We are pleased to announce that Law360 has named Lieff Cabraser partner Katherine Lubin Benson a Securities Law Rising Star for 2021 (subscription). Law360’s Rising Stars are attorneys “under 40 whose legal accomplishments belie their age.” After reviewing more than 1,400 submissions, a team of editors selected 180 honorees. Katherine is one of only seven securities law practitioners in the U.S. to make the list.
Law360 highlights Katherine’s status as a top-tier plaintiff-side securities and antitrust attorney, recently winning $240 million for a class of shareholders in a settlement relating to Wells Fargo’s unfair sales practices and its widespread fake accounts scandal. Plaintiffs in the suit allege that since at least 2011, the Board and executive management of Wells Fargo knew or consciously disregarded that its employees were illicitly creating millions of costly deposit and credit card accounts for their customers, without those customers’ consent, in order to meet the banks’ aggressive sales goals.
To win the suit she had to file a Caremark claim against the officers and directors, which requires a higher standard of proof to determine that the board was aware of and consciously disregarded their duty to address that conduct.
“Those are challenges that are made at the outset of a case, and we surpassed them,” noted Katherine. “And that was an accomplishment, frankly, for the shareholders.”
The settlement represents the largest insurer-funded derivative settlement in history.
Read the full profile of Katherine on Law360’s website.
Congratulations Katherine on this prestigious recognition!
About Katherine Lubin Benson
A partner in Lieff Cabraser’s San Francisco office, Katherine Lubin Benson specializes in securities and derivative suits and antitrust class actions. She was one of the firm lawyers heading the shareholder derivative action against Wells Fargo’s current and former officers and directors arising from the bank’s massive illicit sales practices scandal, which settled for a $240 million cash payment and corporate governance reforms in late 2018. The settlement received final approval in April 2020, and represents the largest insurer-funded derivative settlement in history. Lieff Cabraser’s work on the case was recognized by the American Antitrust Institute, which honored the firm with the 2020 Outstanding Private Practice Antitrust Achievement award. Katherine was awarded AAI’s Outstanding Antitrust Litigation Achievement by a Young Lawyer award for her contributions to the case.
Katherine was recently named as one of six lawyer representatives to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Counsel for the 2020-2023 term, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Northern District Practice Program, which provides continuing legal education programing for judges and practitioners in the district. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the East Bay Community Law Center, a non-profit affiliated with Berkeley Law providing free legal services to low-income communities.
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