Nicholas E. Chimicles

Nicholas E. Chimicles is senior partner and Chairman of the Firm's Executive Committee. Mr. Chimicles is a 1970 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where he received a Bachelor of Arts Degree with Honors. Mr. Chimicles graduated in 1973 from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was a member of the Editorial Board of the University of Virginia Law Review and was the author of several published comments. While attending law school, he co-authored a course and study guide entitled "Student's Course Outline on Securities Regulation," published by the University of Virginia School of Law.  Upon graduation from law school, Mr. Chimicles joined a major Philadelphia law firm where he practiced for eight years and specialized in litigation including complex commercial, antitrust and securities fraud cases and served as principal or assistant trial counsel in several matters.

Mr. Chimicles has actively prosecuted major complex litigation, antitrust, securities fraud and breach of fiduciary duty suits. Most recently, Mr. Chimicles was lead trial counsel for a Class of investors in a six-week jury trial of a securities fraud/breach of fiduciary duty case that resulted in a $185 million verdict. In re Real Estate Associates Limited Partnerships Litigation, No. CV 98-7035 DDP, was tried in the federal district court in Los Angeles before the Honorable Dean D. Pregerson. On November 15, 2002, the 10 member jury returned a unanimous verdict in favor of the Class (comprising investors in the eight REAL Partnerships) and against the REALs’ managing general partner, National Partnership Investments Company (“NAPICO”) and the four individual officers and directors of NAPICO. The jury awarded more than $25 million in damages against all five defendants on Count I, the Section 14(a), 1934 Act, proxy fraud claim and more than $67 million in damages against NAPICO on Count II for breach of fiduciary duty. On November 19, 2002, the jury returned a verdict of $92.5 million in punitive damages against NAPICO. This total verdict of $185 million was among the “Top 10 Verdicts of 2002,” as reported by the National Law Journal (verdictsearch.com).  The Court upheld in all respects the jury’s verdict on liability as to both Count I and Count II, upheld in full the jury’s award of $92.5 million in compensatory damages, upheld the Class’s entitlement to punitive damages (but reduced those damages to $2.6 million based on the application of California law to NAPICO’s financial condition), and awarded an additional $25 million in pre-judgment interest. Based on the Court’s decisions on the post-trial motions, the judgment entered in favor of the Class on April 28, 2003 totaled over $120 million, $91 million on Count II and $30 million on Count I.

In 2006, Mr. Chimicles, as lead counsel, negotiated the settlement of the CNL Hotels & Resorts, Inc. Securities Litigation, Case No. 6:04-cv-1231 (M.D. Fla., Orl. Div).  The case settled Sections 11 and 12 claims for $35 million in cash and Section 14 proxy claims by significantly reducing the merger consideration (from $300 million to $73 million) that CNL paid for internalizing its advisor/manager.

In other federal securities fraud action, he served as a lead counsel in the Hercules Securities Litigation, Civil Action No. 90-442 (RRM) (D. Del.) ($18 million recovery); Scott Paper Securities Litigation, Civil Action No. 90-6192 (E.D. Pa.) ($8 million recovery); Sunrise Savings & Loan Securities Litigation, MDL No. 655 (E.D. Pa.) ($15 million recovery); Storage Technology Corp. Securities Litigation, Master File No. 84-F-1981 (D. Colo.) ($18 million recovery); In re Fiddler's Woods Bondholders Litigation, Civil Action No. 83-2340 (E.D. Pa.), a bondholders' class action arising out of a default on a $33 million industrial development bond issue (recovery of more than $7 million for the Class); and Charter Securities Litigation, Civil Action No. 84-448 Civ-J-12 (M.D. Fla.) (recovery of $7.75 million); Continental Illinois Corporation Securities Litigation, Civil Action No. 82 C 4712 (N.D. Ill.) involving a twenty-week jury trial conducted by Mr. Chimicles that concluded in July, 1987 (the Class ultimately recovered nearly $40 million).

