Skip to main content

Peter M. Saparoff

Member / Chair, Institutional Investor Class Action Recovery Practice

[email protected]

+1.617.348.1725

Share:

Peter is an experienced securities litigator both on the plaintiff and defense side. He has defended over 100 cases and investigations. In addition, he chairs the Institutional Investor Class Action Recovery practice which has recovered nearly $7 billion for thousands of mutual funds and other institutional clients. The practice evaluates virtually every securities investor settlement in the world. The practice not only files claims for clients but also assists them in opting out and filing separate cases, both in the US and in international jurisdictions.

Peter is one of the nation’s leading securities litigators and he has represented clients in well over 100 cases, investigations, and proceedings throughout the country. He has successfully defended SEC investigations, class actions, derivative suits, stock exchange proceedings, and state securities investigations, and has handled numerous FINRA arbitrations, among other matters.

Peter, through the Institutional Investor Class Action Recovery Practice, also represents hundreds of institutional investors with respect to the monitoring and evaluation of securities class action settlements. Peter has recovered over $7 billion for institutional clients. He has represented various clients in opting out of or objecting to proposed class settlements and has represented institutions as plaintiffs in various actions. In this role he participates in virtually every securities action that is filed and thus has a unique perspective when representing clients in said cases.

He has succeeded in preventing the vast majority of the dozens of clients he has represented in SEC investigations from being named as defendants or respondents. In matters where the SEC has taken action, Peter has frequently negotiated bars or suspensions, which have enabled the clients to return to their businesses or professions without undue delay.

Peter has represented many clients in FINRA arbitrations and has tried FINRA cases to successful conclusions. He also serves as an FINRA arbitrator.

He is a frequent lecturer and author on securities matters, having written hundreds of articles and papers, including co-authoring the Securities Litigation chapter in the definitive Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education publication, Business Torts in Massachusetts (2016). He has been an Adjunct Professor of Securities Litigation at the Maine Law School. He speaks at many institutional investor and securities industry forums, and is frequently quoted in the press.

After law school, he served as law clerk to the Honorable A. J. Connor (D-NH) and the Honorable Frank M. Coffin, US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

Peter is an experienced securities litigator both on the plaintiff and defense side. He has defended over 100 cases and investigations. In addition, he chairs the Institutional Investor Class Action Recovery practice which has recovered nearly $7 billion for thousands of mutual funds and other institutional clients. The practice evaluates virtually every securities investor settlement in the world. The practice not only files claims for clients but also assists them in opting out and filing separate cases, both in the US and in international jurisdictions.

Experience

  • Represented hundreds of defendants in securities class actions in all stages throughout the country. 
  • Represented institutional investors in monitoring and/or participating in virtually all securities class actions, regulatory settlements, and other investor settlements. 
  • Represented institutional investors as plaintiffs in numerous cases involving securities claims. 
  • Represented mutual funds, investment advisors, and disinterested directors in various suits alleging excessive management fees, breaches of fiduciary duty, and other violations of the Investment Company Act of 1940. Participation in several cases where judicial decisions have established legal precedents in the area. 
  • Represented an officer who signed Sarbanes-Oxley certifications with respect to numerous financial statements that were subsequently restated, in which the SEC was convinced not to take any action.
  • Represented issuers, officers, directors, and employees in investigations relating to alleged financial fraud with respect to SEC filings, Sarbanes-Oxley certifications, shareholder reports, and press releases. 
  • Tried various FINRA cases, including representation of a branch manager in a lengthy FINRA arbitration proceeding regarding alleged “failure to supervise” and related charges in which the panel completely exonerated the branch manager. (The result is unique in that both the respondent broker-dealer and individual broker (represented by other counsel) were held liable for substantial damages.) 
  • Serve as a FINRA arbitrator. 
  • Utilized special litigation committees to have numerous derivative suits terminated at an early stage. 
  • Represented issuers, officers, and directors in investigations relating to alleged “leaks” to investors of “negative information” which was subsequently publicly disclosed. 
  • Represented institutional investors who allegedly traded on information gleaned from corporate officials or securities analysts prior to the “public dissemination.” 
  • Represented various individuals (officers, directors, venture capitalists) with respect to certain challenged trades. 
  • Represented issuers and individuals in investigations relating to trading in unregistered securities. 
  • Represented issuers in investigations relating to Regulation S. 
  • Represented issuers who have been victimized by short-sellers. 
  • Represented investment advisors with respect to issues arising in SEC inspections. 
  • Represented mutual fund account managers with respect to possible utilization of alleged investment opportunities of funds. 
  • Represented investment companies in investigations relating to valuation and pricing of portfolios. 
  • Represented transfer agents and custodians in investigations relating to various issues. 
  • Represented investment companies and advisers with respect to adequacy of compliance procedures. 
  • Represented broker-dealers and branch managers in “failure to supervise” investigations. 
  • Represented individuals with respect to alleged violations of the Investment Company Act of 1940. 
  • Represented real estate investment trusts, their officers, and trustees in investigations relating to adequacy of loan loss reserves. 
  • Represented banks with respect to adequacy of certain loan loss reserves. 
  • Represented CPAs in investigations relating to a wide variety of accounting issues. 
  • Represented individuals with respect to alleged “prime bank” schemes. 
     
