Robbins LLP Ranked by Daily Journal in 2025

Robbins LLP has been recognized in the Daily Journal’s 2025 Top Boutiques in California as "a nationally recognized shareholder rights boutique dedicated to the prosecution of shareholder derivative and class action lawsuits." The list curated by the Daily Journal acknowledges smaller, hyper-focused firms that provide superior service in a niche. The recognition is a testament to the firm's unwavering commitment to legal excellence.

Founding partner Brian Robbins sums up the firm's basic tenant - to "step in when we see mismanagement or unfair dealing." Since its founding in 2002, when shareholder rights as a concept was in its infancy, the firm's driving principle has been "giving a powerful legal voice to the people who invest in corporate America." To that end, Robbins LLP has represented individual and institutional shareholders to improve board oversight, legal compliance, transparency and responsiveness at more than 400 Fortune 1000 companies. The firm has also helped secure several of the largest monetary recoveries in the history of shareholder derivative litigation and helped clients to realize more than $1 billion in value for themselves and the companies in which they have invested.

The article highlights the firm's recent settlement on behalf of Wells Fargo & Co. for breaches of duty by the company's officers and directors for failing to comply with myriad consent orders stemming from a host of corporate scandals. The settlement secured a $100 million recovery for the bank, and was the largest shareholder derivative monetary recovery paid directly to a company in California state court history.

2025 has been an exceptional year for the firm. Robbins LLP has has been instrumental in litigating various cases on behalf of classes of shareholders who were misled in connection with business combinations involving special purpose acquisition companies ("SPACs"). These cases were brought by shareholders who sued the SPAC officers and directors for breach of fiduciary duty in issuing fraudulent and misleading Proxys that prevented shareholders entitled to redeem their shares in connection with the merger from doing so. This year alone, Robbins LLP has recovered more than $85 million for shareholders.

Some of the firms other notable settlements in 2025 include:

Walsh, et al. v. Buchholz, et al., Case No. 0:19-cv-01856-JWB-DTS (D. Minn. Mar. 12, 2025): The firm represented a class of unitholders who challenged the fairness of the April 2019 unit-for-unit acquisition of Apollonia, LLC by St. Renatus, LLC.  Plaintiffs alleged the acquisition was designed to unlawfully divest Apollonia, LLC unitholders of the Company’s valuable assets for grossly inadequate consideration via a flawed sales process. During five years of litigation, the plaintiffs engaged in extensive discovery that included reviewing tens of thousands of pages of documents from defendants and documents produced in response to subpoenas on twelve related third-parties; deposing party and third-party witnesses; responding to discovery propounded by defendants; and having plaintiffs sit for deposition. Plaintiffs achieved a settlement on the eve of trial of $11.6 million for the class of former Apollonia unit holders.

In re Prudential Financial Inc. Derivative Litigation, Case No. 2:20-cv-12772-SRC-CLW (Dist. NJ June 9, 2025): After protracted litigation and numerous discovery-related victories in matters of first impression under New Jersey law, Robbins LLP secured a $10 million cash recovery for the Prudential Financial Inc. stemming from allegations that defendants made false and misleading statements regarding adverse mortality experience and corresponding reserves for life insurance policies acquired from The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. In approving the settlement, the Honorable Stanley R. Chesler noted that the settlement was "not only a reasonable recovery, it is a remarkable recovery and is a tribute to plaintiffs and plaintiffs' lawyer efforts in this case." Judge Chelser also noted that plaintiffs' counsel' success on discovery motions and appeal in front of Judge Waldor was "a testament to their talent." (Transcript of Motion on Final Settlement Approval at 19-20).

In re Novavax Inc. Stockholder Derivative Litigation, Case No. 8:21-cv-02996-TDC (D. Md. Mar. 7, 2025): Robbins LLP served as co-lead counsel for plaintiffs in shareholder derivative litigation alleging (among other things) that defendants illegally sold Company stock based on material nonpublic information. After years of litigation, including defeating (in part) defendants' motion to dismiss based on demand futility, working with the Special Litigation Committee, multiple mediation sessions, and extended settlement negotiations, Robbins LLP secured $6.75 million for Novavax as well as significant governance reforms, including insider trading reforms, enhancements to the Audit Committee's responsibilities, and improved board reporting guidelines.

In re Emergent BioSolutions Inc., Stockholder Derivative Litigation, Case No. 8:21-cv-01595-DLB (D. Md. Aug. 6, 2025): Robbins LLP served as lead counsel in shareholder derivative litigation involving alleged breaches of fiduciary duty arising from the defendants' failure to address the company's regulatory non-compliance, which led to the termination of Emergent's contracts to manufacture COVID-19 vaccine bulk drug substance as part of the U.S. government's "Operation Warp Speed" pandemic response and left the Company on the brink of insolvency.  Robbins LLP led a coordinated multi-jurisdictional litigation effort that culminated in a $15 million payment to Emergent and significant governance reforms tailored to address the oversight lapses and internal controls deficiencies Plaintiffs contend left the Company unable to demonstrate compliance with U.S. Food and Drug Administration drug manufacturing standards.