Brett M. Middleton

Mr. Middleton currently serves as the partner in charge of the following stockholder derivative actions in the Delaware Court of Chancery where Johnson Fistel was recently appointed as Lead Counsel:  In re Nikola Corp. Derivative Litigation (C.A. No. 2022-0023-KSJM); In re FibroGen, Inc. Derivative Litigation (C.A. No. 2022-0331-SG); In re QuantumScape Corp. Stockholder Derivative Litigation (C.A. No. 2022-0490-JTL); In re Array Technologies Inc. Derivative Litigation (C.A. No. 2022-0683-LWW); and In re LoanDepot, Inc. Derivative Litigation (C.A. No. 2023-0613-MTZ).  He is also currently serving as the partner in charge in In re Exxon Mobil Corp. Derivative Litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division (Lead Case No. 3:19-cv-01067-K), where Johnson Fistel was appointed Lead Counsel.

Mr. Middleton was also a senior member of the teams responsible for the prosecution of a wide variety of high-profile securities class action cases that have achieved substantial recoveries for investors.  Notable cases include: Lehman Brothers Equity/Debt Securities Litigation (S.D.N.Y.) (recovered $615 million for investors from multiple defendants, which is considered one of the largest total recoveries for stockholders in any case arising from the financial crisis), Williams Securities Litigation (N.D. Okla.) ($311 million combined settlement for alleged accounting fraud, which was the largest settlement at the time without a company restatement), Lehman Brothers/Ernst & Young Securities Fraud Class Action (S.D.N.Y.) (resulted in the $99 million settlement with Lehman’s former auditor, Ernst & Young, arising from the financial crisis, which at the time was one of the 10 highest public auditor settlements ever achieved), Lumber Liquidators Securities Litigation (E.D. Va.) (obtained over $40 million for class members arising from alleged scheme to inflate margins by importing cheap and illegal flooring products as exposed by the CBS news show 60 Minutes), Accredo Health Securities Litigation (W.D. Tenn.) ($33 million for investors arising from accounting fraud claims), Accredited Home Lenders Securities Litigation (S.D. Cal.) ($22 million recovered for investors for fraud claims relating to mortgage lending practices), FTSI Securities Litigation (Glock v. FTS International, Inc.) (S.D. Tex.) ($10 million recovered for investors for alleged violations of Sections 11 and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933), and Clarent Corp. Securities Litigation (N.D. Cal.) (after a four-week jury trial, obtained rare jury verdict in favor of plaintiffs and against the company’s former CEO for knowingly making false and misleading statements in violations of federal securities laws).

He also has extensive experience representing stockholders in derivative litigation where he recovered money for the company and/or helped to improve corporate governance practices and enforce the fiduciary obligations of corporate boards and officers.  Among others, he successfully prosecuted and settled stockholder derivative actions on behalf of Activision Blizzard, Inc., (ATVI), Applied Opto Electronics, Inc. (AAOI), Apollo Education Group, Inc. (APOL), CV Sciences, Inc. (CVSI), Geron Corp. (GERN), News Corp. (NWSA), Resideo Technologies, Inc. (REZI), The Ryland Group, Inc. (RYL), Workhorse Group, Inc. (WKHS), and Zuora, Inc. (ZUO).

Moreover, Mr. Middleton has contributed significantly to successful mergers and acquisitions (“M&A”) transactional litigation efforts to challenge the improper use of defensive measures and deal protections for management’s benefit, including M&A transactional litigation actions involving Alberto-Culver and Unilever, Caremark and CVS, Emulex and Broadcom, Long Drugs and CVS, Medco and Express Scripts, Ticketmaster and Live Nation, and Yahoo! and Microsoft.  More recently, he has served as Additional Counsel in important post-closing damages class actions, which recovered significant amounts for stockholders as a result of mergers allegedly closing at an unfair price and pursuant to an inadequate process, including: Morrison v. Berry, et al., (Del. Ch.) ($27.5 million recovered for The Fresh Market stockholders), Baum v. Harman Int’l Industries, Inc. (D. Conn.) ($28 million recovered for Harman Int’l stockholders), and Goldstein v. Denner, et al., (Del. Ch.) ($84 million recovered for Bioverativ, Inc. stockholders).

Before joining Johnson Fistel, Mr. Middleton served as an Associate and Senior Counsel with Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP for 15 years, where he was instrumental in the prosecution of securities fraud class actions, stockholder derivative litigation, and M&A transactional actions.

For his professional achievements, Mr. Middleton has received multiple industry and national recognitions, including “San Diego Super Lawyer” by Super Lawyers, “Best of the Bar” by the San Diego Business Journal, and “Recommended Lawyer in M&A Related Shareholder Litigation” by Legal 500 USA Guide.

Mr. Middleton was admitted to the State Bar of California on December 8, 1998 and is admitted in good standing with all courts in the State of California.  He is also admitted in good standing with the U.S. District Courts for the Central, Northern, and Southern Districts of California.

Mr. Middleton is a member of the following professional associations:

• Association of Business Trial Lawyers
• California Lawyers Association, Litigation and Business Law
• UCLA Alumni Association, San Diego Network
• University of San Diego School of Law Alumni Association

On June 18, 1993, Mr. Middleton graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where he majored in History with an emphasis in Business Administration.  He earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of San Diego School of Law on May 23, 1998.