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Mark D. Smilow is a principal in the New York office. He graduated Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in 1993, magna cum laude, where he was a member of the Cardozo Law Review. He is admitted to the New York and New Jersey State Bars, and the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. He has also been admitted in other courts throughout the nation for particular cases. He has litigated all aspects of numerous class, shareholder, derivative and consumer class actions in both trial and appellate courts.

Mr. Smilow concentrates on shareholder, derivative and consumer class actions in both trial and appellate courts. He has obtained significant recoveries for stockholders in numerous cases brought under the federal securities statutes. Among the more prominent, he represented shareholders of Jones Pharma Incorporated who exchanged their shares for those of King Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which culminated in a total settlement of $38.25 million (In re King Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Securities Litigation, 03 cv 77) in the Eastern District of Tennessee; shareholders of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. in the Southern District of New York, which culminated in a $30 million settlement (In re Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. Sec. Litig., 02 cv 6273 (JES)); and the shareholders of KeySpan Corporation in a securities fraud case culminating in a $13.75 million settlement (In re KeySpan Corp. Sec. Lit., 2001 cv 5852) in the Eastern District of New York. Moreover, many of Mr. Smilow’s cases produced reported opinions of great interest to practitioners, including Baum v. Keystone Mercy Health Plan, 826 F. Supp. 2d 718 (E.D. Pa. 2011); Minzer v. Keegan, 218 F.3d 144 (2d Cir.2000), cert. denied, 531 U.S. 1192, 121 S.Ct. 1190, 149 L.Ed.2d 106 (2001); Sedighim v. Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, Inc., 167 F. Supp. 2d 639 (S.D.N.Y. 2001); and Rosenfeld v. Port Auth., 108 F. Supp. 2d 156 (E.D.N.Y. 2000).

In representing investors against corporate officers and directors for breaches of fiduciary duty, Mr. Smilow has successfully prosecuted many cases involving corporate takeovers, buyouts and reorganizations in which claims of self-dealing, corporate waste and improper disclosure were asserted. Some of the more recent are Shaev v. Sidhu, No. 0983 (C.C.P. Philadelphia Co. PA); Brody v. Catell, Index No. 008835/06 (Sup. Ct. Kings Co. NY); and Rosenfeld Fam. Found. Trust v. Ace Cash Express Inc., 06 cv 1100-G (N.D. Tex. Dallas Div.).

Finally, as the chair of the Consumer Litigation Practice Group at the firm, Mr. Smilow represented millions of veterans and active members of the United States Armed Services for privacy law violations (In re Department of Veterans Affairs Data Theft Litigation, Misc. Action No. 06-0506 (JR), MDL Docket No. 1796) in the District of Columbia District Court, which culminated in a then record recovery of $20 million. In another privacy litigation reported in The Legal Intelligencer on December 11, 2014, entitled Court Reopens Door to Class Action in Flash Drive Case, Mr. Smilow successfully argued for reversal of the denial of class certification under Pennsylvania’s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law catch-all. Superior Court Judge Sally Mundy wrote in her decision that the trial court erred when concluding that class certification failed due to issues of reliance as to the deceptive conduct alleged. Judge Mundy vacated the decision and directed the trial court to address the other Pennsylvania Rule 1702 class certification factors. The case is Baum v. Keystone Mercy Health Plan, 2677 EDA 2013 (Super. Ct. Dec. 9, 2014). In an unusual litigation, Mr. Smilow also secured full refunds for one hundred sixty two small businesses in upstate New York in an administrative proceeding before the New York State Public Service Commission deriving from their utility’s improper billing for electric demand (KLCR Land Corp. and Har-Nof, Inc. vs. NYSEG, Case No. 00-E-1678 (PSC June 20, 2003)).