Mr. Chimicles has been a principal counsel in several major litigations that have resulted in precedent-breaking recoveries for classes of limited partners.  In addition to the Real Estate Associates Limited Partnership Litigation, discussed above, Mr. Chimicles was a member of the Executive Committee in the Prudential Limited Partnerships Litigation, MDL 1005 (S.D.N.Y.), where the Class recovered $130 million in settlement from Prudential, and other defendants.  Mr. Chimicles was  lead counsel in the PaineWebber Limited Partnerships Litigation, 94 Civ. 8547 (S.D.N.Y.) in which a $200 million settlement was approved in mid-1997.  As co-lead counsel in several litigations involving ML-Lee Acquisition Fund, L.P., ML-Lee Acquisition Fund II, L.P. and ML-Lee Acquisition Fund (Retirement Accounts) II, L.P. (C.A. No. 92-60, 93-494, 94-422 and 95-724) that were prosecuted in the Delaware Federal District Court.  Mr. Chimicles (together with partner Pamela Tikellis and financial specialist Kathleen Chimicles) negotiated settlements that resulted in more than $30 million in cash and other benefits to be paid or made available to investors in the various funds.  In litigation involving PLM Equipment Growth and Income Funds IV-VII, Mr. Chimicles (together with financial specialist Kathleen Chimicles) was instrumental in negotiating a settlement reached in 2001 that provided both monetary and equitable relief for the limited partners. In February 2002, the Superior Court of Marin County, California, approved the settlement of a case in which Mr. Chimicles was co-lead counsel, involving five public partnerships sponsored by Phoenix Leasing Incorporated and its affiliates and resulting in entry of a judgment in the amount of $21 million. (In Re Phoenix Leasing Incorporated Limited Partnership Litigation, Superior Court of the State of California, County of Marin, Case No. 173739).

Mr. Chimicles has represented limited partners who successfully have sought the liquidation of assets or the reorganization of the partnership. For example, in In re the Mendik Real Estate Limited Partnership, N.Y. Supreme Ct. No. 97-600185, Mr. Chimicles, as co-lead counsel, negotiated a settlement which provided for the prompt sale of more than $100 million of the partnership’s real estate assets. Additionally, as co-lead counsel, Mr. Chimicles, together with partner Pamela Tikellis, negotiated the settlement of a suit filed against the general partners of Aetna Real Estate Associates, L.P., providing for the orderly liquidation of the more than $200 million in that partnership’s real estate holdings, the reduction of general partner fees and the payment of a special cash distribution to the limited partners. (Aetna Real Estate Associates, L.P., Area GP Corporation and Aetna/Area Corporation, Delaware Chancery Court, New Castle County, Civil Action Nos. 15386-NC and 15393-NC).

Mr. Chimicles has also represented stockholders in suits arising from proposed mergers, acquisitions and hostile takeovers.  For example, in Garlands, Inc. Profit Sharing Plan et al. v. The Pillsbury Company, et al., State of Minnesota, County of Hennepin, Fourth Judicial District, Court File No. 88-17834, Mr. Chimicles was a lead counsel in a suit brought to compel Pillsbury's board of directors to negotiate in good faith with Grand Metropolitan and persuaded the court to enjoin a proposed spin-off of Burger King. Additionally, Mr. Chimicles has represented shareholders in obtaining enhanced consideration for their stock in takeovers or going private transactions. Randee L. Shantzer, et al. v. Charter Medical Corp., et al., Court of Chancery, State of Delaware, New Castle County, Consolidated Civil Action No. 9530; In re Interstate Bakeries Corporation Shareholders Litigation, Court of Chancery, State of Delaware, New Castle County, Consolidate Civil Action No. 9263.

In the antitrust field, Mr. Chimicles has acted as a lead and co-lead counsel in numerous class suits. He was co-lead counsel in the Travel Agency Commission Antitrust Litigation, (D. Minn.) in which the Firm represented the American Society of Travel Agents, an Alexandria, Virginia-based association that represents more than 9,000 travel agencies nationwide and worldwide in a suit against seven airlines for Section 1 (Sherman Act) violations involving commission cuts. The case was settled in late 1996 for more than $80 million. Mr. Chimicles was also co-lead counsel in the Insurance Antitrust Litigation, Case No. C-88-1688 (N.D. Calif.) which charged commercial general liability insurers, domestic and London-based reinsurers and an insurance service organization with violations of the Sherman and Clayton Acts.  The case was settled after an earlier dismissal was reversed by the Ninth Circuit, a decision affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court. In re Insurance Antitrust Litigation, 938 F.2d 919 (9th Cir. 1991); aff'd sub nom. Hartford Fire Insurance Co. v. California, 113 S.Ct. 2891 (1993).

