Today SCAS released our eighth annual "SCAS 50" report.
Based on data from the SCAS database, the SCAS 50 lists the top 50 plaintiffs' law firms ranked by the total dollar amount of final securities class action settlements occurring in 2010 in which the law firm served as lead or co-lead counsel.
As always, we look at the data in three main ways for each firm - total settlement dollars, total number of settlements, and average value per settlement. I have listed the top five firms in each category below.
The full report is available here.
2010's Top 5 - Total settlement value:
1. Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann
2. Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd
3. Labaton Sucharow
4. Hargrove Pierson & Brown
5. Marcus & Auerbach
2. Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd
3. Labaton Sucharow
4. Hargrove Pierson & Brown
5. Marcus & Auerbach
2010's Top 5 - Number of settlements:
1. Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd
2. Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann
3. Labaton Sucharow
4. Grant & Eisenhofer
5. Milberg
2. Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann
3. Labaton Sucharow
4. Grant & Eisenhofer
5. Milberg
2010's Top 5 - Settlement average:
1. Cunningham Bounds
2. Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann
3. Berman DeValerio
4. Labaton Sucharow
5. Wolf Popper
2. Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann
3. Berman DeValerio
4. Labaton Sucharow
5. Wolf Popper
A few observations.
1. Like 2009, 2010 saw 17 firms eclipse the $100 million settlement mark. This is slightly above the norm for the past 4 years.
2. However, this year saw no firms in excess of $1 billion in settlements. Last year saw three firms above that mark.
3. Average settlement dollars are lower this year than in previous years. This year the highest settlement average was $83 million. In 2009 all firms in the top 5 for average settlement dollars exceeded $100 million with the top firm averaging $250 million. Significantly, the years 2008, 2007, and 2006 all saw multiple firms in the top five with settlement averages above $100 million.
4. Firms in the top 5 for number of settlements showed numbers broadly in line with those in previous years.