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A. Rick Atwood, Jr. prosecutes securities class actions, merger-related class actions, and shareholder derivative suits at both the trial and appellate levels. Mr. Atwood was born in Nashville, Tennessee in 1965. In 1987, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree, with honors, in Political Science from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. In 1988, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree, with great distinction, in Philosophy from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Leuven, Belgium. He received his Juris Doctor degree in 1991 from Vanderbilt University Law School, where he served as Authorities Editor on the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law. He was admitted to the California Bar in 1991 and is licensed to practice before the United States District Courts for the Southern, Central, and Northern Districts of California. Mr. Atwood has successfully represented shareholders in federal and state courts in numerous jurisdictions, including Alabama, California, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Washington, D.C. Significant opinions include Crandon Capital Partners v. Shelk, 342 Ore. 555 (2007) (reversing dismissal of action); Ind. State Dist. Council of Laborers and HOD Carriers Pension Fund v. Renal Care Group, Inc., No. 3:05-0451, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24210 (M.D. Tenn. Aug. 18, 2005) (successfully obtaining remand of case improperly removed to federal court under the Class Action Fairness Act); Pipefitters Locals 522 & 633 Pension Trust Fund v. Salem Commc'ns Corp., No. CV 05-2730-RGK (MCx), 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14202 (C.D. Cal. June 28, 2005) (successfully obtaining remand of case improperly removed to federal court under the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act of 1998); In re Prime Hospitality, Inc. S'holders Litig., No. 652-N, 2005 Del. Ch. LEXIS 61 (Del. Ch. May 4, 2005) (successfully objecting to unfair settlement and thereafter obtaining $25 million recovery for shareholders); Pate v. Elloway, No. 01-03-00187-CV, 2003 Tex. App. LEXIS 9681 (Tex. App. Houston 1st Dist. Nov. 13, 2003) (upholding grant of class certification and denial of motion to dismiss). |
