Mark Solomon

Mark Solomon is a founding and managing partner of Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP and leads its international litigation practice. Over the last 29 years, he has regularly represented United States and United Kingdom-based pension funds and asset managers in class and non-class securities litigation in federal and state courts throughout the United States. He was first admitted to the Bar of England and Wales as a Barrister (he is non-active) and is an active member of the Bars of Ohio, California, and various United States federal district and appellate courts.

Since 1993, Mark has spearheaded the prosecution of many significant securities fraud cases. He has obtained multi-hundred million-dollar recoveries for plaintiffs in pre-trial settlements and significant corporate governance reforms designed to limit recidivism and promote appropriate standards. Prior to the most recent financial crisis, he was instrumental in obtaining some of the first mega-recoveries in the field in California and Texas, serving in the late 1990s and early 2000s as class counsel in In re Informix Corp. Sec. Litig. in the federal district court for the Northern District of California, and recovering $131 million for Informix investors; and serving as class counsel in Schwartz v. TXU Corp. in the federal district court for the Northern District of Texas, where he helped obtain a recovery of over $149 million for a class of purchasers of TXU securities as well as securing important governance reforms. He litigated and tried the securities class action In re Helionetics, Inc. Sec. Litig., where he won a $15.4 million federal jury verdict in the federal district court for the Central District of California.

Mark is currently counsel to a number of pension funds serving as lead plaintiffs in cases throughout the United States. He represents the UK’s Norfolk Pension Fund in Hsu v. Puma Biotechnology, Inc. where, in the federal district court for the Central District of California, after three weeks of trial, the Fund obtained a jury verdict valued at over $54 million in favor of the class against the company and its CEO. Mark also represents Norfolk Pension Fund in separate class actions currently pending against Apple Inc. and Apple executives in the federal district court for the Northern District of California and against Anadarko Petroleum Corporation and former Anadarko executives in the federal district court for the Southern District of Texas. He represented the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme and the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme in Smilovits v. First Solar, Inc. in the federal district court for the District of Arizona, in which the class recently recovered $350 million on the eve of trial. That settlement is the fifth-largest recovered in the Ninth Circuit since the advent in 1995 of statutory reforms to securities litigation that established the current legal regime. Mark also represents the same coal industry funds in the recently filed class action against Citrix Inc. and Citrix executives in the federal district court for the Southern District of Florida, and he represents North East Scotland Pension Fund in a class action pending against Under Armour and Under Armour executives in the federal district court for the District of Maryland. In addition, he is currently representing Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association in a class action pending against FirstEnergy and FirstEnergy executives in the federal district court for the Southern District of Ohio and he is representing Strathclyde Pension Fund in a class action pending against Bank OZK and its CEO in the federal district court for the Eastern District of Arkansas.

Before working with the Firm, Mark practiced at the international firm Jones Day in Cleveland, Ohio, between 1987 and 1990, followed by practicing at the Los Angeles office of New York’s Stroock & Stroock & Lavan. At these firms, his representations included the defense of securities fraud and other white-collar crimes, antitrust, copyright, commercial and real estate litigation, and reinsurance arbitration. While practicing in Los Angeles, acting for plaintiffs as sole counsel, Mark took to trial and won complex commercial contract and industrial real estate actions in the Orange County and Los Angeles Superior Courts, respectively. 

Mark has lost one trial (in a Florida state court in 2007) which involved a dispute among former business partners. Robbins Geller absorbed all of the related fees, costs, and expenses on behalf of its clients in the case.

Mark is a past chair of the American Bar Association Directors, Officers Liability Sub Committee and the Accountants Liability Sub-Committee, and is the author of the UK National Association of Pension Funds 2012 “Securities Class Actions made simple” guide; the 2015 “Securities Fraud and Investors Remedies made simple” guide; and the 2018 “Global Securities Fraud Litigation made simple” guide.

The Legal 500 has named Mark a Recommended Lawyer in its nationwide category of “Securities Litigation – Plaintiff,” citing his dual qualifications in English and U.S. law and his leadership of the Firm’s international litigation practice. He has also been named a Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyer and included in the 500 Global Plaintiff Lawyers guide by Lawdragon and a Super Lawyer by Super Lawyers Magazine. He earned his law degrees at Trinity College, Cambridge University, England, Harvard Law School, and the Inns of Court School of Law in London.

• Global Plaintiff Lawyer, Lawdragon, 2024
• Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyer, Lawdragon, 2019-2023
• Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers Magazine, 2017-2018
• Recommended Lawyer, The Legal 500, 2016-2017

• Inns of Court School of Law, England, 1987
• Harvard Law School, 1986
• Trinity College, Cambridge University, England, 1985

• England and Wales (Barrister)
• California
• Ohio
• United States Courts of Appeals for the Fourth, Fifth, Ninth and D.C. Circuits
• United States District Courts for the Northern, Central and Southern Districts of California
• United States District Court for the District of Colorado
• United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio

Notable Cases