The National Law Journal (subscription) has named Lieff Cabraser managing partner Steven E. Fineman as a 2023 Plaintiffs’ Lawyers Trailblazer. Steve is one of only 51 plaintiff-side practitioners in the U.S. to make the list. The award recognizes plaintiffs’ lawyers who “prove to be born leaders, and true agents of change.”
Among many other achievements, the Journal’s profile on Steve highlights his work on the shareholder derivative action against The Boeing Company’s officers and directors. Steve and the Lieff Cabraser team, along with our clients’ in-house lawyers, represented Co-Lead Plaintiffs the New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, as trustee of the New York State Common Retirement Fund, and the Fire and Police Pension Association of Colorado in the action alleging that Boeing’s officers and directors breached their fiduciary duties to the company by dismantling Boeing’s lauded safety-engineering corporate culture in favor of what became a financial-engineering corporate culture. From the outset, the plaintiffs were committed to the idea that the derivative action against Boeing’s board would focus on creating corporate governance changes in addition to any monetary recovery.
The lawsuit alleged that, despite numerous safety-related red flags, Boeing’s directors and officers failed to monitor the safety of Boeing’s aircraft, which resulted in the flawed design of Boeing’s 737 MAX, leading to the tragic deaths of 346 passengers and the subsequent grounding of all 737 MAX aircraft. In February 2022, the Delaware Chancery Court approved a settlement comprised of a $237.5 million cash payment and extensive corporate governance reforms including a new board director, mandated director expertise, and an ombudsperson program.
“This case and outcome shows that public pension systems and investment funds can work with companies to achieve meaningful corporate governance reforms. Here, those changes will make Boeing’s planes safer, and with the ultimate goal of saving lives,” noted Steve.
Congratulations to Steve on this prestigious and well-deserved recognition!
View the full list of Plaintiffs’ Lawyers Trailblazers on The National Law Journal’s website.
About Steven E. Fineman
Lawdragon Magazine has called Lieff Cabraser managing partner Steven Fineman “one of the nation’s 100 Managing Partners You Need to Know.” In addition to managing the firm, Mr. Fineman is a prominent plaintiffs’ litigator specializing in securities and financial fraud cases, mass tort litigation and the representation of whistleblowers in False Claims Act matters. He also writes and speaks frequently on complex litigation. He has been consistently recognized as a top lawyer in his fields by Best Lawyers in America, Super Lawyers, Benchmark Plaintiff, and the National Law Journal. In 2021, Lawdragon identified Mr. Fineman as one of the nation’s “500 Leading Lawyers in America,” as well as one of the nations “500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers in America.”
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