The contest to see which group and which law firm ends up representing the class in the securities class action filed against Bank of America is heating up. The American Lawyer reports that the two leading contenders for lead plaintiff appear to be either a combination of major California pension funds, CalPERS and CalSTERS; or a separate group made up of two Ohio pension funds, a Texas fund, and two foreign investors.
The Ohio/Texas/foreign investor group’s motion to be appointed lead plaintiff states that law firm Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer would be co-lead counsel along with Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann and Barroway Topaz Kessler Meltzer & Check. According to the American Lawyer, the group claims to have the largest financial interest in the litigation against BofA, and “decided to form a lead plaintiff group independent of their attorneys.”
The two California funds do not yet have counsel, and are interviewing lead counsel candidates this week in “a formal selection process.” They expect to choose counsel by March 31. The American Lawyer reports that Susman Godfrey and Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins may be in the running to be selected as lead counsel.
