Pomerantz Expands Securities Litigation Practice Group

POMERANTZ MONITOR | JANUARY FEBRUARY 2023

Pomerantz is proud to announce the promotions of Omar Jafri and Brian Calandra to Partner and the addition of Justin D. D’Aloia as a Partner in the Firm’s Securities Litigation Practice Group.

OMAR JAFRI

Since joining Pomerantz in its Chicago office in 2016, Omar Jafri has appeared on behalf of investors in over two dozen securities cases, authored over 50 pleadings and briefs, taken and defended over two dozen depositions, and argued numerous substantive motions in the U.S. District Courts as well as multiple appeals in the U.S. Courts of Appeals.

In a securities fraud class action against Chicago Bridge & Iron Co., N.V., Omar’s contributions were instrumental in defeating the defendants’ Motion to Dismiss. He was a drafter of the amended complaint and deposed witnesses that included the senior executives at the company’s finance department, the head of the company’s Power Division with direct oversight of the power plants, the company’s outside auditors, and other important third parties. The court denied the defendants’ motions for summary judgment on virtually every claim in August 2021. The defendants settled the Class’s claims for $44 million on the eve of trial in February 2022, even though the corporate defendant and its parent had declared bankruptcy while the case was pending.

In 2021, Omar was Co-Lead Counsel in a securities fraud action against Nabriva Therapeutics Plc for false representations about a new drug application pending before the FDA. After the case was dismissed, Omar drafted a second amended complaint, bolstering allegations of scienter with documents received from the FDA and with experts’ opinions. After discovery, the case settled for $3 million, or between 21% and 30% of total class-wide damages -- an exceptionally high percentage for a securities class action.

“Omar operates at a high level,” said Partner Joshua B. Silverman. “His tenacity and knowledge of securities law make him formidable in the courtroom, and a good example for younger lawyers.”

Omar has an active pro bono criminal practice representing individuals charged with the most serious crimes in the State courts of Illinois. He successfully defended a client against charges of first-degree murder by persuading the State to offer time served and forgo a retrial. In another first-degree murder case, he persuaded the trial court and the Illinois Supreme Court to allow a Frye hearing on the admissibility of fingerprint evidence for the first time in the history of Illinois.

In 2021, 2022 and 2023, Omar was recognized by Super Lawyers® as a Rising Star in Securities Litigation. In 2021, he was named to the National Law Journal’s inaugural list of Rising Stars of the Plaintiffs’ Bar under the age of 40, a new category in the Elite Trial Lawyers competition for lawyers who “demonstrated repeated success in cutting-edge work on behalf of plaintiffs over the last 18 months [and] possess a solid track record of client wins over the past three to five years.”

Omar graduated magna cum laude and Order of the Coif from the University of Illinois College of Law, where he was a Harno Scholar and a recipient of the Rickert Award for Excellence in Advocacy and won first place for best Oral Advocate in the semi-final round of the Midwest Moot Court Competition. Learn more directly from Omar as the featured subject of this issue’s Q&A on page 7.

BRIAN CALANDRA

After serving as Of Counsel in Pomerantz’s Securities Litigation Practice Group, Brian Calandra has been promoted to Partner. Brian is based in the Firm’s New York office.

Brian has extensive experience in securities, antitrust, complex commercial, and white-collar matters in federal and state courts nationwide. Before joining Pomerantz, Brian represented issuers and underwriters in securities class actions involving the financial, telecommunications, real estate, and pharmaceutical industries. He also represented financial institutions in antitrust class actions concerning foreign exchange; supra-national, sub-sovereign and agency bonds; bonds issued by the government of Mexico; and credit card fees.

Since joining Pomerantz in 2019, Brian has helped recover millions of dollars for investors in securities fraud class actions against issuers in the pharmaceutical, cannabis, and interactive technology industries. In 2022, Brian led Pomerantz’s securities litigation class actions against DouYu International Holdings Limited, China’s largest game-centric live streaming platform, and 22nd Century Group, Inc., a biotechnology company working to genetically engineer reduced-nicotine tobacco products and reduced-THC cannabis-based products.

In DouYu, Brian achieved a $15 million global settlement of securities fraud claims arising out of the company’s $775 million debut on the Nasdaq in 2019. Plaintiffs alleged that DouYu withheld information from its IPO investors, including that its virtual currency “Yuchi” and “lucky draw” gifting feature ran afoul of Chinese gambling regulations.

In 22nd Century, Brian and Managing Partner Jeremy A. Lieberman convinced the 2nd Circuit to reverse, in part, the district court’s decision to dismiss the plaintiffs’ complaint with prejudice when the lower court found that defendants had no duty to disclose either the use of paid stock promotions or an SEC investigation into the company. Brian and Jeremy successfully argued that the district court erred because the court overlooked that omitting the existence of the SEC investigation made statements about the accounting weaknesses and defendants’ subsequent denials of the investigation misleading.

“Brian brings creative critical thinking and a deep knowledge of the law to each of his cases,” said Partner Murielle Steven Walsh. “He is a staunch defender of investors’ rights.”

Brian has written on developments in securities law and other topics, including co-authoring an overview of insider trading law and enforcement for Practical Compliance & Risk Management for the Securities Industry, co-authoring an analysis of anti-corruption compliance risks posed by sovereign wealth funds for Risk & Compliance, and authoring an analysis of the effects of the 2005 Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act on women in bankruptcy for the Women’s Rights Law Reporter.

In 2021, Brian was honored as a Super Lawyers® “Top-Rated Securities Litigation Attorney.”

Brian graduated from Rutgers School of Law - Newark in 2009, cum laude, Order of the Coif. While at Rutgers, Brian was Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Women’s Rights Law Reporter and received the Justice Henry E. Ackerson Prize for Distinction in Legal Skills as well as the Carol Russ Memorial Prize for Distinction in Promoting Women’s Rights.

JUSTIN D. D’ALOIA

Justin D. D’Aloia has joined Pomerantz as a Partner in the Securities Litigation Practice Group in the Firm’s New York office.

Prior to joining Pomerantz, Justin was counsel at a large international law firm where he litigated high-profile securities cases in federal and state courts across the country. He has represented issuers, underwriters, and senior executives in matters involving a range of industries, including the financial services, life sciences, real estate, technology, and consumer retail sectors. Justin’s practice covers the full spectrum of proceedings from pre-suit demand through settlement.

Justin has received awards for his commitment to pro bono service, including the considerable hours he spent representing a wrongfully convicted man during special proceedings held in connection with his exoneration.

“Justin brings to Pomerantz a wealth of experience in securities litigation on both sides of the V,” said Managing Partner Jeremy A. Lieberman. “The Firm and its clients will benefit from the breadth and depth of Justin’s knowledge and his dedication to justice.”

Justin earned his undergraduate degree from Rutgers University with a concentration in Business and Economics. He received his J.D. from Fordham Continued from page 5 University School of Law, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the Fordham International Law Journal. Among Justin’s published articles is “From Baghdad to Bagram: The Length & Strength of the Suspension Clause After Boumediene.” This predictive Note aimed to define the outer contours of the Suspension Clause by looking through the Boumediene prism to determine who may invoke the protections of the Suspension Clause and in what contexts outside of Guantánamo Bay those protections apply.