| Biography:
Mark joined Proskauer Rose LLP's Litigation Department in 1994 after seventeen
years at Shea & Gould. Mark's practice has concentrated on financial fraud
and securities fraud matters, consumer class actions and general commercial
litigation, and, more recently, he has concentrated more on intellectual property
matters.
In addition to continuing representation of various clients in securities fraud
and SEC matters, Mark is currently representing Silverstein Properties in connection
with its insurance claim resulting from the attacks on the World Trade Center,
with a focus on valuation issues.
Mark has substantial experience in litigating accounting issues in the insurance
industry. He has defended both management and accountants in federal class actions
and derivative actions relating to Frank B. Hall and First Central Insurance
Company and lawsuits brought by state insurance commissioners arising out of
several large insurance insolvencies, including Transit Casualty/Mission Insurance,
Integrity Insurance and Union Indemnity. Mark also has represented witnesses
in connection with the Dingell Committee's investigation of the insurance industry
and criminal investigations and proceedings in the insurance industry.
These matters (as well as others in fields outside of the insurance industry)
have allowed Mark to develop significant experience in accounting issues that arise
under GAAP and statutory accounting principles, statutory reporting and state
examinations, and the structure of insurance holding companies and the capital
requirements of the operating companies. He has experience with a wide variety
of transactions that regulators have claimed were designed to artificially increase
statutory surplus, including reinsurance arrangements that fail to provide for
a true transfer of risk. Mark understands loss reserve accounting and the methods
used by actuaries and others to test reserves for reported claims and IBNR.
He is aware of the issues which arise when subsidiaries and affiliates do business
together, and the breach of fiduciary duty claims that are frequently made in
that context.
Mark is an accomplished trial lawyer. Recently, he successfully tried a securities
fraud action in Dallas federal court on behalf of plaintiffs Stewart Rahr and
Continental Investment Corp., resulting in a jury award of over $230 million
(one of the 10 largest verdicts of the year).
Last year, after Mark was brought in to defend an investment bank only months
before trial in a lawsuit alleging breach of fiduciary duty in connection with
a private placement for a high tech company. The action was successfully settled
on the eve of trial.
Mark has defended clients in two of the largest financial fraud cases of the
decade: Chambers and Leslie Fay. In Chambers Mark defended
the company and its senior management, and in Leslie Fay Mark defended
BDO Seidman.
Mark has represented accountants in a wide variety of matters, including federal
securities class actions, state malpractice claims, SEC proceedings, grand jury
proceedings, Congressional investigations, and disciplinary proceedings. In
addition, he also has represented investment bankers in federal securities litigation
and state litigation challenging the fairness of transactions on which the investment
banking firm opined.
Mark is a graduate of the State University of New York at Stony Brook and Georgetown
University Law Center. He was an editor of the American Criminal Law Review
and has authored materials on accounting and securities fraud issues. He serves
as a special master and arbitrator in the New York State courts and as a panel
member for the New York State Surrogate Decision Making Committees (for mentally
disabled patients). He is a member of the ABA Subcommittee on Technology and
Litigation.
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