Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP - Associate
http://www.blbglaw.com
United States of America (New York, NY)
Portfolio
Mr. van Kwawegen is a senior associate at Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann (BLB&G) in New York. BLB&G is widely recognized as one of the leading law firms in the world advising pension funds and institutional investors on issues related to ensuring corporate governance improvements at investment portfolio companies, enforcing shareholder rights, and shareholder recovery in case of breach of duty or securities fraud.
Mr. van Kwawegen has extensive experience litigating a wide array of securities class actions, derivative actions, and breach of fiduciary duty actions. Most recently, he was a member of the team that successfully prosecuted the In re Pfizer Inc. Shareholder Derivative Litigation, achieving a landmark settlement under which defendants agreed to create a new Regulatory and Compliance Committee of the Pfizer Board that will be supported by a dedicated $75 million fund. Mr. van Kwawegen is currently involved in derivative actions that seek to improve the corporate governance of Johnson & Johnson (based on allegations of years of disregard for legally required manufacturing standards and widespread illegal drug promotion practices) and of BP Plc (based on allegations of years of disregard for US safety laws). Mr van Kwawegen also successfully prosecuted a breach of fiduciary duty action against the Chairman and CEO of Landry’s Restaurants, Inc. in connection with a going-private transaction that was renegotiated multiple times by a special committee that squandered the interests of Landry’s shareholders in order to please the CEO (resulting in an increase of the transaction price from $13.50 to $24.50 per share).
Prior to joining BLB&G, Mr. van Kwawegen was a litigation associate in the New York office of Latham and Watkins LLP. Before moving to the US, Mr. van Kwawegen was qualified as a Dutch lawyer and worked at Schut & Grosheide in the Netherlands, where his practice focused on commercial and business disputes.