Overview

Catherine is a Co-Chair of the Plaintiffs’ Rights Practice Group, practicing for over 25 years in the areas of consumer, corporate, and securities class action and derivative litigation in the Delaware Court of Chancery and federal courts around the country. A seasoned litigator, Catherine prosecuted high-profile class actions and corporate governance litigations, recouping hundreds of millions of dollars for victims and securing better practices across different industries.

Upon graduating from the University of Maryland- College Park, Catherine earned her law degree from the Rutgers University School of Law, graduating at the top of her class. She received a number of awards and scholarships for academic excellence, and her work with public interest programs such as the Bankruptcy Pro Bono project and Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. She made law review and served as an associate editor of the Rutgers University Law Review.

Catherine also served as law clerk to the late Honorable Joseph E. Irenas of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

Representative Experience

  • Represents restaurants in nationwide class action against Grubhub for breaching its contracts and engaging in deceptive practices and conversion. Specifically, in the action captioned as Tiffin EPS LLC, et al. v. Grubhub Inc., No. 2:18-cv-05630 (ED Pa.), restaurants are challenging Grubhub’s practice of issuing and advertising a phony telephone number designed to falsely appear like the local telephone number of restaurants and then charging restaurants commissions on all telephone calls over 45 seconds, regardless of whether those calls resulted in a food order. Below is just a brief sample of articles written about this action:
  • Represents restaurants in nationwide class action against Caviar for allegedly overcharging restaurants by assessing a commission on sales tax. Tiffin Cherry Hill LLC, et al. v. Caviar, Inc., d/b/a Try Caviar, No. 3:20-cv-00403-SK (N.D. Cal.)
    • https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/consumer-products/food/caviar-class-action-alleges-delivery-app-withholds-funds/
  • Represents relators in a nationwide qui tam brought on behalf of the United States and 26 States against PharMerica for falsely billing Medicare, Medicaid and other government-sponsored medical programs for allegedly altering and dispensing medication without a legal, valid prescription. USA, ex rel. Sturgeon v. Pharmerica Corp., No. 15-6829 (ED Pa.).
    • See Decision at 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21935, 2020 WL 586978 (E.D. Pa. Feb. 5, 2020), or https://www.paed.uscourts.gov/documents/opinions/20D0099P.pdf
  • Represents nationwide investor class action against GPB Capital Holdings, LLC and its affiliates seeking relief for harm allegedly caused by a $1.8 billion Ponzi scheme. DeLuca, et al. v. GPB Auto. Portfolio, LP, et al., No. 19-cv-10498-LAK (SDNY).
  • Represents Facebook stockholders in derivative suit in the Delaware Court of Chancery against Zuckerberg, Sandberg and other corporate directors and officers for their roles in the alleged misappropriation and illegal sharing of personal Facebook user data. Sbriglio et al. v. Zuckerberg et al., No. 2018-0307-JRS (Del. Ch.).
