Joseph S. Allerhand co-heads the firm’s Securities Litigation practice. With 30 years of experience, Mr. Allerhand is a nationally recognized litigator and corporate counselor with extensive experience in securities litigation, M&A litigation, SEC investigations, arbitrations, and busted deal litigations. He currently serves as lead counsel for AIG in shareholder class and derivative litigation arising from the recent financial crises.
Mr. Allerhand regularly counsels boards of directors and special committees on a wide variety of corporate transactions and internal investigations. Typically, he advises during the pre-dispute stage, and will then litigate the dispute if necessary. Mr. Allerhand is equally adept at representing plaintiffs or defendants, and has argued and tried numerous high-profile cases in state and federal courts, and before arbitration panels.
Mr. Allerhand has been named by The New York Times as one of the top 100 lawyers in New York and is consistently named by the Legal 500 and Chambers USA as one of America’s leading securities lawyers. In Chambers USA 2013, clients heralded his “great judgment in terms of strategizing.” In 2012, he was recognized for his “spontaneous mastery of complex litigation” and his “extensive knowledge of all manner of securities issues.” Commentators in Chambers USA 2011 lauded him as “very strategic, creative and just simply superb.” In previous years, he has been described by clients and peers as having “a gift for commanding control in the biggest cases.” He also has been praised as a “knockout in the courtroom as well as a deft performer behind the scenes” who “takes a creative and intelligent approach to litigation.” Chambers also notes that Mr. Allerhand brings “raw intelligence to a practice that frequently involves counseling boards of directors and special committees in litigation connected with SEC investigations and bankruptcy proceedings. His ability to digest the various facts of a case and turn them into a winning argument is exemplary.” New York Magazine has named him as one of the top lawyers for “bet the company” litigation. In 2012 and 2013, Benchmark Litigation recognized Mr. Allerhand as a “National Star” for Securities Litigation and as a “Local Litigation Star” in New York, and he has been listed among the Lawdragon 500 “Leading Lawyers in America” since 2010.
Mr. Allerhand writes and lectures frequently on securities litigation, publishing often in the New York Law Journal and speaking regularly at the Practising Law Institute. Most recently, he authored a chapter on “Defending Companies in Crisis,” which appeared in Litigating Securities Class Actions (Matthew Bender).
Mr. Allerhand is active in several public service organizations, and is a member of the Board of Directors or Trustees of the New York Legal Assistance Corp., Big Brothers/Big Sisters of New York, and UJA -- Federation of New York. He is the former President of the UJA -- Federation of NY Lawyers Division and a founder of the Solomon Schechter School of Manhattan.