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Value Added, Client-Focused Results

Clients with securities litigation issues turn to Schnader for value-added, client-focused results. We find cost-effective business solutions to meet a wide range of client needs. Our long, rich tradition of excellence in securities litigation is nationally recognized.

Our Clients

Securities Issuers, their directors and officers. National and global clients rely on Schnader when facing securities litigation or when seeking strategic advice on securities claim issues. They come from a vast number of industries, including:

  • Finance
  • Retail
  • Banking
  • Insurance
  • Chemical
  • Mortgage lending
  • Healthcare
  • Gaming
  • Media
  • Technology
  • Software development

Other Market Participants. We represent virtually every type of market participant, including:

  • Underwriters
  • Investment banks
  • Accountants
  • Attorney
  • Hedge funds
  • Private placement partners and organizers

Broker-dealers, registered representatives and registered investment advisors. Our clients encompass a broad spectrum including:

  • Major global and national wirehouses
  • Regional broker-dealers with numerous branches and offices of supervisory jurisdiction
  • Registered investment advisors, both corporate and individual
  • Registered representatives

Our Client Matter Types

  • Class actions and individual claims
    • Seasoned. We have decades of experience successfully defending major class-action and individual claims alleging securities fraud and other violations of securities laws and regulations
      Trials. We are among the select group with trial experience in securities claims, which gives us a unique perspective on providing a defense and structuring strategies. We have successfully crafted novel and creative arguments that set trends, rather than follow them.
    • Insurance. We have extensive, long experience with D&O insurance carriers, which are key players in the securities claims.
  • Shareholder derivative demands, claims and lawsuits
    • Track Record. We have an exemplary track record for publicly-traded and closely-held clients on claims involving breach of fiduciary duty, business judgment and other corporate misconduct.
    • Extraordinary Relief. Our deep experience and interdisciplinary approach are key to clients seeking or confronting the extraordinary relief available in shareholder derivative lawsuits, such as injunctions, asset freezes, security bonds, disgorgement of profits, or appointment of receivers or other fiduciaries.
  • Independent internal investigations.
    • Guidance. Well before Sarbanes-Oxley and ENRON, clients looked to us for guidance and counseling in internal investigations by entities, management, boards or board committees.
    • Policies & Controls. As part of our corporate governance counseling, we advise, draft and train on enhancements to corporate policies and on developing affective internal controls, using our interdisciplinary approach when needed.
  • Investigations by government law enforcement regulators.
    • Global Experience. We advise global and national clients on potential charges under securities and corporate laws, and their corresponding regulations
    • Exit Strategies. We have succeeded in convincing regulators to drop investigations of clients and to reduce or eliminate potential draconian sanctions.
    • All Major Regulators. We deal extensively with FINRA (formerly, NASD, NYSE and AMEX), the SEC, state attorneys general, and state securities regulators.
  • Court and administrative proceedings by governmental law enforcement. 
    • Defending Against Regulators. Clients and other referring counsel seek us when government investigations take an adversarial turn and become securities enforcement lawsuits and administrative proceedings, charging violations under securities laws and regulations
    • Trial Victories. We try and win cases brought by government regulators. We successfully argue appeals.
    • Remedy Focus. We give particular focus to defeating, ameliorating or reducing the potential remedies available to regulators under securities laws and regulations, such as fines, penalties, disgorgements, asset freezes or bars from an industry or from serving on boards.
  • Crisis management counseling.
    • Damage Control. We assist publicly traded and privately held entities, their management teams, independent directors, and board committees, with crisis management.
    • Global Strategies. Our interdisciplinary approach is vital to developing creative strategies designed to address clients’ various corporate constituencies and stake holders, including shareholders, employees, regulators, communities and the media.
  • Broker-dealer and registered investment advisor customer disputes.
    • Claim Resolution. Clients engage us to negotiate away customer claims before court filings and to defend proceedings after customer claims are formally filed.
    • Depth. We have handled hundreds of arbitrations and court cases involving customer disputes, and defended government enforcement matters and actions regarding customer claims.
  • Proxy fights and contests for corporate control.
    • Bet-the-Company. Clients facing the legal, procedural and economic complexities of proxy fights and contests for corporate control turn to us in “bet-the-company” matters.
  • M&A and other corporate transactional disputes.
    • Interdisciplinary Advantage. Our interdisciplinary approach gives clients a unique advantage when facing disputes rising from mergers and acquisitions and other corporate transactions.
  • ERISA and trust disputes and lawsuits.
    • Interdisciplinary Guidance. We guide clients in confronting tax and fiduciary issues with the aid of our tax and business planning group.
  • Criminal grand jury, prosecution, trials, sentencing and appeals.
    • Vision. We defend securities claims with a constant eye toward the criminal implications
    • Interdisciplinary approach. Our approach gives clients a unique advantage when securities matters take a turn for the worse and involve criminal issues.
    • Global Strategy. Our former federal and state prosecutors add tremendous value to structuring a global business strategy.

