Grant & Eisenhofer Elects Mary Thomas a Director and Adds Antitrust Practice Group, Headed by Leading Antitrust Attorney Robert G. Eisler

WILMINGTON, Del. and NEW YORK, June 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading securities and corporate governance law firm Grant & Eisenhofer P.A. is adding antitrust litigation to its existing practice areas.  The firm has hired Robert G. Eisler, one of the country's leading antitrust attorneys, to head the new practice group.  Mr. Eisler will be based in the firm's Wilmington office.

"With the increasing complexity of antitrust cases, clients are looking for firms who have a long history of success," said Jay Eisenhofer, managing director and co-founder of Grant & Eisenhofer.  "Having someone of Bob's caliber come on board to head the new antitrust practice group, coupled with the credentials, reputation and experience of G&E's litigators, allows the firm to grow strategically while offering clients a single source to meet their complex litigation needs."

At the same time, the firm announced that Mary S. Thomas has been elected a director and that Hung G. Ta, Ralph N. Sianni and Jeff A. Almeida have been promoted to senior counsel.

"The firm takes great pride in announcing the promotions of four extremely talented attorneys from within our ranks.  Each exemplifies the depth of experience and client responsiveness for which G&E is known," said Stuart Grant, the firm's managing director and co-founder.

Robert G. Eisler

Robert Eisler's practice focuses on antitrust, securities fraud and complex commercial litigation. Mr. Eisler has extensive experience in class action and complex litigation at the trial and appellate levels.  He has been involved in many of the most significant antitrust class action cases in recent years, and has frequently served as court-appointed lead or co lead counsel.

Mr. Eisler's experience spans industries including pharmaceuticals, paper products, construction materials, industrial chemicals, processed foods, and municipal securities, as well as consumer goods such as compact disks, automotive parts, and agricultural products, among many others. Mr. Eisler has also been involved in securities and derivative litigation on behalf of public pension funds, municipalities, mutual fund companies, and individual investors in state and federal courts.

Mr. Eisler is a member of the Bar of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State of New York, as well as numerous federal district and appellate courts. He graduated from LaSalle University in 1986 and Villanova University Law School in 1989.  

Mary S. Thomas

Mary Thomas spent twelve years practicing business litigation with two of Los Angeles' leading law firms before joining Grant & Eisenhofer in 2006.  Her experience prior to Grant & Eisenhofer includes trade secret and intellectual property matters, contract actions, employment defense, consumer class action defense, insurance disputes and environmental matters.  At Grant & Eisenhofer, Ms. Thomas has represented institutional investors in class action securities and shareholder derivative litigation.  

Ms. Thomas served as a volunteer arbitrator for the L.A. County Bar Association and as a volunteer mediator for the L.A. Superior Court and now serves as a volunteer guardian ad litem through Delaware's Office of the Child Advocate.  Ms. Thomas co-authored "California Wage and Hour Laws" (published by the National Legal Center for the Public Interest, January 2005). She was also one of several authors of the 10th and 11th editions of the California Environmental Law Handbook.

Ms. Thomas is admitted to practice in Delaware and California, as well as numerous federal district courts and the Ninth Circuit court of appeals. Ms. Thomas graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1994 and magna cum laude from the University of Delaware in 1991.

Hung G. Ta

Hung Ta works in Grant & Eisenhofer's New York Office, where he focuses on securities litigation and shareholder derivative litigation on behalf of our institutional investor clients.  Prior to joining G&E, Mr. Ta spent more than six years as a litigation associate at a leading New York law firm, where he represented a considerable number of officers and other clients of the firm in securities litigation, white-collar defense work and regulatory investigations.  Mr. Ta also represented other clients of the firm in general commercial litigation matters involving bankruptcy, reinsurance, professional malpractice, mutual fund litigation and ERISA litigation.

Before coming to the United States, Mr. Ta completed his education in Australia, earning a degree in Finance from the University of New South Wales School of Commerce and his Law degree from the University of New South Wales School of Law.  After law school, Mr. Ta clerked with the Honorable Justice Gaudron of the High Court of Australia, Australia's ultimate appellate court.

Ralph S. Sianni

Ralph Sianni's has over ten years of experience in the area of complex commercial litigation.  He joined G&E from another leading national securities litigation firm, where he handled class action securities litigation cases, and cases involving mergers and acquisitions, general corporate law and breach of fiduciary duties.  Mr. Sianni has played significant roles not only at the trial level but also in major appeals before the Third Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court. 

Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Sianni served as a Law Clerk to the Hon. Stephen J. McEwen, Jr., President Judge of Pennsylvania Superior Court.  As a Legislative Intern for the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, he researched and wrote memoranda on First Amendment issues for the PA legislature.  Mr. Sianni earned his law degree from the Boston University School of Law and his Masters Degree in History from Yale University.  He graduated cum laude with distinction from the University of Pennsylvania.

Jeff A. Almeida

Jeff Almeida has represented shareholders in several securities fraud actions against Fortune 500 companies and has been involved in derivative litigation and litigation involving illegal or abusive tax shelters. Prior to joining Grant & Eisenhofer in August 2004, Mr. Almeida was associated for seven years as an attorney with a major Philadelphia law firm, where he practiced in the complex commercial litigation department focusing on class action litigation, commercial contracts and insurance defense.

Mr. Almeida is a 1994 graduate of Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and a 1997 graduate of William and Mary Law School in Williamsburg, Virginia. Mr. Almeida is a member of the Pennsylvania, New Jersey and American Bar Associations.

Note:  Grant & Eisenhofer P.A. represents institutional investors and shareholders internationally in securities class actions, corporate governance actions and derivative litigation.  The firm has recovered approximately $12 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 also been named one of the country's top plaintiffs' law firms by the National Law Journal for the past four years.  For more information, visit www.gelaw.com

SOURCE Grant & Eisenhofer P.A.