Serena Hallowell and Ed Labaton Named Trailblazers by The National Law Journal

Partners Serena Hallowell and Ed Labaton have been recognized as Plaintiffs’ Lawyers Trailblazers by The National Law Journal. This annual list honors the lawyers who “make their mark in various aspects of legal work on the Plaintiffs’ side.”

Serena Hallowell was recognized for creating and leading Labaton Sucharow’s Opt-Out and Direct Litigation Practice, one of the only dedicated groups among plaintiffs firms side focused on developing and prosecuting direct actions and advising clients on recovery opportunities outside a class action context. “It used to be that opt-outs followed what happened in class actions, but we like to think outside the box about matters, such as whether there are additional claims or whether it makes sense to bring suit somewhere else,” she told the NLJ. For example, Serena’s group was the first of more than 25 current opt-outs against Valeant Pharmaceuticals to assert claims under New Jersey’s RICO Act, which allow treble damages. These claims were upheld when the District Court of New Jersey largely denied defendants’ motion to dismiss in July 2018.

Ed Labaton was recognized for serving as President of the Institute of Law and Economic Policy (“ILEP”). ILEP is a public policy research and educational foundation founded in 1995 to counter propaganda attacking class actions by developing a more balanced body of scholarship about contingency litigation and its role in the civil justice system. Chief among its program is its yearly symposium co-hosted with a law school whose law review published papers presented at the symposium. “We partnered with law schools and recruited a number of respected academics to be on our advisory board. We want to speak honestly about the civil justice system in a scholarly way in areas like corporate accountability, class actions and privacy issues.” After 25 years at the helm, Ed stepped down as President in April 2019.

Click here to read interviews with Serena and Ed.