Schnader’s Difference

Our Scope

  • Comprehensive. Clients and referring counsel look to us for help under virtually all aspects of the federal securities laws and regulations, and those of many corresponding states.

Our Business Focus

  • Client Concerns. We blend our clients’ unique business concerns with our special knowledge in the nuances of securities laws and regulations and our unique courtroom and litigation experience.
  • Strategy. This results in a client-based strategy that may involve winning on motions raising technical legal and factual issues, structuring settlements or even convincing plaintiffs to withdraw their claims.

Our Experience

  • Seasoned. Our long, rich tradition of excellence in securities litigation is recognized nationally. We have decades of experience in these sophisticated matters.
  •  
  • National. We appear nationally in both federal and state courts, and in arbitrations throughout the country.
  • Unique. We can call on former judges, prosecutors and securities law enforcers for special insights to clients’ securities litigation needs.

Our Results

  •  
  • Trial Victories. We try and win securities cases.
  • Business Solutions. Equally important, we address clients’ securities problems by seeking creative, cost-effective business solutions from the time we are initially engaged.

Our Interdisciplinary Approach

  • Value Added. Clients receive Schnader’s value added dimension in securities litigation.
  • Special Concentration. To help achieve the best client-driven results, we often call on our corporate, transactional and criminal lawyers.
  • Strategic Business Context. The unique experience of such related service lawyers helps considerably to fashion a securities litigation strategy that considers the criminal ramifications and creates a business context seeking a business solution.

Our Attorneys

Arlene Fickler

Arlene Fickler

215-751-2332

Philadelphia, PA

afickler@schnader.com

 215-751-2332 Philadelphia, PA
Laurel Gift

Laurel Gift

412-577-5115

Pittsburgh, PA

lgift@schnader.com

 412-577-5115 Pittsburgh, PA
Randall P. Hsia

Randall P. Hsia

215-751-2462

Philadelphia, PA

rhsia@schnader.com

 215-751-2462 Philadelphia, PA
Jonathan W. Hugg

Jonathan W. Hugg

215-751-2527

Philadelphia, PA

jhugg@schnader.com

 215-751-2527 Philadelphia, PA
Bruce B. Kelson

Bruce B. Kelson

415-364-6744 212-973-8144

San Francisco, CA New York, NY

bkelson@schnader.com

 415-364-6744 212-973-8144 San Francisco, CA New York, NY
Theresa E. Loscalzo

Theresa E. Loscalzo

215-751-2254

Philadelphia, PA

tloscalzo@schnader.com

 215-751-2254 Philadelphia, PA
Ira Neil Richards

Ira Neil Richards

215-751-2503

Philadelphia, PA

irichards@schnader.com

 215-751-2503 Philadelphia, PA
Lisa J. Rodriguez

Lisa J. Rodriguez

856-482-5741

Cherry Hill, NJ

ljrodriguez@schnader.com

 856-482-5741 Cherry Hill, NJ
Jonathan B. Skowron

Jonathan B. Skowron

412-577-5113

Pittsburgh, PA

jskowron@schnader.com

 412-577-5113 Pittsburgh, PA
David Smith

David Smith

215-751-2190

Philadelphia, PA

dsmith@schnader.com

 215-751-2190 Philadelphia, PA
Paul H. Titus

Paul H. Titus

412-577-5224

Pittsburgh, PA

ptitus@schnader.com

 412-577-5224 Pittsburgh, PA

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The Higher Calling Of The Law Requires...

Inclusion. When Pennsylvania Attorney General William Schnader left politics and sought to return to private practice in Philadelphia, he discovered that no major Philadelphia law firms would hire his protégé, Bernard Segal, a Jewish attorney. In response, in 1935, William Schnader, Bernard Segal and Francis Lewis formed a new law firm, Schnader & Lewis -- the first religiously integrated law firm in Philadelphia.