  • Represented investors in Dr. Travis Martin v. Harbor Diversified, Inc., No. 2018-0762-SG (Del. Ch.), and successfully forcing this once-public company that had gone completely dark on its shareholders for over seven years to resume holding annual stockholder meetings and SEC reporting. The stock which traded as low as $.03 per share is now trading in a normal, efficient market environment at or above $1.23 per share, reflecting more than $60 million in additional market value. Here are some articles:
    • Air Wisconsin Airlines; the Rise of Harbor Diversified Inc. (OTCMKTS: HRBR) | Micro Cap Daily, https://microcapdaily.com/air-wisconsin-airlines-the-rise-of-harbor-diversified-inc-otcmkts-hrbr/128543/
    • Harbor’s Dark Takeover, http://www.nonamestocks.com/2020/12/harbors-dark-takeover.html
  • Represented preferred stockholders in Johnson v. W2007 Grace Acquisition I, Inc., No. 2:13-cv-2777 (W.D. Tenn.), an action against a once-public, widely-held billion-dollar real estate investment trust (REIT) that was taken private and had gone “dark” on its preferred stockholders for over five years. Preferred stockholders received a recovery of $72 million representing par plus interest.
  • Represented bondholders in Roth v. The Phoenix Companies, No. 650634/2016 (N.Y. Sup. Ct.) against The Phoenix Companies, a publicly-traded insurer that had entered into a going-private transaction and sought to amend the bond indenture to limit financial reporting obligations to bondholders. The settlement secured ongoing financial reporting akin to that of a public company for bondholders as well as third parties, such as prospective buyers, brokers, market makers and analysts. This preserved the liquidity of the bonds and enhanced the bonds’ value by millions of dollars. The Court stated that the settlement was “outstanding” and provided “expeditious beneficial relief for the class that affords them material remedial disclosures…. Class counsel performed substantial work and obtained an extremely favorable result for the class.”
  • Represented stockholders in TRSL v. Greenberg, et al., No. 20106 (Del. Ch.), and successfully challenged the findings of a special litigation committee. After engaging in hard-fought litigation, the matter settled for $115 million on the eve of trial.
  • Represented stockholders in In re Parmalat Sec. Litig., MDL 04‐1653 (S.D.N.Y.) during which the reference was successfully withdrawn from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, which allowed stockholders to pursue debtor Parmalat in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, and led to the recovery of over $70 million and an additional $30 million from Parmalat’s cohorts in one of the most infamous securities frauds in Italy’s history.
  • Represented shareholders in Delaware County Retirement Fund v. Portnoy, No. 1:13-cv-10405 (D. Mass.), which presented the issue of whether an onerous, one-sided arbitration bylaw that had a chilling effect on the shareholders ability to bring litigation was valid and permissible by law.
  • Represented investors in In re American International Group, Inc. Consolidated Derivative Litig., No. 769 (Del. Ch.) ($90 million recovery for AIG), In re Hollinger Int’l Sec. Litig., No. 04-CV-0834 (N.D. Ill.) ($37.5 million settlement for defrauded investors), and numerous other actions involving Barnes & Noble, BioScrip, Cablevision, Constellation Energy Group, Covad Communications, DVI Inc. and Mattel.
  • Represented consumers in In re 24 Hour Fitness Prepaid Memberships Litigation, No. 4:16-cv-01668 (N.D. Cal.) that was settled for a full recovery, the value of which is projected to exceed $35 million (final approval of settlement pending).

