September 30, 2008
On October 29, 2008, Michael A. Perino, the Dean George W.
Matheson Professor of Law at St. John’s University School of Law,
will receive the 2008 Award for Outstanding Research from the U.S.
Chamber Institute for Legal Reform. (ILR) A branch of the
U.S. Chamber of Commerce, ILR’s mission is “to reduce excessive and
frivolous litigation while restoring fairness and balance to the
nation’s civil justice system by promoting civil justice reform
through legislative, political, judicial and educational activities
at both the national and local levels.”
In selecting Professor Perino for this award, ILR noted that his
recent paper,
The Milberg Weiss Prosecution: No Harm, No Foul? made “a
significant contribution in the debate over the state of our
nation’s legal system.” The paper examined whether the kickbacks
the Milberg firm paid to individuals willing to serve as class
representatives in securities class actions harmed absent class
members. Using a unique dataset of over 700 settlements in
securities class actions, the paper found that fees were
significantly higher in the kickback cases than in other cases and
that this disparity increased with the size of the
settlement. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis
that absent class members were harmed by the kickback scheme.
The research award will be presented to Professor Perino at
ILR’s Ninth Annual Legal Reform Summit in Washington, D.C.