Sherrie R. Savett

• United States Et Al. Ex Rel. Penelow v. Janssen Products, LP, Civil A. No. 12-07758 in the (D. N.J). Represented the two whistleblowers in this qui tam action resulting in a $150 million jury verdict. On June 13, 2024, a jury unanimously found Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen Products, LP liable for illegal off-label promotion and marketing of two of its HIV/AIDS-treatment drugs, in violation of the federal False Claims Act and state False Claims Acts.  Read more about the historic case here.
• United States ex rel. Silver v. Omnicare, Inc., PharMerica Corp, et al, No. 1:11-cv-01326-NLH-AMD (D.N.J.). $100 million settlement finalized on July 3, 2024. Relator alleged that PharMerica, which owns a chain of a long-term care institutional pharmacies across the country, had improperly received hundreds of millions of dollars from government payors through violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute and False Claims Act.  This tremendous settlement will return more than $70 million to the federal and state governments and a substantial reward for the Relator. Read more about this significant case here.
• In United States ex rel. Kieff and LaCorte v. Wyeth and Pfizer, Inc., Nos. 03-12366 and 06-11724-DPW (D. Mass.). $784.6 million settlement representing one of two whistleblowers who alleged that the drug manufacturers Wyeth and Pfizer had defrauded the Medicaid program in connection with the sale of the drug Protonix. Wyeth and Pfizer had given deep discounts to hospitals purchasing Protonix, but failed to report these discounts to the government. By doing so, they violated Medicaid’s best price rule.
• In United States ex rel. Jain v. Universal Health Services, Inc., et al.,No. 2:14-cv-00921 (E.D. Pa.). $117 million settlement representing a whistleblower in a case involving a company that owned and operated psychiatric hospitals and residential psychiatric and behavioral treatment facilities.
• In United States ex rel. Zissa v. Santa Barbara County Alcohol, Drug, and Mental Health Services, et al, No. 14-cv-06891-DMG (C.D. Cal.). $28 million settlement where the relator, a former county compliance officer who had been illegally fired for uncovering and reporting Medi-Cal fraud causing false claims to be unlawfully reimbursed by the federal government and California Medi-Cal. Read more about the case here.
• In United States ex rel. Burris v. The Scripps Research Institute, No. 1:15-cv-01443 (D. Md.). $10 million settlement representing a scientist employed by Scripps who exposed grant fraud in obtaining and maintaining NIH and other government grants.
• In United States ex rel. Srivastava v. Trident USA Health Services LLC, et al., No. 19-10384 (SHL) (S.D.N.Y. Bankr.). $8.5 million settlement representing the former Chief Information Officer of a company that provided mobile diagnostic and x-ray services to nursing home residents.The First Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Jennifer Arbittier Williams, praised the Firm for its role in the case, saying that it had provided “vital and exceptionally valuable support to the government’s effort in this case, even after Trident’s bankruptcy put any recovery in doubt.” Read more about the case here.

The below cases, all of which Ms. Savett served as lead or co-lead counsel, are some of the most important she has litigated:

• In re Rite Aid Corp. Securities Litigation, No. 99-cv-1349) (E.D. Pa.).The Firm obtained settlements for investors totaling $334 million against Rite Aid’s outside accounting firm and certain of the company’s former officers in connection with false financial statements dessimated to the public.
• In re Waste Management, Inc. Securities Litigation, No. 97-cv-7709 (N.D. Ill.). The Firm obtained a class settlement for investors of $220 million cash, which included a settlement against Waste Management’s outside accountants.
• Medaphis/Deloitte & Touche, No. 1:96-CV-2088-FMH (N.D. GA). The Firm obtained a class settlement for investors of $96.5 million.
• In re Fleming Companies, Inc. Securities Litigation, 5-03-MD-1530 (TJW) (E.D. Tex.). The Firm obtained a class settlement for investors of $94 million.
• In re CIGNA Corp. Securities Litigation, Master File No. 2:02-cv-8088 (E.D. Pa.). The Firm obtained a class settlement for investors of $93 million.
• In re Xcel Inc. Securities, Derivative & “ERISA” Litigation, No. 02-cv-2677 (DSD/FLN) (D. Minn.). The Firm obtained a cash settlement of $80 million on behalf of investors against Xcel Energy and certain of its officers and directors.
• In re Alcatel Alsthom Securities Litigation, MDL Docket No. 1263 (PNB) (E.D. Tex.). The Firm obtained a class settlement for investors of $75 million cash.
• In re KLA Tencor Securities Litigation, 06-cv-04065 (N.D. Cal.).The Firm obtained a class settlement for investors of $65 million in an action on behalf of investors against KLA-Tencor and certain of its officers and directors.
• In re Sotheby’s Holding, Inc. Securities Litigation, No. 00-cv-1041 (DLC) (S.D.N.Y.). The Firm obtained a $70 million settlement for investors, of which $30 million was contributed, personally, by an individual defendant.

