Chapin Fitzgerald Sullivan Announces New Partner, New Name

June 22, 2011 - PRLog -- San Diego-based trial litigation boutique Chapin Fitzgerald Sullivan LLP today announced the addition of top securities and class action litigator Frank A. Bottini as a named partner. The firm will be called Chapin Fitzgerald Sullivan & Bottini LLP.

“Frank is exceptionally well qualified to lead our expansion into the area of plaintiffs’ securities class actions, and to strengthen our existing consumer class action practice,” said Edward D. Chapin, a partner and firm founder.  “With his stature and extensive experience in both securities and shareholder derivative litigation, as well as his expertise in mergers, acquisitions and antitrust matters, the firm will be expanding into a very active and growing area of litigation.  We are looking forward to working with Frank and bringing some of his cases to trial.”

Prior to joining Chapin Fitzgerald Sullivan & Bottini LLP, Mr. Bottini co-founded Johnson Bottini, LLP. Before that, he worked for 13 years for a New-York based firm specializing in shareholder litigation and antitrust cases. Mr. Bottini has achieved numerous multi-million dollar recoveries in securities and antitrust class action cases nationwide.

“This move provides me with an unparalleled platform to expand my practice and to provide my clients with an invaluable asset -- a group of superb trial lawyers who have obtained hundreds of jury verdicts in complex cases,” said Mr. Bottini.  I am pleased to be part of an unsurpassed trial team that not only has broad experience in challenging and demanding cases, but also a tradition of excellence and success.  Most importantly, I am honored to be joining lawyers who demonstrate on a daily basis the principles most valued in the legal profession – civility, integrity, and professionalism. My work and my clients will be the beneficiaries of decades of top-level jury trial experience.”  

Mr. Bottini graduated magna cum laude in 1991 from St. Louis University with a Philosophy major and cum laude in 1994 from the University of San Diego School of Law, where he served as Lead Articles Editor of the San Diego Law Review.  From 1995-97, Mr. Bottini served as an Adjunct Professor of Business Law at the University of San Diego.

Mr. Bottini has extensive experience litigating complex class action cases in both federal and state courts throughout the United States, including securities fraud class action cases, merger and acquisition cases involving publicly-traded companies, antitrust class actions, ERISA class actions, federal proxy claims, consumer class actions, and employment class action cases.  

Mr. Bottini is currently involved in several very high-profile cases, including serving as lead counsel for the Thema Fund plaintiffs in In re Herald, Primeo, and Thema Funds Sec. Litig., Case No. 09 Civ. 0289 (S.D.N.Y.) (RMB), a securities fraud class action lawsuit brought on behalf of all persons who invested in three Madoff “feeder funds” controlled by Bank Medici.  Among Mr. Bottini’s other pending cases are Ferguson v. Corinthian Colleges, Inc., Case No. 8:11-cv-00127-DOC, in the Central District of California, a consumer class action challenging the enrollment practices at one of the country’s largest for-profit online colleges, and Kaplan v. Fidelity National Home Warranty Co., Case No. 37-2008-00087962-CU-BT-CTL, in the Superior Court of California, San Diego County, challenging defendant’s conduct with respect to home warranty plans sold to consumers. Kaplan was certified as a class on November 1, 2010 and is proceeding to trial.

Mr. Bottini was co-lead counsel in one of the highest profile cases in the country challenging the backdating of stock options by executive officers of Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.  Mr. Bottini was retained by the Company’s Special Litigation Committee to serve as co-counsel to Brocade, making him one of only three plaintiff’s attorneys to have ever been retained by a publicly-traded company to pursue shareholder derivative claims.  After more than five years of litigation, over $24 million was recovered for Brocade. In In re DRAM Antitrust Litigation, a multi-district antitrust class action litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Mr. Bottini was co-lead counsel for the class. After five years of litigation, more than $325 million was recovered for the Class from nine defendants in one of the largest and most complex civil antitrust class actions in the country.

Mr. Bottini is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, all California federal and state courts, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the United States District Court for Colorado, and the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.  He is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell and is listed in Super Lawyers as a top securities litigator in Southern California.

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Chapin Fitzgerald Sullivan & Bottini LLP is a San Diego boutique litigation firm focused exclusively on trying cases and resolving controversies for clients. The firm’s practice is limited to trial and litigation matters, and its partners have experience in a wide variety of areas of law. It represents both plaintiffs and defendants, and advocates for corporate entities as well as individuals. For more information, go to www.cfsblaw.com.