Read less

viewpoints

Institutional Investor Class Action Recovery IICAR Viewpoints Thumbnail

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (“Second Circuit”) recently issued an important decision concerning challenging the rejection of claims made by class members in settled U.S. class actions. Contant v. AMA Cap., LLC, No. 21-3058 (2d Cir. Apr. 14, 2023). In sum, the Second Circuit affirmed the decision of the U.S. District Court denying a class claimant’s (the “Claimant”) request for the court to overturn the claims administrator’s rejection of the Claimant’s claims.

Read more

Fifth Circuit Provides New Guidance on Evaluating Confidential Witnesses

February 16, 2023 | Blog | By Peter M. Saparoff, Aaron Fenton

Last month, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the lower court’s March 2021 dismissal in Oklahoma Firefighters Pension and Retirement System v. Six Flags Entertainment Corporation. In the now-revived class action, investors sued Six Flags in relation to 11 Chinese theme parks that Six Flags licensed to a local company for construction and operation, which were expected to be a major driver of Six Flags’ revenue growth – before construction stalled and the licenses were ultimately cancelled in February 2020, these Chinese parks were expected to contribute up to $60 million in pre-tax profits to Six Flags. In the Fifth Circuit’s opinion, the Court ruled that the lower court had excessively discounted the Complaint’s factual allegations, and that the Complaint did, in fact, sufficiently allege material misstatements and scienter.

Read more
In a scathing decision by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, the Court denied class certification of the Allergan securities class action (“Allergan”). See In re Allergan PLC Sec. Litig., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 179371 (S.D.N.Y Sept. 29, 2020).
Read more
The August 20, 2020 decision in In re: Volkswagen “Clean Diesel” Mktg., Sales Practices, and Prods. Liab. Litig., MDL No. 2672 CRB (JSC) by the United States District Court for the Northern District of California (“the Opinion”), dismissing a significant portion of the SEC’s federal securities claims against Volkswagen as having been previously released by the DOJ, serves as an important reminder for why such coordination is important and how defendants may take advantage of the failure to coordinate, as did Volkswagen.
Read more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (“Ninth Circuit”) will soon be presented the opportunity to address the novel question of whether investors who purchase a security in the context of a direct listing, rather than an initial public offering (“IPO”), have standing to bring claims under Sections 11 and 12(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, despite the fact that such investors cannot allege that they purchased shares registered under and traceable to a defective registration statement.
Read more
In ruling on Defendants’ motion to dismiss in the FX Opt-Outs Action, Judge Schofield narrowed the antitrust claims, denied dismissal on the basis of forum non conveniens, and denied dismissal of the unjust enrichment claim.
Read more
Recently, the United States District Court for the Central District of California denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss the Second Amended Complaint (“Amended Complaint”) filed in the Toshiba securities litigation. As we previously wrote, in 2016, the district court dismissed the case, holding both that transactions in Toshiba’s unsponsored American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) are not “domestic” transactions as required by Morrison, and also that the plaintiffs’ Japanese law claims must be dismissed due to comity concerns and on forum non conveniens grounds. (link to prior blog). Then, in 2018, the Ninth Circuit reversed this decision, holding that Toshiba ADR trades are domestic, and allowed the defendants to file the Amended Complaint asserting more specific allegations about Toshiba’s connection to the ADR trades. (link to blog on 9th Circuit opinion).
Read more
Read less

