Grant & Eisenhofer Adds Former Hogan Lovells Partner Matthew Morris to Head Bankruptcy Litigation Practice
Morris has handled major bankruptcy contests against Lehman, Delphi, and Refco; participated in representation of Official Enron Creditors' Committee; was also a litigator at Cravath; will expand G&E's historic investor representations in major bankruptcy-related actions
NEW YORK, May 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- In a noteworthy expansion of its bankruptcy litigation profile, leading shareholder and corporate governance law firm Grant & Eisenhofer P.A. has added experienced creditor-side bankruptcy litigator Matthew Morris to head its bankruptcy litigation practice. Mr. Morris, who joins G&E as a director, was previously a bankruptcy partner with Hogan Lovells US LLP in New York. He formerly practiced in the bankruptcy department of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy, as well as in the litigation department of Cravath, Swaine & Moore.
With a strong background in complex litigation, Mr. Morris focuses on creditor-side representations in large corporate bankruptcies. He has experience in both domestic and cross-border insolvencies. Among his prominent engagements, he has represented numerous claimants in the massive Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, including former Lehman derivative contract counterparties. He represented Icelandic Straumur Investment Bank in U.S. Chapter 15 proceedings. He also represented the official liquidators of the collapsed Cayman Islands-based Sphinx Funds in the bankruptcy of commodities firm Refco, as well as participated in the representation of the Official Unsecured Creditors' Committee in the Enron Chapter 11 case.
The addition of Mr. Morris strengthens Grant & Eisenhofer's well-known litigation work on behalf of institutional investors, both domestic and foreign, in securities class actions, corporate governance actions and derivative litigation. In recent years, G&E has broadened its practice offerings to represent plaintiffs in major whistleblower and private antitrust actions.
G&E co-founders and managing directors Stuart Grant and Jay Eisenhofer said of Mr. Morris's arrival: "Matt has a proven track record representing stakeholders in high-stakes, complex bankruptcy cases, which will be a welcome complement to our existing litigation work. We've historically represented investors in securities and auditor liability actions tied to some of the largest bankruptcies in the past decade, including Parmalat, Global Crossing, Delphi, Refco and others. We've long recognized how important creditor bankruptcy expertise can be to our shareholder work, and we're pleased to have an attorney of Matt's caliber and record of success join us to direct litigation in this area going forward."
Mr. Morris noted that Grant & Eisenhofer provides an excellent platform for his practice. "Asset recovery through the bankruptcy system and out-of-court workouts is a fundamental objective of my work," he said. "Grant & Eisenhofer is one of the country's preeminent firms for shareholder and other investor recoveries, and I'm excited about heading up the firm's bankruptcy litigation practice. We expect to see ample opportunities to be engaged in bankruptcy contests on behalf of clients."
Mr. Morris received his undergraduate degree cum laude from Middlebury College, and his J.D. from Columbia Law School.
Recent bankruptcy-related litigation handled by G&E includes the representation of funds managed by Franklin Advisors, Conseco Capital Management, Credit Suisse Asset Management, Pilgrim American Funds and Oppenheimer Funds in a securities action against bankrupt beauty care product maker Styling Technology. The firm also recently represented the Flag Litigation Trust on behalf of PPM America and PIMCO, among other major institutional investors. G&E currently represents a group of institutional investors who collectively purchased over $600 million of debt issued by Washington Mutual Bank, in a securities fraud action and related bankruptcy claim stemming from WaMu's dissolution.
In 2007, G&E obtained $325 million for international investors in a class action against bankrupt auto parts maker Delphi Corp. The $204 million payout from Delphi was among the largest on record by an insolvent company - not including another $80 million paid by Delphi's directors & officers and $38 million from the company's former auditors.
The firm has also had a lead hand in some of the largest investor recoveries on record in securities cases, including serving as co-lead counsel to investors in an epic class action against Tyco International alleging accounting and other fraud that looted the company under disgraced CEO Dennis Kozlowski. The resulting $3 billion settlement struck in 2007 represented the largest payment ever made by a corporate defendant in resolving a securities class action. A separate $225 million payment was made by Tyco's former auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers, itself a near-record payment by an accounting firm.
In 2010, Grant & Eisenhofer recovered over $315 million for investors, ranking it once again among the leaders in shareholder recoveries according to Institutional Shareholder Services. The firm has recovered approximately $12.5 billion for shareholders in the last five years and was cited by RiskMetrics for securing the highest average investor recovery in securities class actions of any U.S. law firm in 2008. Grant & Eisenhofer has been named one of the country's top plaintiffs' law firms by the National Law Journal for the past six years.
Note: For more information about Grant & Eisenhofer, visit www.gelaw.com.
Contact:
Allan Ripp 212-262-7477 [email protected]
Elise Martin 302-622-7004 [email protected]
SOURCE Grant & Eisenhofer P.A.
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