As an appellate advocate, Mr. Chimicles has handled cases which have protected the rights of victims of securities fraud in bankruptcy proceedings.  In cases that he successfully argued before the Courts of Appeals for the Tenth and Eleventh Circuits, due process and notice principles were extended to protect securities purchasers filing claims in bankruptcy cases, In re Standard Metals Corp., 817 F.2d 625 (10th Cir.), rev'd in part on rehearing, 839 F.2d 1383 (1987), and it was established that class proofs of claim are allowable in bankruptcy proceedings, In re the Charter Company, 876 F.2d 866 (11th Cir. 1989).

Mr. Chimicles has also actively prosecuted suits involving public utilities constructing nuclear plants. He was lead counsel in the Philadelphia Electric Company Securities Litigation, Master File No. 85-1878 (E.D. Pa.) and a lead counsel in the Consumers Power Company Derivative Litigation, Master File No. 84-CV-3788 AA (E.D. Mich.). Mr. Chimicles was co-lead counsel in the stockholder derivative suit arising from mismanagement claims against former officers of Philadelphia Electric Company involved in the closing of the Peach Bottom Nuclear Plant, a suit which Mr. Chimicles was authorized to bring by a PECO board of directors resolution.  In re Philadelphia Electric Company Derivative Litigation, Case No. 7090, Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County, PA.  That case resulted in a recovery of $35 million for the utility company in November 1990.

Mr. Chimicles was also a co-lead counsel in a major environmental litigation, Ashland Oil Spill Litigation, Master File M-14670 (W.D. Pa.), involving the claims of residents and businesses for damage arising from the largest inland waterway oil spill in history that occurred on January 2, 1988 in Pittsburgh. In 1990, the case was settled upon creation of a claims fund of over $30 million for the class. This and similar environmental suits in which the Firm was involved were the subject of a program, "Toxic Torts May Not Be Hazardous To Your Health: A Lawyer's Guide to Health Survival in Mass Tort Litigation," in which Mr. Chimicles was a principal speaker at this program which was held at the American Bar Association's 1989 Convention in Honolulu.

Mr. Chimicles has acted as special counsel for the City of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Housing Authority in an action seeking to hold lead pigment manufacturers liable for federally mandated abatement of lead paint in properties owned, managed or operated by the plaintiffs. City of Philadelphia, et al. v. Lead Industries Ass'n, et al., Civil Action No. 90-7064 (E.D. Pa.) and No. 92-1420 (3rd Cir.).

Mr. Chimicles is admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the United States, numerous federal district and appellate courts, as well as the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chimicles was appointed in 2008 to a 3-year term as a Hearing Committee Member of the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.  He is a member of the American Bar Association (Sections of Litigation; Antitrust; and Corporation, Banking and Business Law), the Pennsylvania Bar Association, and the Philadelphia Bar Association (Federal Courts Committee and various subcommittees). Mr. Chimicles has lectured frequently on securities law at the Rutgers University Law School Camden, the Wharton School Graduate Division of the University of Pennsylvania, New York University, the University of Virginia, and for Prentice Hall Law and Business Publications.  Mr. Chimicles has addressed numerous law and accounting conferences, including ALI-ABA, Practising Law Institute, the Pennsylvania Bond Counsel Association and the Pennsylvania Institute of Public Accountants, and has also frequently appeared as a speaker in numerous state and national bar association sponsored seminars on topics involving federal securities laws, RICO, class actions, hostile corporate takeovers, and professional ethics. Mr. Chimicles also is a contributor to and member of the advisory boards of various professional publications involving the securities law field. Mr. Chimicles is a member of the Board of Overseers of the School of Arts and Sciences of the University of Pennsylvania.  He is the past President of the National Association of Securities and Commercial Law Attorneys. Mr. Chimicles is the author of numerous articles including an article co-authored with the Firm's Financial Specialist, Kathleen P. Chimicles nee Balon, published in the New York Law Journal, August 26, 1993, entitled "A Realistic Assessment Of The Need For Securities Class Action Litigation Reform;" and The Securities Case: The Plaintiff’s Perspective, co-authored with Ira N. Richards, published in the Practical Litigator, Vol. 6, No. 6 (Nov. 1995).