Omar Jafri
Partner
OFFICE
Chicago
PRACTICE AREAS
Securities Litigation
LAW SCHOOL
University of Illinois College of Law
ADMITTED
Illinois; the United States District Courts for the Northern District of Illinois (Trial Bar) and the Northern District of Indiana; the United States Courts of Appeals for the First, Second, Fifth, and Ninth Circuits; and the United States Supreme Court.
CONTACT
Omar Jafri is a Partner at Pomerantz, where he advocates for defrauded investors in both individual and class action securities litigation.
Omar has been honored as one of the nation's Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers by Lawdragon and is recognized as a Top-Rated Securities Litigator by Super Lawyers®. He was named a Rising Star of the Plaintiffs’ Bar by the National Law Journal, an honor bestowed on select 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.” Additionally, Super Lawyers® honored him as a Rising Star in Securities Litigation from 2021 to 2023.
Omar has been instrumental as Lead, Co-Lead, or Additional Counsel in numerous cases, contributing to substantial recoveries for defrauded shareholders. He played an integral role in Roofer’s Pension Fund v. Papa et al. ($97 million recovery), In re Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. N.V. Securities Litigation ($44 million recovery), In re Juno Therapeutics, Inc. Securities Litigation ($24 million recovery), In re Aveo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Securities Litigation ($18 million recovery); Sudunagunta v. NantKwest, Inc. ($12 million settlement); Cooper v. Thoratec Corporation et al. ($11.9 million settlement); Thomas v. MagnaChip Semiconductor Corp. Securities Litigation ($6.2 million settlement); Solomon v. Sprint Corporation et al. ($3.75 million settlement); In re Paysign, Inc. Securities Litigation ($3.75 million settlement); Schaeffer v. Nabriva Therapeutics plc et al. ($3 million settlement); In re Sequans Communications S.A. Securities Litigation ($2.75 million settlement); Torres et al. v. Berry Corporation et al. ($2.5 million settlement); and Busic v. Orphazyme A/S et al. ($2.5 million settlement).
Omar has helped secure important precedents for investors, including:
• Glazer Capital Management, L.P. et al. v. Forescout Technologies, Inc. et al. - In a published decision that reversed the dismissal, the Ninth Circuit held that lower courts must not comingle the lower standard for falsity with the higher standard for scienter in analyzing the sufficiency of a securities fraud complaint, and repudiated numerous arguments concerning the testimony of Confidential Witnesses that the defense bar had convinced many lower courts to erroneously endorse over the years.
• In re Bed Bath & Beyond Corporation Securities Litigation. – One of the first decisions in the country to conclude that the dissemination of misleading emoji can be an actionable misrepresentation under the federal securities laws.
• Roofer’s Pension Fund v. Papa et al. - The District Court independently analyzed the market of a security traded on a foreign exchange and found it met the standards of market efficiency to allow for certification of a class of investors in foreign securities for the first time since the U.S. Supreme Court decided Morrison, which barred recovery for losses in foreign-traded securities under the U.S. federal securities laws.
• Sudunagunta v. NantKwest, Inc. - the first case in the U.S. to recognize statistical proof of traceability.
• Schaeffer v. Nabriva Therapeutics plc et al. - the first case in the Second Circuit to sustain a complaint based on the failure to disclose the FDA’s serious criticisms identified in a Form 483 letter.
• Yan v. ReWalk Robotics et al. - the First Circuit held that it is erroneous to dismiss a case for lack of standing when a plaintiff can be substituted with another class member, shutting the door on such defense tactics in any future case filed in that Circuit.
Omar embarked on his legal career during the peak of the financial crisis in 2008 and has litigated major disputes on behalf of institutional investors arising from the credit crisis. This includes disputes related to Collateralized Debt Obligations, Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities, Credit Default Swaps, and other complex financial investments.
Notably, Omar represented the Examiner in the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy case, the largest of its kind at the time, and contributed to drafting a report that identified potential claims against Lehman’s senior executives for breach of fiduciary duties.
Additionally, Omar maintains a strong pro bono criminal defense practice, advocating for indigent defendants facing charges ranging from simple battery to arson and murder.
Prior to his tenure at Pomerantz, Omar served as a law clerk to Judge William S. Duffey, Jr. of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia and an associate at an international law firm, where he represented clients in a wide variety of matters, including securities litigation, complex commercial litigation, white-collar criminal defense, and internal investigations.
Omar is a 2004 honors graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, and a 2008, magna cum laude, graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law, where he was inducted into the Order of the Coif and received the Rickert Award for Excellence in Advocacy. He is a fellow of the American Bar Foundation.
Omar is admitted to practice in Illinois; the United States District Courts for the Northern District of Illinois (Trial Bar) and the Northern District of Indiana; the United States Courts of Appeals for the First, Second, Fifth, and Ninth Circuits; and the United States Supreme Court.