Keith M. Fleischman
Keith is a nationally recognized litigator and trial lawyer having successfully investigated, litigated and tried to verdict some of the largest and most complex civil and criminal prosecutions in the United States.
Mr. Fleischman began his legal career with the Bronx District Attorney's Office as an Assistant District Attorney, first in the Investigations Bureau and then the elite Major Offense Bureau, where he investigated and successfully tried to verdict numerous cases, including one of the first state court bank fraud prosecutions.
In 1988, Mr. Fleischman joined the United States Department of Justice, Criminal Division, Fraud Section as a trial lawyer. During his tenure, he supervised international undercover operations involving counterfeiting, money laundering and passport fraud. He also successfully tried to verdict several of the largest criminal prosecutions brought by the government during the savings and loan crisis, including serving as the chief federal prosecutor in a two year investigation that culminated in a four month trial, United States v. Heath, 970 F.2d 1397 (5th Cir. 1992). As a result of this trial, the defendants received the largest sentence obtained during the savings and loan prosecution of 30 and 20 years respectively.
In 1990, Mr. Fleischman accepted a position as an Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut, where he was in charge of financial fraud, originated the Connecticut Bank Fraud Working Group and was a member of the New England Bank Fraud Task Force Coordinating Committee. As an AUSA, he successfully investigated and prosecuted many major financial, violent and white collar violations and worked closely with many investigatory, regulatory and prosecutorial agencies. He also successfully tried to verdict and argued appeals before both the District Court and Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
After leaving the government, Mr. Fleischman spent eleven years at the national plaintiffs' firm, Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach, where he rose to senior managing partner and established himself as one of the premier plaintiffs' lawyers in the United States. During this period, Mr. Fleischman litigated and negotiated to settlement numerous high profile individual and class actions. Among other accomplishments, he investigated and successfully tried to verdict a securities fraud case against a former big six accounting firm, Robbins v. Koger Properties Inc., 116 F.3d 1441 (11th Cir. 1997). Mr. Fleischman also litigated and argued before the Second Circuit the precedent-setting decision of Novak v. Kasaks, 216 F.3d 300 (2nd Cir. 2000), a significant decision which established precedent as to the appropriate pleading standard under the PSLRA and as to the disclosure of confidential informants, and has been cited and followed by courts throughout the United States.
Prior to founding the Fleischman Law Firm in 2011, Mr. Fleischman served as a Director in the New York office of Grant & Eisenhofer ("G&E"), litigating high profile complex cases and class actions. While at G&E, Mr. Fleischman spent four years as co-lead counsel litigating and ultimately negotiating a $400 million settlement with Marsh & McLennan, which represents the 25th largest securities class action settlement to date under the PSLRA. Mr. Fleischman has been lead or co-lead counsel and chief litigator in numerous other successful class and individual actions including AOL Time Warner, Satyam, Sprint, Bell South, Computer Associates, Shuffle Master and TASER.
Mr. Fleischman received his B.A. from the University of Vermont and his J.D. from California Western School of Law. He has been a trial practice instructor at the Trial Practice Institute of the United States Justice Department, and served for ten years as co-chairman of the Practicing Law Institute's annual conference on class actions. He has lectured in the United States, Canada and Europe on the investigation, litigation, trial and prevention of securities fraud. He has also been recognized by both Super Lawyers and Law Dragon. Mr. Fleischman serves on the Board of Visitors of California Western School of Law and the Board of Advisors of Outward Bound.
Mr. Fleischman is admitted to the bars of New York State, the United States District Courts for the Southern District of New York, Eastern District of New York, Eastern District of Wisconsin, District of Colorado, the First Circuit Court of Appeals, Second Circuit Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit Courts of Appeals and United States Supreme Court.