Jeffrey A. Berens is an accomplished securities litigator, having made a career of prosecuting violations of federal securities laws on behalf of defrauded stockholders, pursuing derivative claims under state corporate law to redress misconduct committed by corporate officers and directors, and seeking to maximize shareholder value in merger and acquisition litigation. In addition to his securities litigation practice, Mr. Berens litigates a wide variety of other complex matters including cases involving consumer fraud, state and federal RICO violations, antitrust claims, unfair trade practices, and employment law violations.
Between 2007 and 2016, Mr. Berens was a principal of Dyer & Berens LLP, a Colorado-based shareholder rights law firm. Prior to founding Dyer & Berens, he was an associate and later a partner in a boutique law firm which recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for aggrieved investors nationwide. Before entering law school, Mr. Berens worked as a corporate accountant, during which time he passed the Certified Public Accountant examination.
Representative Matters
Mr. Berens has successfully litigated shareholder class and derivative lawsuits against more than one hundred public and private companies including, among others, BancorpSouth, Inc. ($29.25 million recovered), Tele-Communications, Inc. ($26.5 million recovered), FirstWorld Communications, Inc. ($25.925 million recovered), Transcrypt International, Inc. (approximately $25 million recovered), Molycorp, Inc. ($20.5 million recovered), ICG Communications, Inc. ($18 million recovered), Rhythms NetConnections Inc. ($17.5 million recovered), One-Stop Wireless of America, Inc. (approximately $11 million recovered), Fidelity Management & Research Company ($7.5 million recovered), Carrier Access Corporation ($7.4 million recovered), and State Street Corporation ($6.25 million recovered). Early in his career, Mr. Berens successfully argued to the Colorado Court of Appeals that the trial court had erred in failing to allow thousands of victims of a nationwide boiler room fraud to band together and prosecute their claims in a single class action. The Court of Appeals’ opinion in Toothman v. Freeborn & Peters established new law, making it more difficult for dishonest promoters to evade the reach of the securities laws. Mr. Berens later won entry of a $75 million summary judgment against the alleged ringleader of the scheme.
Areas of Practice
Mr. Berens devotes his practice to representing individuals, institutions, and businesses in securities fraud class action litigation and shareholder derivative litigation.
Education
Mr. Berens attended Marquette University Law School, from which he graduated cum laude in 1996. While at Marquette, he served as a judicial extern to the Honorable John L. Coffey of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and was a member of the Marquette University Law Review. Mr. Berens received his undergraduate degree in business and accounting from the University of Wisconsin.
Admissions
Mr. Berens was admitted to the state bar of Wisconsin in 1996 and the state bar of Colorado in 1997. He is also admitted to practice before the U.S. District Courts for Colorado and the Eastern District of Wisconsin, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, and has been admitted to practice, on a case by case basis, in various state and federal jurisdictions throughout the country.
Publications
Mr. Berens is the author of Pleading Scienter Under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which was published in The Colorado Lawyer.