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About Berger Montague
Berger
Montague is a full-spectrum class action and complex civil litigation firm,
with nationally known attorneys highly sought after for their legal skills. The
firm has been recognized by courts throughout the country for its ability and
experience in handling major complex litigation, particularly in the fields of
antitrust, securities, mass torts, civil and human rights, whistleblower cases,
employment, and consumer litigation. In numerous precedent-setting cases, the
firm has played a principal or lead role.
The
National Law Journal selected Berger Montague in 12 out of 14 years
(2003-2005, 2007-2013, 2015-2016) for its “Hot List” of top plaintiffs-oriented
litigation firms in the United States. The select group of law firms
recognized each year had done “exemplary, cutting-edge work on the plaintiffs’
side.” The National Law Journal ended its “Hot List” award in 2017 and
replaced it with “Elite Trial Lawyers,” which Berger Montague has won from 2018-2020.
The firm has also achieved the highest possible rating by its peers and
opponents as reported in Martindale-Hubbell and was ranked as a 2021
“Best Law Firm” by U.S. News - Best Lawyers.
Currently,
the firm consists of 66 lawyers; 25 paralegals; and an experienced support
staff. Few firms in the United States have our breadth of practice and match
our successful track record in such a broad array of complex litigation.
History of the Firm
Berger
Montague was founded in 1970 by the late David Berger to concentrate on the
representation of plaintiffs in a series of antitrust class actions. David
Berger helped pioneer the use of class actions in antitrust litigation and was
instrumental in extending the use of the class action procedure to other
litigation areas, including securities, employment discrimination, civil and
human rights, and mass torts. The firm’s complement of nationally recognized
lawyers has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in these and other areas
and has recovered billions of dollars for its clients. In complex litigation,
particularly in areas of class action litigation, Berger Montague has
established new law and forged the path for recovery.
The
firm has been involved in a series of notable cases, some of them among the
most important in the last 50 years of civil litigation. For example, the firm
was one of the principal counsel for plaintiffs in the Drexel Burnham Lambert/Michael Milken securities and bankruptcy
litigation. Claimants in these cases
recovered approximately $2 billion in the aftermath of the collapse of the junk
bond market and the bankruptcy of Drexel in
the late 1980’s. The firm was also among the principal trial counsel in the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill litigation in
Anchorage, Alaska, a trial resulting in a record jury award of $5 billion
against Exxon, later reduced by the U.S. Supreme Court to $507.5 million.
Berger Montague was lead counsel in the School
Asbestos Litigation, in which a national class of secondary and elementary
schools recovered in excess of $200 million to defray the costs of asbestos
abatement. The case was the first mass tort property damage class action
certified on a national basis. Berger Montague was also lead/liaison counsel in
the Three Mile Island Litigation
arising out of a serious nuclear incident.
Additionally,
in the human rights area, the firm, through its membership on the executive
committee in the Holocaust Victim Assets
Litigation, helped to achieve a $1.25 billion settlement with the largest
Swiss banks on behalf of victims of Nazi aggression whose deposits were not
returned after the Second World War. The firm also played an instrumental role
in bringing about a $4.37 billion settlement with German industry and
government for the use of slave and forced labor during the Holocaust.