Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

Chambers Spotlight New York partners: Lewis Kahn (Managing Partner), Michael Swick, Ramzi Abadou, Kim Miller, Bruno Rosenbaum.

Primary Practice Areas: Securities Litigation

With offices in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, New Orleans, and Delaware, and a representation office in Luxembourg, Europe, Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC (“KSF”) is one of the nation’s premier securities litigation law firms. The firm primarily represents shareholder clients seeking monetary damages emanating from corporate fraud by publicly traded companies and its officers, along with breaches of fiduciary duties by corporate boards.

KSF has been court appointed Lead, Co-Lead, or Class Counsel in many national securities fraud class actions and derivative breach of fiduciary duty cases that have achieved substantial recoveries.

Successfully pursuing litigation against some of the largest, most well-funded companies, KSF has consistently demonstrated its ability to litigate complex securities actions and has demonstrated success in fact analysis, monitoring, briefing, discovery, trial preparation and appeals.

• KSF settled an action against TuSimple, a domestic A.I. automated driving technology company with deep ties to China.After halting the company’s flight from the U.S. to China before it could abscond with hundreds of millions of dollars of investors’ funds and valuable intellectual property, KSF settled this action for $189 million, prior to receiving a decision on defendants’ initial dismissal motion.
• In the Haliburton Securities Litigation, after almost 15 years of hard-fought litigation, the Firm and its co-counsel obtained approval to settle the seminal securities fraud class action against Haliburton Company for $100 million. This result was remarkable in that: (i) this case was litigated twice to the United States Supreme Court where KSF emerged twice victorious; and (ii) even more notable, a proposed settlement of this very action was attempted by three other well established class action firms, years earlier for only $6 million. Evidence of “The KSF Difference” is the 1600% better return achieved for aggrieved funds, unions, institutional and individual investors, as well as the critically important legal precedents achieved for all investors.
• In the landmark $3 billion Petrobras Securities Fraud Action, KSF’s individual client recovered 65% more than others advised to opt-out and settle early. KSF served on Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee for Individual Actions – representing in aggregate over $2 billion in losses.
• After a successful appeal in the Blackberry Securities Litigation to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the court approved a $165 million settlement – one of the largest of 2022. This action was settled on the eve of trial and recovered 100% of recognized claimed losses, after the payment of attorneys’ fees and expenses.

Over the past twenty-five years, KSF and its partners, as Lead, Co-Lead or Class counsel, have recovered billions of dollars in securities fraud and shareholder derivative lawsuits across the U.S. in both federal and state courts.Kahn Swick & Foti recently was recognized by ISS SCAS for its “Top 10” ranking in terms of settlement dollars at $219 million in 2022 among all securities class action law firms in the U.S.In 2024, KSF recovered almost $225 million for investors.

KSF monitors institutional clients’ portfolios on an ongoing basis to evaluate whether any material losses are caused by fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty or other violations of corporate and/or securities laws. To effectively perform this function, KSF continues to review and update clients’ holdings and trading records, normally through a direct electronic connection with custodial banks that requires minimal ongoing client involvement. KSF continuously monitors and evaluates market news and information that may cause a client a material loss.

KSF’s reputation for intensive due diligence in case investigation and evaluation is supported by a core philosophy that distinguishes KSF from many of its peers: KSF takes legal action and recommends that clients seek lead plaintiff status in class actions only in the strongest cases. According to the Stanford University Class Action Clearinghouse, KSF evaluated and advised its clients to file under 20% percent of all new securities cases last year. KSF’s selectivity translates into peace of mind for its clients.

Policy Development

KSF works with its clients to implement a securities litigation policy, even if they have little intention of ever filing a lawsuit. A policy is a simple way for the board to address its fiduciary duties regarding stock fraud. It generally includes a minimum loss threshold to trigger a legal investigation and further board consideration. The policy also contains procedures to follow in the event of suspected fraud, eliminating deadline-driven debates over the merits of pursuing legal action and last minute searches for lawyers. It specifies a mechanism to ensure the fund custodian files claim forms in connection with settled class suits, even where the fund does not actively participate in the litigation.

Monitoring

KSF offers state-of-the-art Portfolio Monitoring for institutional investors worldwide. KSF created and maintains the “1^st Response Portfolio Monitoring System,” a cloud-based automated news and information web portal service that provides real-time market and litigation information, and damage analysis related to stock fraud and breach of fiduciary duty. KSF built, developed, and maintains a proprietary Portfolio Monitoring system that offers the highest level of data security.

Counsel

If losses due to suspected fraud are significant, KSF conducts a thorough evaluation of the case using a team of attorneys, investigators and forensic accountants. KSF then issues detailed recommendations to the fund’s staff covering options including: filing a lead plaintiff motion; pursuing an individual action; supporting the lead plaintiff motion of another fund; or monitoring the case as an informed class member. The firm’s written advice can serve as an important record should press or fund constituents ask questions about the steps trustees took to protect assets.

Funds Recovery

Each year, billions of dollars are recovered for investors through securities class actions. Yet many eligible claimants never submit a claim and receive their share of these settlements. Investors can only receive a check if they complete the necessary paperwork.

KSF notifies its clients of securities class-action settlements with regular updates, and will help process appropriate claims in the event your custodian is not providing this service.