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Bradley J. Andreozzi is a partner in the Commercial Litigation Practice Group whose practice focuses on complex litigation in federal and state courts, including trials and appeals, and international arbitration. Brad’s areas of concentration include securities litigation, accountant liability law, class action defense, international sports litigation and entertainment and intellectual property litigation.
Brad has represented clients in virtually every major federal appellate court, including the United States Supreme Court, and in many trial courts around the country. His superb work on behalf of clients earned him inclusion in Lawdragon’s selection of 500 New Stars (July, 2006). He is known for being smart and thorough, with a great level-headedness. (Chambers USA 2007).
Securities Litigation and Accountants’ Defense. Brad frequently represents major accounting firms in the defense of securities fraud claims, both at trial and appeal. He has broad experience litigating complex accountant liability actions on behalf of auditors, familiarity with the application of accounting principles to financial statement audits, and a demonstrated ability to distill complex accounting issues into themes and arguments that can persuade a judge or jury. Significant engagements include:
Represented an accounting firm in a leading case establishing the standard for pleading scienter under the federal securities laws; framed arguments and drafted briefs in case establishing that magnitude of alleged errors in financial statements is not germane in determining whether complaint sufficiently alleges scienter against an accounting firm. Fidel v. Ernst & Young, 392 F.3d 220 (6th Cir. 2004).
Represented an accounting firm as lead brief writer during lengthy bench trial of negligence and fraud claims, resulting in defense verdict on loss causation grounds, and on appeal where judgment for the accountant was affirmed. AUSA Life Ins. Co. v. Ernst & Young, 991 F. Supp. 2d 234 (S.D.N.Y. 1997), aff’d, 2002 U.S. App. Lexis 13845 (2d Cir. July 8, 2002).
Successfully argued motion to dismiss securities fraud complaint against accounting firm arising from a leveraged recapitalization of a major supermarket chain. 2007 Partnership v. BT Sec. Corp. (N.J. Super. Ct. Mar. 19, 2007).
As part of the team defending an accounting firm in one of the largest and most complex securities fraud litigations in U.S. history, acted as lead counsel in taking the depositions of the audited company’s outside directories, including former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.
Responsible for drafting the briefs in numerous other cases resulting in favorable decisions for accountants. E.g., New England Health Care Employees Pension Fund v. Ernst & Young, 336 F.3d 495 (6th Cir. 2003); In re Cendant Corp. Sec. Litig., 343 F.3d 658 (3d Cir. 2003); In re Bally Total Fitness Sec. Litig., 2007 U.S. Dist. Lexis 12060 (N.D. Ill. Feb. 20, 2007) and 2006 U.S. Dist. Lexis 93986 (N.D. Ill. July 12, 2006); Levine v. Bally Total Fitness Holding Corp, 2006 U.S. Dist. Lexis 95006 (N.D. Ill. Sept. 29, 2006); Donnybrook Investments, Ltd. v. Arthur Andersen LLP, 2006 U.S. Dist. Lexis 21470 (N.D. Ill. April 20, 2006).
Other Securities and Commodities Litigation and Internal Investigations. In addition to representing accounting firms, Brad also represents securities issuers, broker-dealers and other clients involved in the financial markets. Significant engagements include:
Argued and won before the trial and appellate courts a leading case delineating the scope of liability of a commodities futures commission merchant for the illegal activities of its customer, an unregistered commodity pool operator. Kolbeck v. LIT America, 939 F. Supp. 240 and 923 F. Supp. 557 (S.D.N.Y. 1996), aff’d, 1998 U.S. App. Lexis 15308 (2d Cir. June 8, 1998).
Represented a telecommunications company in conducting an internal investigation of compliance with government funding regulations; drafted report submitted to Congress.
Represented a large utility in coordinated defense of securities fraud, SEC and regulatory challenges to accounting practices by which utility determined gas prices.
Class Action Defense. Brad’s practice also concentrates on the defense of purported class actions, with a particular focus on the development of arguments to defeat class certification. Notable engagements include:
Represented automobile insurer in successful defense of purported nationwide class action challenging the specification of generic replacement parts for repairs (rather than the more expensive parts offered by the car makers); role included acting as issue preservation counsel during lengthy jury trial, arguing directed verdict motions, acting as lead counsel at jury instruction conference and as an appellate counsel in obtaining reversal of a billion dollar judgment. Avery v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 216 Ill. 2d 100 (2005).
Developed successful strategy for accounting firm to exclude foreign investors from a U.S. securities fraud class action regarding accounting fraud at a major European conglomerate, reducing client’s damages exposure by more than a billion dollars.
Investigated facts and drafted affidavits highlighting individual factual issues critical to defeating certification of a purported nationwide class action challenging an insurer’s medical reimbursement policies.
International Sports Litigation. Brad represents sports governing bodies and professional athletes in litigation and international arbitration, including in trials before the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland. He has also tried cases before sports tribunals in London, Athens and Monte Carlo. As a result of his sports law work, Brad was selected as one of the nation’s top sports lawyers in the Chambers USA Directory of Leading Lawyers for Business (2005, 2006 and 2007 editions). Significant engagements include:
Led team that tried several cases before CAS’ ad hoc tribunal for resolution of disputes at the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.
Successfully defended several top-ranked professional tennis players against doping charges where investigation showed that the prosecuting tennis federation may have distributed contaminated nutritional supplements to the players.
Successfully defended a sport national governing body against claims brought by the sport’s international governing body in trial before CAS.
Assisted a sport governing body in developing a gender policy addressing when athletes who have undergone gender reassignment surgery would be eligible to compete in women’s competitions.
Lead counsel in trial of first case involving use of Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS) drug testing technology, before the IAAF Anti-Doping Tribunal in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
Successfully prosecuted shot-put champion C.J. Hunter on doping charges in case where Hunter was represented by attorney Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr.
Member of the team that represented the National Collegiate Athletic Association in jury trial of antitrust claims arising from the NCAA’s rule-making activities.
Represented a university in conducting an internal investigation of the athletic department’s compliance with student athlete recruiting and eligibility rules.
Entertainment and Intellectual Property Litigation. Brad’s practice also includes significant intellectual property and entertainment litigation. Notable engagements include:
Represented a famous movie and television actress in prosecuting fraud and breach of fiduciary duty claims against her former agent.
Represented a music recording company in defending a challenge to the calculation of royalty payments to a famous singing group.
Represented a movie production company in defending a copyright claim brought by a purported screenwriter who claimed that the script for a successful film was plagiarized from his rejected script.
Represented a television executive in a suit to enforce his golden parachute severance contract.
Represented a manufacturer of luxury fashion goods as lead counsel in obtaining a multi- million dollar judgment under the Trademark Counterfeiting Act. |