News & Press

News Thumbnail Mintz
Member and Chair of Mintz’s Institutional Investor Class Action Recovery Practice Peter M. Saparoff co-authored an article with C. Meyrick Payne of Management Practice Inc. published in the December 2019 issue of Fund Directions Magazine that provides legal considerations for mutual fund managers seeking to increase shareholder returns through “soft assets,” such as securities class action recoveries and rebates of foreign taxes withheld, among others.
This Law360 Expert Analysis column, authored by Mintz Member Peter Saparoff and Associate Joel Rothman, discusses several recent developments which highlight why foreign securities litigation is an ever-changing scenario where nothing is definite.
Mintz Members Peter Saparoff and Adam Sisitsky, and Associate Joel Rothman co-authored the book Business Torts in Massachusetts, which provides a comprehensive and practical guide for business counsel and litigators on the wide range of "business torts" actions.
Peter Saparoff, Co-chair of Mintz’s Securities Litigation Practice, and Joel Rothman, Mintz Boston Associate, authored this American Bar Association article discussing whether securities antitrust cases will incite an increase in objections because of the complexity of their distribution plans.
Members Peter Saparoff and Robert Kidwell and Associates Joel Rothman and Kevin Mortimer authored this ABA’s Section of Litigation column on the trend of plaintiff investors filing a growing number of class action cases against financial institutions alleging violations of U.S. antitrust laws.
Read less

Events & Speaking

Peter is an experienced securities litigator both on the plaintiff and defense side. He has defended over 100 cases and investigations. In addition, he chairs the Institutional Investor Class Action Recovery practice which has recovered nearly $7 billion for thousands of mutual funds and other institutional clients. The practice evaluates virtually every securities investor settlement in the world. The practice not only files claims for clients but also assists them in opting out and filing separate cases, both in the US and in international jurisdictions.

Recognition & Awards

  • Massachusetts Super Lawyers: Securities Litigation (2004 – 2015)

  • Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent

Read less

Peter is an experienced securities litigator both on the plaintiff and defense side. He has defended over 100 cases and investigations. In addition, he chairs the Institutional Investor Class Action Recovery practice which has recovered nearly $7 billion for thousands of mutual funds and other institutional clients. The practice evaluates virtually every securities investor settlement in the world. The practice not only files claims for clients but also assists them in opting out and filing separate cases, both in the US and in international jurisdictions.

Involvement

  • Chair, American Bar Association (ABA) Litigation Section Structured Financial Products, Hedge Fund and Mutual Fund Subcommittee
  • Frequent panelist, ALI-CLE programs
  • Adjunct Professor, Securities Litigation, Maine Law School (2013)
  • Member, American Law Institute
  • Member, ABA Business Section
  • Member, Boston Bar Association
  • Past Chair, Annual ALI-ABA Securities Litigation Program
  • Past advisor, Harvard Law School Trial Advocacy Workshop
  • Past chair, ABA Litigation Section Securities Litigation Committee
  • Past Division Director, ABA Litigation Section Securities Litigation Committee
  • Past member, ABA Special Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules
Read less

Peter M. Saparoff

Member / Chair, Institutional Investor Class Action Recovery Practice

Boston