With a great deal of both professional pride and personal sadness, SBTK announces that our founding partner, Richard S. Schiffrin, has decided to retire from the firm, effective at the end of February. Richard is leaving the practice of law to begin a new chapter in his life, focusing on education, writing and continuing his involvement in political and charitable causes.

Upon graduating from DePaul Law School and attending graduate school at the University of Chicago, Richard began his legal career in the public defender's office in Chicago, Illinois. After protecting the civil rights of individuals for several years, Richard made the transition into private practice and began representing consumers and individual investors in actions brought against public companies, founding SBTK's predecessor, Schiffrin & Craig, Ltd, in 1987.

Richard has led SBTK since its inception, overseeing and guiding our tremendous growth from a small boutique litigation firm with only three attorneys to our current status as one of the largest and most successful law firms prosecuting securities and consumer class actions on behalf of institutional and individual investors and consumers worldwide.

Mr. Schiffrin's accomplishments and successes at SBTK over these past 21 years are too numerous to mention, but some cases truly epitomize the dedication and strategic advocacy that Mr. Schiffrin has employed throughout his career such as In re AremisSoft Corp. Securities Litigation, C.A.No. 01-CV-2486 (D.N.J. 2002), Henry v. Sears, et al., Case No. 98 C 4110 (N.D. Ill. 1999), In re Tenet Healthcare Corp., 02-CV-8462 (C.D. Cal.), and perhaps most noteworthy, In re Tyco International Ltd. Securities Litigation, MDL Docket No. 02-1335-PB, wherein Richard negotiated a record $3.2 billion settlement with Tyco International, Ltd. and their auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers. The $2.975 billion payment by Tyco represents the single largest securities class action recovery from a single corporate defendant in history, while the $225 million settlement with PwC represents the largest payment PwC has ever paid to resolve a securities class action and is the second-largest auditor settlement in securities class action history.

In announcing his retirement to the firm, Mr. Schiffrin stated, "I am very proud of the work we have done here, the causes we have supported, and the culture we have created at the firm. I take great pride in having founded this firm and participating in its growth over the past 21 years, but recognize that it was only through the combined efforts of everyone who works at the firm that we have achieved so much. Our success was truly a team effort."

While Richard will be sorely missed, we wish him nothing but success in all of his future endeavors.

Changing Roles and Responsibilities of Institutional Investors and Pension Fund Managers Highlighted at Conference

To enlist new clients, US law firms are looking abroad, recruiting European institutional investors to act as plaintiffs in securities class action suits.