Arthur T. Susman
Phone: 312 346-3466 Email: asusman@shhllp.com
Arthur T. Susman has more than 45 years of trial and appellate experience. Mr. Susman has been active in the Securities Committee of the Chicago Bar Association and was Chairman of the Rule 10b-5 Subcommittee. One of his early published articles appears in the ABA Selected Articles on Closely Held Enterprises collection, and he lectures and has had numerous articles published in the securities law field. He has participated in over 70 lawsuits involving derivative, corporate, and securities matters and Chapter X corporate reorganizations and has achieved a reputation as a specialist in the field of minority shareholder representation. Mr. Susman's extensive litigation career includes:
Securities Litigation
In re Bank One Secs. Litig., No. 00-2100 (N.D. Ill.) (Andersen, J.).
Lead counsel for former shareholders of First Chicago NBD challenging Bank One Corporation’s1998 acquisition of First Chicago NBD under Sections 11 and 12 of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 14 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Class includes some 300 hundred million shares. After defeating motion to dismiss, obtaining class certification, see 2002 WL 989454, at *9, and concluding fact and expert discovery, defendants settled for $120 million, the second-largest securities settlement in the Seventh Circuit.
Endo v. Albertine, No. 88-1815 (N.D. Ill.).
Lead counsel in securities class action settled for $8 million on eve of trial in January 1998.
In re W.R. Grace Sec. Litig., No. 95-9003 (S.D.N.Y.).
Co-lead counsel in $28 million settlement of securities class action in January 1998.
In re Phar-Mor, Inc., Sec. Litig., No. MDL 959 (W.D. Pa.).
Represented institutional investors, including the Northern Trust, Kemper Securities, and Sumitomo Bank, in multi- district case involving federal and state claims arising out of massive accounting fraud. Favorable settlement in 1996 under seal.
In re Triangle Indus., Inc., S’holder Litig., No. 10466 (Del. Ch. 1990).
Co-lead counsel in shareholder litigation settled for $75 million.
Siegman v. Tri-Star Pictures, No. 9477 (Del. Ch. 1993).
Co-lead counsel in class and derivative action challenging Coca-Cola’s sale of Columbia Pictures to Tri-Star. Judgment for defendants reversed on appeal to Delaware Supreme Court and remanded for trial. Settled eve of trial for $22.5 million.
ERISA Litigation
Kiefer v. Ceridian Corp., 976 F. Supp. 2d 829 (D. Minn.).
Lead counsel in $51 million settlement of ERISA class action reached in October 1997, three weeks before trial.
In re Sears Retiree Group Life Ins. Litig., No. 97-7453 (N.D. Ill.).
Co-lead counsel in ERISA class action on behalf of 80,000 Sears retirees. Settlement conferring up to $200 million in benefits approved March 5, 2002.
Carter v. Ret. Plan of Texaco, Inc., No. 99-0114 (S.D.N.Y.).
Lead counsel in $10 million settlement of ERISA class action on behalf of 10,000 plan participants. Settled October 10, 2000.
Steiner v. Control Data Sys., Inc., No. 98-1489 (D. Minn).
Lead counsel in $4.25 million ERISA class action settlement affecting some 700 plan members in July 1999.
Corporate Governance & Fiduciary Duty Litigation
O’Malley v. Boris, 742 A.2d 845 (Del. Supr. 1999).
Lead counsel in class action involving breach of investment broker’s fiduciary duties to 269,000 clients. Case settled on day of trial following Delaware Supreme Court’s reversal of Chancery Court’s dismissal of suit and Chancery Court’s subsequent grant of summary judgment on liability in favor of plaintiffs. See 2002 WL 453928 (Del. Ch.) (granting summary judgment); 2001 WL 50204 (Del. Ch.) (granting class certification).
Canel v. Lincoln Nat’l Bank, 1998 WL 1760544 (N.D. Ill. 1998).
Squeeze-out merger class action involving bank acquisition. Settled in 2000.
Schelly v. Mfrs. Nat’l Corp., No. 99-00820 (Cir. Ct. Cook County, Ch. Div.).
Breach of fiduciary duty action on behalf of minority shareholders in bank. Settled in 2000.
Siegman v. Columbia Pictures, No. 11152 (Del. Ch. 1994).
Co-lead counsel in class action challenging the sale of Columbia Pictures to Sony under Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporate Law. Settled for $3 million.
Malone v. Brincat, 722 A.2d 5 (Del. Supr. 1998).
Co-lead counsel in landmark decision allowing class of non-purchaser stockholders of Mercury Finance Company to bring action for breach of fiduciary duty of disclosure.
In addition to the cases noted above and unreported litigation, Mr. Susman has participated in the following reported cases: DiLeo v. Ernst & Young, 901 F.2d 624 (7th Cir. 1990); Lister v. Stark, 890 F.2d 941 (7th Cir. 1989); Alexander v. Centrafarm Group, N.V., 124 F.R.D. 178 (N.D. Ill. 1988); Colan v. Cutler-Hammer, Inc., 812 F.2d 357 (7th Cir. 1987); Panter v. Marshall Field & Co., 646 F.2d 271 (7th Cir. 1981); In re Republic Nat’l Life Ins. Co., 73 F.R.D. 658 (S.D.N.Y. 1977); Winokur v. Bell Federal Sav. & Loan Assoc., 560 F.2d 271, reh’g denied, 562 F.2d 1034 (7th Cir. 1977); Adams v. Jewel, 63 Ill.2d 336 (Ill. 1976); Mathews Fund, Inc. v. Colwell Co., 564 F.2d 780 (7th Cir. 1977); In re TransOcean Tender Offer Sec. Litig., 427 F. Supp. 1208 (N.D. Ill. 1977), 427 F. Supp. 1211 (N.D. Ill. 1977), 455. F. Supp. 999 (N.D. Ill. 1978), 415 F. Supp. 382 (J.P.M.L. 1976), and 78 F.R.D. 682 (N.D. Ill. 1978); King v. Kansas City Southern Indus., Inc., 519 F.2d 20 (7th Cir. 1975), aff’g 56 F.R.D. 96 (N.D. Ill. 1976); Girsh v. Jepson, 521 F.2d 153 (3d Cir. 1975), rev’g 64 F.R.D. 86 (E.D. Pa. 1974); Swanson v. Am. Consumers Indus., Inc., 415 F.2d 1326 (7th Cir. 1969), 475 F.2d 516 (7th Cir. 1973), and 517 F.2d 555 (7th Cir. 1975).
Among Mr. Susman’s unreported cases are Brody v. Occidental Petroleum Corp., No. 1-823 (Del. Ch. 1990) (challenging corporate donation to art museum); Windsor Indus. Sec. Litig., No. 85-4196 (N.D. Ill. 1990) (reaching $2.5 million settlement as lead counsel); Atlanta West Hosp. Bondholders Litig., No. 76-388 (S.D. Ohio 1983) (winning $19.3 million jury award as co-lead counsel).
Mr. Susman is a 1958 graduate of Northwestern Law School, where he was a member of the Law Review and a member of the Order of the Coif.