Ms. Savett has helped establish several significant securities litigation precedents including:

• The holding (the first ever in a federal appellate court) that municipalities are subject to the anti-fraud provisions of SEC Rule 10b-5 under § 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and that municipalities that issue bonds are not acting as an arm of the state and therefore are not entitled to immunity from suit in the federal courts under the Eleventh Amendment. Sonnenfeld v. City and County of Denver, 100 F.3d 744 (10th Cir. 1996).
• In the U.S. Bioscience securities class action, a biotechnology case where critical discovery was needed from the federal Food and Drug Administration, the court ruled that the FDA may not automatically assert its administrative privilege to block a subpoena and may be subject to discovery depending on the facts of the case. In re U.S. Bioscience Secur. Litig., 150 F.R.D. 80 (E.D. Pa. 1993).
• In the CIGNA Corp. Securities Litigation, the Court denied defendants’ motion for summary judgment, holding that a plaintiff has a right to recover for losses on shares held at the time of a corrective disclosure and his gains on a stock should not offset his losses in determining legally recoverable damages. In re CIGNA Corp. Securities Litigation, 459 F. Supp. 2d 338 (E.D. Pa. 2006).

• Lectured at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and at the Stanford Law School on prosecuting shareholder class actions and on False Claims Act Litigation and Health Law.
• Presenter/Panelist in American Bar Association, American Law Institute/American Bar Association and Practicing Law Institute (PLI) conferences on securities class action litigation and the use of class actions in consumer litigation.
• Presenter/Panelist at PLI’s Securities Litigation and Enforcement Institute annually from 1995 to 2010.
• Speaker at major institutional investor and insurance industry conferences, and DRI – the Voice of the Defense Bar.
• Panelist at the PLUS (Professional Liability Underwriting Society) Conference in New York City in February 2009.
• Presenter at the Cyber-Risk Conference in 2009.
• Presenter at the PLUS Conference in Chicago on November 16, 2009.
• Panelist in American Law Institute programs held in New York City called “Securities and Shareholder Litigation: Cutting-Edge Developments, Planning and Strategy” in 2015 and 2016.
• Panelist in PLI’s “Securities Litigation 2018: From Investigation to Trial” program on April 4, 2018.
• Speaker at the 2013 ABA Litigation Section Annual Conference in Chicago on two panels: “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: Ethical Issues in Class Action Settlements and Opt Outs” and “The Foreclosure Crisis Puzzle: Navigating the Changing Landscape of Foreclosure.”
• Speaker in Rome, Italy at the conference presented by the Litigation Committee of the Dispute Resolution Section of the International Bar Association and the Section of International Law of the American Bar Association on class certification in May 2007.
• Savett has written numerous articles on securities and complex litigation issues in professional publications. See Section below “Publications and Writings.”

• Former President and Board Chair of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia and current Board Member.
• Board Member, National Liberty Musuem
• Board Member, The Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History
• Board Member, local and national boards of American Associates of Ben Gurion University of the Negev
• Former Chairperson, Southeastern Pennsylvania State of Israel Bonds Campaign
• Former Member, National Cabinet of State of Israel Bonds

From Judge Stewart Dalzell, of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, In re U.S. Bioscience Securities Litigation, Civil Action No. 92-0678, hearing held April 4, 1994 (E.D. Pa. 1994):

“The quality of lawyering on both sides, but I am going to stress now on the plaintiffs’ side, simply has not been exceeded in any case, and we have had some marvelous counsel appear before us and make superb arguments, but they really don’t come any better than Mrs. Savett, and the arguments we had on the motion to dismiss [Mrs. Savett argued the motion], both sides were fabulous, but plaintiffs’ counsel were as good as they come.”

From Judge David S. Doty, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, In re Xcel Energy Sec. Deriv. “ERISA” Litig., 364 F. Supp. 2d 980, 992, 995-96 (D. Minn. 2005):

“…[A] just result without the assistance of a governmental investigation,” plaintiffs’ co-lead counsel Berger Montague “conducted themselves in an exemplary manner,” “consistently demonstrated considerable skill and cooperation to bring this matter to an amicable conclusion,” and “moved the case along expeditiously.”

From Judge Wayne R. Andersen, of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, In Re: Waste Management, Inc. Securities Litigation, Civil Action No. 97-C 7709 (N.D. Ill. 1999):

“…[Y]ou have acted the way lawyers at their best ought to act. And I have had a lot of cases…in 15 years now as a judge and I cannot recall a significant case where I felt people were better represented than they are here…I would say this has been the best representation that I have seen.”

From Judge Stewart Dalzell, of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, In re Rite Aid Inc. Sec. Litig., 269 F.Supp. 2d 603, 611 (E.D. Pa. 2003):

“This litigation presented layers of factual and legal complexity which assured that, absent a global settlement, these disputes would take on Dickensian dimensions…In short, it would be hard to equal the skill class counsel demonstrated here…[T]hey were at least eighteen months ahead of the United States Department of Justice in ferreting out the conduct that ultimately resulted in the write down of over $1.6 billion in previously reported Rite Aid earnings.”

From U.S. District Judge Michael M. Baylson, In Re: CIGNA Corp. Sec. Litig., 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 51089, **17-18 (E.D. Pa. July 13, 2007):

“The Court is aware of the attests to the skill and efficiency of class counsel: they have been diligent in every respect, and their briefs and arguments before the Court were of the highest quality. The firm of Berger Montague took the lead in the Court proceedings; its attorneys were well prepared, articulate and persuasive.”

From U.S. District Judge, then Chief Judge William Young, In Re TJX Retail Security Breach Litig., 584 F.Supp. 2d 395, 399 n.5 (D.Mass 2008); In Re TJX, No. 07-cv-10162, Dict. #297 of 6:12 (D.Mass Sept. 27, 2007), transcript of preliminary approval hearing, who praised the result as an “excellent settlement” containing “innovative” and “groundbreaking elements.”