
  • United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
  • United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
  • United States District Court for the Southern District of New York

Publications

Defense Bar Commentary Highlights Practice Points for Biotech Securities Litigation
The Temple 10-Q:  The Business Law Magazine of Temple University’s Beasley School of Law (September 9, 2022)
Mind the GAAP:  Seeking Transparency Through Disclosure Again
The Temple 10-Q:  The Business Law Magazine of Temple University’s Beasley School of Law (June 14, 2016)
New GASB Statements:  Considerations and Best Practices for Public Pension Fiduciaries
The Temple 10-Q:  The Business Law Magazine of Temple University’s Beasley School of Law (November 20, 2015)
Child Advocacy Is an Effective Way to Pursue Justice
EZine, June 29, 2010
Are Stealth Financial Reporting Studies a Warning for Buyer to Beware?
The Legal Intelligencer, vol 240, no. 121, p.5 (December 18, 2009)
Study Confirms: Institutional Investors Promote Purpose of Securities Laws
The Legal Intelligencer, vol 240, no. 40, p.5 (August 25, 2009)
Public Bond Issuers Seek Costs Caused by Insurers
The Legal Intelligencer, vol. 239, no. 100, p.7 (May 26, 2009)
Courts Clarify Road Map for Investment Managers to Lead Securities Cases
The Legal Intelligencer, vol. 239, no. 36, p.5 (February 24, 2009)
Monitoring Settlements, Distributions in Securities Class Action Litigation
The Legal Intelligencer, vol. 238, no. 104, p.5 (November 25, 2008)
Rating Agencies Suffer From Conflicts of Interest
The Legal Intelligencer, vol 238, no. 40, p.7 (August 26, 2008)
A Primer on Taking a Securities Fraud Class Action to Trial
American Journal of Trial Advocacy, vol. 31:471 (Spring 2008)
Tips for Investors Considering Transnational Securities Litigation
The Legal Intelligencer, vol. 237, no. 122, p.5 (June 24, 2008)
Public Pension Funds Protect the Integrity of United States Capital Markets by Leading Securities Fraud Class Actions Through Trial
The NAPPA Report, vol. 22, no. 2, p.6 (May 2008)
Shift in Litigation Strategy Sends More Securities Cases to Trial
The Legal Intelligencer, vol. 237, no. 58, p.7 (March 25, 2008)
Supreme Court Renders Investor-Friendly Decision in Tellabs
The Legal Intelligencer, vol. 236, no. 41, p.7 (August 28, 2007)
Buyer Beware: Private Securities Litigation is Under Attack Again
The Legal Intelligencer, vol. 235, no. 79, p.7 (April 24, 2007)
Sarbanes-Oxley and U.S. Capital Market Competitiveness
The Legal Intelligencer, Corporate Governance Supplement, p.CG5 (November 20, 2006)
Does High Court Mean the Buyer Must Beware in Securities Markets?
The Legal Intelligencer, vol. 234, no. 58, p.5 (September 25, 2006)
Investment Bank Accountability for the Issuance of Fairness Opinions
The Legal Intelligencer, vol. 234, no. 98, p.5 (May 22, 2006)
What’s Become of Underwriting Due Diligence Since WorldCom?
The Legal Intelligencer, vol. 233, no. 14, p.5 (January 23, 2006)
A Note on Auditor Responsibility from the WorldCom Securities Litigation
Barrack Bulletin, Vol. 9 (Fall 2005)
Auditor Responsibility under the Federal Securities Laws: a Note from the WorldCom Securities Litigation
American Journal of Trial Advocacy, Vol. 29:1 (Summer 2005)
DaimlerChrysler Agrees to Pay $300 Million to Settle Class Action 
Barrack Bulletin, Vol. 7 (Fall 2003)
Does “5-in-3” Rule Apply to Institutions? SEC Says No
Barrack Bulletin, Vol. 2 (Spring 2001)
An Essay on the Continuing Revaluation of Values
7(2) Journal of Ethical Studies 3 (1992)