Benny C. Goodman III

Benny Goodman is a partner in Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP’s San Diego office. He primarily represents plaintiffs in shareholder actions on behalf of aggrieved corporations.

Benny has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars in shareholder derivative actions pending in state and federal courts across the nation. Most recently, he led a team of lawyers in litigation brought on behalf of Community Health Systems, Inc., resulting in a $60 million payment to the company, the largest recovery in a shareholder derivative action in Tennessee and the Sixth Circuit, as well as best-in-class value-enhancing corporate governance reforms that included two shareholder-nominated directors to the Community Health board of directors.

Similarly, Benny recovered a $25 million payment to Lumber Liquidators and numerous corporate governance reforms, including a shareholder-nominated director, in In re Lumber Liquidators Holdings, Inc. S’holder Derivative Litig. In In re Google Inc. S’holder Derivative Litig., Benny achieved groundbreaking corporate governance reforms designed to mitigate regulatory and legal compliance risk associated with online pharmaceutical advertising, including among other things, the creation of a $250 million fund to help combat rogue pharmacies from improperly selling drugs online. 

Benny has been named a Recommended Lawyer by The Legal 500, a Super Lawyer by Super Lawyers Magazine, a Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyer by Lawdragon, and as a Best Lawyer in America: One to Watch by Best Lawyers®. As an active member of the San Diego community, he supports numerous formal and informal programs to promote the education and training of younger lawyers. Benny earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Arizona State University and a Juris Doctor degree from University of San Diego. 

• Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers Magazine, 2018-2024
• Best Lawyer in America: One to Watch, Best Lawyers®, 2024
• Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyer, Lawdragon, 2019-2021
• Recommended Lawyer, The Legal 500, 2017

• University of San Diego, J.D., 2000
• Arizona State University, B.S., 1994

• California
• District of Columbia
• United States Courts of Appeals for the Third, Sixth, Seventh, Eleventh 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 Columbia
• United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin

Notable Cases

Featured Publications

• Travis E. Downs III, Benny C. Goodman III, Jay P. Lefkowitz, Erik W. Luedeke, Darren J. Robbins & Matthew Solum, Chapter 4: Mediation Submissions by Plaintiffs and Defendants, in Financial Services Mediation Answer Book 4-1 (Layn R. Phillips et al. ed., 2017)