Gerald H. Silk - New York, NY

Overview

GERALD H. SILK’s practice focuses on representing institutional investors on matters involving federal and state securities laws, accountants’ liability, and the fiduciary duties of corporate officials, as well as general commercial and corporate litigation.He also advises creditors on their rights with respect to pursuing affirmative claims against officers and directors, as well as professionals both inside and outside the bankruptcy context.

A member of the firm’s Management Committee, Mr. Silk is one of the partners who oversee the firm’s new matter department, in which he, along with a group of financial analysts and investigators, counsels institutional clients on potential legal claims.He was the subject of “Picking Winning Securities Cases,” a feature article in the June 2005 issue of Bloomberg Markets magazine, which detailed his work for the firm in this capacity.Lawdragon magazine has named him one of the “100 Securities Litigators You Need to Know,” one of the “500 Leading Lawyers in America,” and one of America’s top 500 “rising stars” in the legal profession.Mr. Silk has also been selected for inclusion among New York Super Lawyers every year since 2006.

Mr. Silk is currently advising institutional investors worldwide on their rights with respect to claims involving transactions in residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) and collateralized debt obligations (CDOs).He is also representing Cambridge Place Investment Management Inc. on claims under Massachusetts state law against numerous investment banks arising from the purchase of billions of dollars of RMBS (see Gretchen Morgenson, “Mortgage Investors Turn to State Courts for Relief,” The New York Times, July 11, 2010).

Mr. Silk is also representing public pension funds who participated in a securities lending program administered and managed by Northern Trust Company and sustained losses as a result of Northern Trust’s alleged breaches of fiduciary duty.In addition, he is actively involved in the firm’s prosecution of highly successful M&A litigation, representing shareholders in widely publicized lawsuits, including the litigation arising from the proposed acquisition of Caremark Rx, Inc. by CVS Corporation – which led to an increase of approximately $3.5 billion in the consideration offered to shareholders.

Mr. Silk was one of the principal attorneys responsible for prosecuting the In re Independent Energy Holdings Securities Litigation.A case against the officers and directors of Independent Energy as well as several investment banking firms which underwrote a $200 million secondary offering of ADRs by the U.K.-based Independent Energy, the litigation was resolved for $48 million.Mr. Silk has also prosecuted and successfully resolved several other securities class actions, which resulted in substantial cash recoveries for investors, including In re Sykes Enterprises, Inc. Securities Litigation in the Middle District of Florida, and In re OM Group, Inc. Securities Litigation in the Northern District of Ohio.He was also a member of the litigation team responsible for the successful prosecution of In re Cendant Corporation Securities Litigation in the District of New Jersey, which was resolved for $3.2 billion.

A graduate of the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania and Brooklyn Law School, in 1995-96, Mr. Silk served as a law clerk to the Hon. Steven M. Gold, U.S.M.J., in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Mr. Silk lectures to institutional investors at conferences throughout the country, and has written or substantially contributed to several articles on developments in securities and corporate law, including “The Compensation Game,” Lawdragon, Fall 2006; “Institutional Investors as Lead Plaintiffs: Is There A New And Changing Landscape?”, 75 St. John’s Law Review 31 (Winter 2001); “The Duty To Supervise, Poser, Broker-Dealer Law and Regulation”, 3rd Ed. 2000, Chapter 15; “Derivative Litigation In New York after Marx v. Akers,” New York Business Law Journal, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Fall 1997).

He is a frequent commentator for the business media on television and in print.Among other outlets, he has appeared on NBC’s Today, and CNBC’s Power Lunch, Morning Call, and Squawkbox programs, as well as being featured in The New York Times, Financial Times, Bloomberg, The National Law Journal, and the New York Law Journal.