Professional & Community Activities

  • Member, American Constitution Society
  • Member, National Association of Shareholder and Consumer Attorneys
  • Member, Philadelphia Bar Association
  • Member, Public Justice

Speeches & Presentations

  • Speaker, The Association of New Jersey Chiropractors (2017)
  • Speaker, The California Independent Physical Therapists Association (2017)
  • Speaker, The Illinois Pension Conference (2016)
  • Speaker, The Pennsylvania Association of Public Employee Retirement Systems (PAPERS) (2015)
  • Speaker, Restaurant Coalition, Economic Liberties

Representative Experience

  • Represents restaurants in nationwide class action against Grubhub for breaching its contracts and engaging in deceptive practices and conversion. Specifically, in the action captioned as Tiffin EPS LLC, et al. v. Grubhub Inc., No. 2:18-cv-05630 (ED Pa.), restaurants are challenging Grubhub’s practice of issuing and advertising a phony telephone number designed to falsely appear like the local telephone number of restaurants and then charging restaurants commissions on all telephone calls over 45 seconds, regardless of whether those calls resulted in a food order. Below is just a brief sample of articles written about this action:
  • Represents restaurants in nationwide class action against Caviar for allegedly overcharging restaurants by assessing a commission on sales tax. Tiffin Cherry Hill LLC, et al. v. Caviar, Inc., d/b/a Try Caviar, No. 3:20-cv-00403-SK (N.D. Cal.)
    • https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/consumer-products/food/caviar-class-action-alleges-delivery-app-withholds-funds/
  • Represents relators in a nationwide qui tam brought on behalf of the United States and 26 States against PharMerica for falsely billing Medicare, Medicaid and other government-sponsored medical programs for allegedly altering and dispensing medication without a legal, valid prescription. USA, ex rel. Sturgeon v. Pharmerica Corp., No. 15-6829 (ED Pa.).
    • See Decision at 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21935, 2020 WL 586978 (E.D. Pa. Feb. 5, 2020), or https://www.paed.uscourts.gov/documents/opinions/20D0099P.pdf
  • Represents nationwide investor class action against GPB Capital Holdings, LLC and its affiliates seeking relief for harm allegedly caused by a $1.8 billion Ponzi scheme. DeLuca, et al. v. GPB Auto. Portfolio, LP, et al., No. 19-cv-10498-LAK (SDNY).
  • Represents Facebook stockholders in derivative suit in the Delaware Court of Chancery against Zuckerberg, Sandberg and other corporate directors and officers for their roles in the alleged misappropriation and illegal sharing of personal Facebook user data. Sbriglio et al. v. Zuckerberg et al., No. 2018-0307-JRS (Del. Ch.).
  • Represented investors in Dr. Travis Martin v. Harbor Diversified, Inc., No. 2018-0762-SG (Del. Ch.), and successfully forcing this once-public company that had gone completely dark on its shareholders for over seven years to resume holding annual stockholder meetings and SEC reporting. The stock which traded as low as $.03 per share is now trading in a normal, efficient market environment at or above $1.23 per share, reflecting more than $60 million in additional market value. Here are some articles:
    • Air Wisconsin Airlines; the Rise of Harbor Diversified Inc. (OTCMKTS: HRBR) | Micro Cap Daily, https://microcapdaily.com/air-wisconsin-airlines-the-rise-of-harbor-diversified-inc-otcmkts-hrbr/128543/
    • Harbor’s Dark Takeover, http://www.nonamestocks.com/2020/12/harbors-dark-takeover.html
  • Represented preferred stockholders in Johnson v. W2007 Grace Acquisition I, Inc., No. 2:13-cv-2777 (W.D. Tenn.), an action against a once-public, widely-held billion-dollar real estate investment trust (REIT) that was taken private and had gone “dark” on its preferred stockholders for over five years. Preferred stockholders received a recovery of $72 million representing par plus interest.
  • Represented bondholders in Roth v. The Phoenix Companies, No. 650634/2016 (N.Y. Sup. Ct.) against The Phoenix Companies, a publicly-traded insurer that had entered into a going-private transaction and sought to amend the bond indenture to limit financial reporting obligations to bondholders. The settlement secured ongoing financial reporting akin to that of a public company for bondholders as well as third parties, such as prospective buyers, brokers, market makers and analysts. This preserved the liquidity of the bonds and enhanced the bonds’ value by millions of dollars. The Court stated that the settlement was “outstanding” and provided “expeditious beneficial relief for the class that affords them material remedial disclosures…. Class counsel performed substantial work and obtained an extremely favorable result for the class.”
  • Represented stockholders in TRSL v. Greenberg, et al., No. 20106 (Del. Ch.), and successfully challenged the findings of a special litigation committee. After engaging in hard-fought litigation, the matter settled for $115 million on the eve of trial.
  • Represented stockholders in In re Parmalat Sec. Litig., MDL 04‐1653 (S.D.N.Y.) during which the reference was successfully withdrawn from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, which allowed stockholders to pursue debtor Parmalat in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, and led to the recovery of over $70 million and an additional $30 million from Parmalat’s cohorts in one of the most infamous securities frauds in Italy’s history.
  • Represented shareholders in Delaware County Retirement Fund v. Portnoy, No. 1:13-cv-10405 (D. Mass.), which presented the issue of whether an onerous, one-sided arbitration bylaw that had a chilling effect on the shareholders ability to bring litigation was valid and permissible by law.
  • Represented investors in In re American International Group, Inc. Consolidated Derivative Litig., No. 769 (Del. Ch.) ($90 million recovery for AIG), In re Hollinger Int’l Sec. Litig., No. 04-CV-0834 (N.D. Ill.) ($37.5 million settlement for defrauded investors), and numerous other actions involving Barnes & Noble, BioScrip, Cablevision, Constellation Energy Group, Covad Communications, DVI Inc. and Mattel.
  • Represented consumers in In re 24 Hour Fitness Prepaid Memberships Litigation, No. 4:16-cv-01668 (N.D. Cal.) that was settled for a full recovery, the value of which is projected to exceed $35 million (final approval of settlement pending).

Insights