Overview
BRIAN MURRAY is the managing partner of the Firm’s New York Park Avenue office and the head of the Firm’s Antitrust Practice Group. He received Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from the University of Notre Dame in 1983 and 1986, respectively. He received a Juris Doctor degree, cum laude, from St. John’s University School of Law in 1990. At St. John’s, he was the Articles Editor of the ST. JOHN’S LAW REVIEW. Mr. Murray co-wrote: Jurisdição Estrangeira Tem Papel Relevante Na De Fiesa De Investidores Brasileiros, ESPAÇA JURÍDICO BOVESPA (August 2008); The Proportionate Trading Model: Real Science or Junk Science?, 52 CLEVELAND ST. L. REV. 391 (2004-05); The Accident of Efficiency: Foreign Exchanges, American Depository Receipts, and Space Arbitrage, 51 BUFFALO L. REV. 383 (2003); You Shouldn’t Be Required To Plead More Than You Have To Prove, 53 BAYLOR L. REV. 783 (2001); He Lies, You Die: Criminal Trials, Truth, Perjury, and Fairness, 27 NEW ENGLAND J. ON CIVIL AND CRIMINAL CONFINEMENT 1 (2001); Subject Matter Jurisdiction Under the Federal Securities Laws: The State of Affairs After Itoba, 20 MARYLAND J. OF INT’L L. AND TRADE 235 (1996); Determining Excessive Trading in Option Accounts: A Synthetic Valuation Approach, 23 U. DAYTON L. REV. 316 (1997); Loss Causation Pleading Standard, NEW YORK LAW JOURNAL (Feb. 25, 2005); The PSLRA ‘Automatic Stay’ of Discovery, NEW YORK LAW JOURNAL (March 3, 2003); and Inherent Risk In Securities Cases In The Second Circuit, NEW YORK LAW JOURNAL (Aug. 26, 2004). He also authored Protecting The Rights of International Clients in U.S. Securities Class Action Litigation, INTERNATIONAL LITIGATION NEWS (Sept. 2007); Lifting the PSLRA “Automatic Stay” of Discovery, 80 N. DAK. L. REV. 405 (2004); Aftermarket Purchaser Standing Under § 11 of the Securities Act of 1933, 73 ST. JOHN’S L. REV.633 (1999); Recent Rulings Allow Section 11 Suits By Aftermarket Securities Purchasers, NEW YORK LAW JOURNAL (Sept. 24, 1998); and Comment, Weissmann v. Freeman: The Second Circuit Errs in its Analysis of Derivative Copy-rights by Joint Authors, 63 ST. JOHN’S L. REV. 771 (1989).
Mr. Murray was on the trial team that prosecuted a securities fraud case under Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 against Microdyne Corporation in the Eastern District of Virginia and he was also on the trial team that presented a claim under Section 14 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 against Artek Systems Corporation and Dynatach Group which settled midway through the trial.
Mr. Murray’s major cases include In re Horsehead Holding Corp. Sec. Litig., No. 16-cv-292, 2018 WL 4838234 (D. Del. Oct. 4, 2018) (recommending denial of motion to dismiss securities fraud claims where company’s generic cautionary statements failed to adequately warn of known problems); In re Deutsche Bank Sec. Litig., 328 F.R.D. 7, 2018 WL 4771525 (S.D.N.Y. 2018) (granting class certification for Securities Act claims and rejecting defendants’ argument that class representatives’ trading profits made them atypical class members); Robb v. Fitbit Inc., 216 F. Supp. 3d 1017 (N.D. Cal. 2016) (denying motion to dismiss securities fraud claims where confidential witness statements sufficiently established scienter); In re Eagle Bldg. Tech. Sec. Litig., 221 F.R.D. 582 (S.D. Fla. 2004), 319 F. Supp. 2d 1318 (S.D. Fla. 2004) (complaint against auditor sustained due to magnitude and nature of fraud; no allegations of a “tip-off” were necessary); In re Turkcell Iletisim A.S. Sec. Litig., 209 F.R.D. 353 (S.D.N.Y. 2002) (defining standards by which investment advisors have standing to sue); In re Turkcell Iletisim A.S. Sec. Litig., 202 F. Supp. 2d 8 (S.D.N.Y. 2001) (liability found for false statements in prospectus concerning churn rates); Feiner v. SS&C Tech., Inc., 11 F. Supp. 2d 204 (D. Conn. 1998) (qualified independent underwriters held liable for pricing of offering); Malone v. Microdyne Corp., 26 F.3d 471 (4th Cir. 1994) (reversal of directed verdict for defendants); and Adair v. Bristol Tech. Systems, Inc., 179 F.R.D. 126 (S.D.N.Y. 1998) (aftermarket purchasers have standing under section 11 of the Securities Act of 1933). Mr. Murray also prevailed on an issue of first impression in the Superior Court of Massachusetts, in Cambridge Biotech Corp. v. Deloitte and Touche LLP, in which the court applied the doctrine of continuous representation for statute of limitations purposes to accountants for the first time in Massachusetts. 6 Mass. L. Rptr. 367 (Mass. Super. Jan. 28, 1997). In addition, in Adair v. Microfield Graphics, Inc. (D. Or.), Mr. Murray settled the case for 47% of estimated damages. In the Qiao Xing Universal Telephone case, claimants received 120% of their recognized losses.
Among his current cases, Mr. Murray represents a class in a litigation alleging fraud and breach of fiduciary duty arising out of investments in an EBJ Immigrant Investor program and also represents the Litigation and Distribution Trustee of First NBC Bank Holding Co. for claims against it’s officers and directors.
Mr. Murray served as a Trustee of the Incorporated Village of Garden City (2000-2002); Commissioner of Police for Garden City (2000-2001); Co-Chairman, Derivative Suits Subcommittee, American Bar Association Class Action and Derivative Suits Committee, (2007-2010); Member, Sports Law Committee, Association of the Bar for the City of New York, 1994-1997; Member, Litigation Committee, Association of the Bar for the City of New York, 2003-2007; Member, New York State Bar Association Committee on Federal Constitution and Legislation, 2005-2008; Member, Federal Bar Council, Second Circuit Committee, 2007-2021.
Mr. Murray has been a panelist at CLEs sponsored by the Federal Bar Council and the Institute for Law and Economic Policy, at the German-American Lawyers Association Annual Meeting in Frankfurt, Germany, and is a frequent lecturer before institutional investors in Europe and South America on the topic of class actions.