U. Seth Ottensoser graduated with high honors in 1992 from Queens College of the City University of New York, where he was elected to and became a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He received his J.D. in 1995 from the University of Southern California School of Law. Mr. Ottensoser was named a leading lawyer by Super Lawyers magazine in the Fall 2010 edition, and in the 2011 Super Lawyers Business Edition in the litigation practice area for his work in securities litigation. In addition, he was recommended in The Legal 500 in 2010.
Mr. Ottensoser concentrates his practice in the areas of merger and acquisition litigation, securities class actions and corporate litigation. Mr. Ottensoser has been involved in many successful class actions, including: In re Cablevision Systems Corp. Shareholders Litigation, No. 05-9752 (N.Y. Sup. Ct.) (successfully blocked a going-private transaction by a controlling shareholder leading to payment of a dividend to shareholders worth approximately $2.5 billion); In re Marsh & McLennan Cos., Inc. Securities Litigation, No. 04-CV-8144 (CM) (S.D.N.Y.) ($400 million recovery); In re Aetna, Inc. Securities Litigation, No. 01-CV-97 (S.D.N.Y.) ($82.5 million recovery); In re Plains Resources, Inc. Shareholders Litigation, No. 071-N (Del. Ch.) ($67 million in additional merger consideration for the shareholders of Plains Resources); In re Triton Energy Ltd. Securities Litigation, No. 98-CV-0256 (E.D. Tex.) ($49.5 million recovery); In re Ascent Entertainment Derivative Litigation, No. 17201-NC (Del. Ch.) ($40 million derivative settlement relating to the sale of the Denver Nuggets and the Colorado Avalanche); In re Waste Management Derivative Litigation, No. H-99-2483 (S.D. Tex.) ($25 million recovery); In re UnitedGlobalCom Shareholders Litigation, No. 1012-N (Del. Ch.) ($25 million recovery in a going-private transaction); In re Kinko’s Shareholder Litigation, No. 98-CV-0362 (E.D. Tex.) ($8.5 million recovery for a class consisting of approximately 160 shareholders); In re MONY Group, Inc. Shareholder Litigation, No. 20554 (Del. Ch.) (successfully enjoining a shareholder vote on a merger pending the issuance of curative disclosures. As part of the settlement, certain of MONY’s executives forfeited approximately $7.4 million in change-of-control payments, funding an increase in the consideration received by MONY’s shareholders); and In re Atlas Energy, Inc. Shareholders Litigation, No. 5990 – VCL (Del. Ch.) (preliminary settlement of $7 million in additional merger consideration for Atlas Energy shareholders). Currently, Mr. Ottensoser is representing mutual fund investors in Operating Local 649 Annuity Trust Fund v. Smith Barney Fund Management LLC, No. 05 CIV. 7583 (WHP) (S.D.N.Y.). He is also co-lead counsel representing investors in Szymborski v. Ormat Technologies, Inc., No. 3:10–CV–00132–ECR (D. Nev.), which alleges that investors suffered damages as a result of defendants’ use of improper accounting principles; defendants’ motion to dismiss was defeated earlier this year, and the case is in discovery. In addition, he represents investors in Applestein v. Medivation, Inc., No. 10-CV-00998 (EMC) (N.D. Cal.), in which plaintiffs allege that defendants inflated the price of Medivation stock by making false statements concerning the efficacy of its chief drug’s treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
Mr. Ottensoser recently won a two-day bench trial in New York State Supreme Court on behalf of one of the Firm’s clients, in a matter relating to architectural and engineering matters.
Mr. Ottensoser is a frequent lecturer on the issues of civil procedure, federal practice, class actions, corporate finance and corporate governance, and has written extensively and been published on those matters. Mr. Ottensoser is also a frequent guest lecturer at Harvard Law School, lecturing most recently in October 2010 on the topic of “Global v. Golden and Maric v. Plato: The Importance of Discounted Cash Flow Analyses in Delaware Litigation,” and, in September 2009, on the topic of “Merger Multiples in the Context of Delaware Litigation.” In addition, Mr. Ottensoser has co-authored many articles including: “Developments in Private Securities Litigation Pleading Standards and Other Significant Case Law Developments,” Practising Law Institute 33rd Annual Institute on Securities Regulation, November 8-10, 2001; and “Leveraged Buyouts – Issues From the Shareholder Plaintiffs’ Perspective,” Association of The Bar of the City of New York, Leveraged Buyouts and Other Private Equity Investments, Structuring and Negotiating Investments in Today’s Market, September 24, 2001.
Mr. Ottensoser is admitted to the Bar of the State of New York and to practice before the United States Courts of Appeals for the Second, Third and Eighth Circuits, and the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the District of Colorado, and the Eastern District of Wisconsin. Mr. Ottensoser has served as a member of the Special Committee on Mergers, Acquisitions and Corporate Control Contests of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York (now known as the New York City Bar Association).
