Ira A. Schochet has over 20 years of experience in commercial litigation, with primary emphasis on class actions involving securities fraud. Currently, Mr. Schochet serves as Lead Counsel in In re Countrywide Securities Litigation.
Mr. Schochet has played a leading role in litigation resulting in multimillion dollar recoveries for class members in cases such as those against Caterpillar, Inc., Spectrum Information Technologies, Inc., InterMune, Inc., and Amkor Technology, Inc. In Kamarasy v. Coopers & Lybrand, a securities fraud class action, Mr. Schochet led a team that won a settlement equal to approximately 75% of the highest possible damages that class members could have recovered. The Court in that case complimented him for “the superior quality of the representation provided to the class.” In approving the settlement he achieved in the InterMune litigation, the Court complimented Mr. Schochet’s ability to obtain a significant cash benefit for the class in a very efficient manner, saving the class from additional years of time, expense and substantial risk. Mr. Schochet represented one of the first institutional investors acting as a Lead Plaintiff in a post-Private Securities Litigation Reform Act case, STI Classic Funds v. Bollinger, Inc., and obtained one of the first rulings interpreting that statute’s intent provision in a manner favorable to investors.
On April 1, 2009, Mr. Schochet began his two-year term as President of the National Association of Shareholder and Consumer Attorneys (NASCAT), a trade organization and public policy voice for lawyers interested in a strong system of federal and state legal protections for investors and consumers. NASCAT consists of approximately 100 law firms committed to the vigorous prosecution of corporate fraud.
Since 1996, Mr. Schochet has acted as chairman of the Class Action Committee of the Commercial and Federal Litigation Section of the New York State Bar Association. In that capacity, he has served on the Executive Committee of the Section and was the primary author of articles and reports on a wide variety of issues relating to class action procedure. Such issues include revisions to that procedure proposed over the years by both houses of the United States Congress and the Advisory Committee on Civil Procedure of the United States Judicial Conference. Examples include “Proposed Changes in Federal Class Action Procedure,” “Opting Out On Opting In,” and “The Interstate Class Action Jurisdiction Act of 1999.” He also has lectured extensively on securities litigation at continuing legal education seminars.
Mr. Schochet has received a rating of AV from the publishers of the Martindale-Hubbell directory.
