Description

Joel B. Strauss first associated with Kaplan Fox in 1992, and became a partner in the firm in 1999. He practices in the area of securities and consumer fraud class action litigation, with a special emphasis on accounting and auditing issues. He has been repeatedly selected for inclusion to the New York Super Lawyers list (Securities Litigation) (2007-2010, 2014-2019) and was named to Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers in the U.S. (2019).*

Prior to law school, Mr. Strauss was a senior auditor at the accounting firm Coopers & Lybrand (n/k/a PricewaterhouseCoopers). Combining his accounting background and legal skills, he has played a critical role in successfully prosecuting numerous securities class actions across the country on behalf of shareholders. Mr. Strauss was one of the lead trial lawyers for the plaintiffs in the first case to go to trial and verdict under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

More recently, Mr. Strauss has been involved in representing the firm’s institutional clients in the following securities class actions, among others: In re Bank of America Corp. Securities, ERISA & Derivative Litig. (S.D.N.Y.) ($2.425 billion settlement); In re Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. Securities, Derivative and ERISA Litig. (S.D.N.Y.) ($475 million settlement); In re Prestige Brands Holdings Inc. Securities Litig. (S.D.N.Y.) ($11 million settlement); In re Gentiva Securities Litig. (E.D.N.Y.) ($6.5 million settlement); and In Re SunPower Securities Litig. (N.D.Cal) ($19.7 million settlement). He has also served as lead counsel for lead plaintiffs in In re OCA, Inc. Securities Litig. (E.D. La.) ($6.5 million settlement); In re Proquest Company Securities Litig. (E.D. Mich.) ($20 million settlement) and In re Rocket Fuel, Inc. Securities Litig. (N.D.Cal.) ($3.15 million settlement). Mr. Strauss also played an active role for plaintiff investors in In Re Countrywide Financial Corporation Securities Litig. (C.D.Cal), which settled for more than $600 million.

In the consumer protection area, Mr. Strauss served as Chair of Plaintiffs’ Non-Party Discovery Committee in the Baycol Products Litigation, where there were more than $350 million in settlements.

Mr. Strauss is also active in the firm’s growing data privacy practice. In July 2017 he moderated a panel on U.S. Data Privacy Laws at a conference in Tel Aviv. And, among other data privacy cases in which he has played an active role, Mr. Strauss served as one of plaintiffs’ co-lead counsel in Doe vs. CVS Healthcare Corp., et. al., (S.D. Ohio), a class action concerning allegations of the violation of medical privacy of approximately 4,500 class members. The Court approved of a $4.4 million settlement of the action on January 30, 2020.

Although currently practicing exclusively in the area of law, Mr. Strauss is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the State of New York.

Mr. Strauss has also been a guest lecturer on the topics of securities litigation, auditors’ liability and class actions for seminars sponsored by the Practicing Law Institute and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and is an adjunct instructor in the Politcial Science department at Yeshiva University.

Since June 2014, Mr. Strauss has served as a member of the New York State Bar Association’s Committee on Legal Education and Admission to the Bar. And, in July 2018, Mr. Strauss was invited to serve as a member of the Rutgers Cybersecurity Advisory Board.

Among his various communal activities, Mr. Strauss currently serves on the Board of Directors of Yavneh Academy in Paramus, NJ (and is a former Vice President and Finance Committee Chair of the school), is a member of Yeshiva University’s General Counsel’s Council, a member of the Alumni Advisory Group at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, serves as Chair of the Career Guidance and Placement Committee of Yeshiva University’s Undergraduate Alumni Council and is a member of The Board of Directors of Friends of Jerusalem College of Technology. He is also a mentor in the Orthodox Union’s Impact Accelerator program.

In March 2001, the New Jersey State Assembly issued a resolution recognizing and commending Mr. Strauss for his extensive community service and leadership. In 2012, Mr. Strauss received The Alumni Partner of the Year Award from Yeshiva University’s Career Development Office.

Education:
B.A., Yeshiva University (1986)
J.D., Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (1992)
HBX|Harvard Business School, Certificate in Entrepreneurship Essentials (2017)
AICPA – Cybersecurity Fundamentals for Finance and Accounting Professionals Certificate (2018)

Bar Affiliations and Court Admissions:
Bar of the State of New Jersey
Bar of the State of New York
U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the District of New Jersey
U.S. Court of Appeals for the First, Second and Third Circuits

Professional Affiliations:
Association of the Bar of the City of New York
New York State Bar Association
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants

*View peer-review methodologies at superlawyers.com and lawdragon.com/guides-process/. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey or any other court.