Innovation. Because Schnader was religiously integrated from its founding, many local clients in the Philadelphia area would not retain the firm in the 1930s and 1940s. Accordingly, the firm sought to represent larger, national companies.

Vision. Firm founder William Schnader was president of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, which drafted and developed the Uniform Commercial Code. He successfully campaigned for the Code's adoption in 49 states.

The pursuit of freedom. At the request of President Truman, firm founder Earl Harrison, as Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, toured displaced persons camps at the end of World War II and recommended to the President that displaced persons in Europe be permitted to resettle in Palestine. His report was a major factor that led to American support for the establishment of Israel.

The pursuit of justice. Firm founder Earl Harrison testified on behalf of an African-American student denied entry to the University of Texas School of Law because of his race. The case challenged the "separate but equal" doctrine, as applied to state law schools and laid the foundation for Brown v. Board of Education. The Supreme Court eventually overturned the lower courts' decisions and ordered the University of Texas to admit qualified black applicants.

Courage. Firm founder Bernard Segal convinced the Philadelphia bar to defend nine accused Communists pro bono. The defendants were convicted but their cases were thrown out on appeal. As a result, the Justice Department abandoned Smith Act prosecutions across the country.

The pursuit of justice. When George Wallace threatened to block integration of the University of Alabama, Schnader’s Bernard Segal drafted a statement in opposition. He and Jerome Shestack called lawyers all over the country requesting their support. The statement was published in the Birmingham News with 53 prominent lawyer signatories and provided support for President Kennedy's Executive Order federalizing the Alabama National Guard.

The pursuit of justice. In the wake of George Wallace's efforts to impede the integration of the University of Alabama, and at the urging of Schnader’s Bernard Segal, President Kennedy convened 244 lawyers at the White House to ask them to move the battle for civil rights and racial equality to the courts. The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law was born and Jerome Shestack became its full-time executive director while continuing to practice at Schnader.

Inclusion. Firm founder Bernard Segal was chair of the ABA’s Committee on the Federal Judiciary. He advocated the appointment of federal judges of all genders and races.

Inclusion. Firm founder Bernard Segal was the first Jewish person to serve as Chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association. He encouraged the bar into public service and expanded its racial horizons.

Inclusion. Schnader was one of the first major Philadelphia firms to hire a female attorney.

Diversity. Schnader was a founding member of the Philadelphia Diversity Law Group, which aims to increase the number of diverse attorneys in-house and in private practice.

Vision. Firm Chairman David Smith co-founded the Philadelphia Bar Foundation’s Board Observer Program with Norm Weinstein of Galfand Berger, LLP. The program provides young attorneys with the opportunity to serve on nonprofit boards, where they can develop the leadership skills necessary for board membership, and increase the diversity of nonprofit boards.

Inclusion. The firm appointed Albert Dandridge as Chief Diversity Officer and charged him with increasing and developing our bench of diverse attorneys.

Service. The firm adopted Caton Village (now closed), a halfway house for women in Philadelphia, where we provided free legal clinics and social and educational activities for its residents.

Service. Schnader lawyers regularly represent undocumented children who were abused or abandoned by their parents. We help these children obtain guardians, stop removal proceedings, and begin the path to citizenship.

Service. As U.S. veterans waited an average of four years for a ruling on the denial of their disability benefits, Schnader attorneys led a campaign advocating for a solution to address the backlog.

The pursuit of justice. Schnader attorneys represented Guantanamo Bay detainees, advocating for fair treatment and due process against a byzantine legal landscape.

Service. With a nonprofit partner, Schnader attorneys and staff designed and taught a pilot life skills seminar for young adults aging out of the foster care system. The program included lessons on securing vital documents, opening a bank account, looking for jobs and going to an interview.

Service. Schnader attorneys help middle school students in Pittsburgh set up a youth court, prepare for mock trials and draft a bill of rights for their school. The students learn about Constitutional law, advocacy and restorative justice from participating in these programs.

Service. Bernard Segal, a founder of the firm, believed that Schnader's hallmark is its "dedication to the higher calling of the law," which he defined as "the lawyer's obligation to assume an active role in the pursuit of a just and ordered society, in helping to solve the emerging problems of social, economic and political importance, and to serve the public as his or her client, as she or he would serve a full-paying client."