Lisa M. Mezzetti
Lisa Mezzetti, a Partner at Cohen Milstein, joined the Firm in 1984, and is a member of the Securities Fraud/Investor Protection and the Consumer Protection practice groups.
In her securities work, Ms. Mezzetti represented the corporate plaintiff in a private litigation alleging damages from the purchase of a healthcare technology company; in a separate matter, she represented 1,900 plaintiffs in a series of 25 federal court suits concerning municipal bonds. Her shareholder class actions include In re VeriSign Securities Litigation (settled for approximately $78 million); Murphy, Derivatively On Behalf of Nominal Defendant National Health Laboratories Inc. v. Perelman (Cal. Super. San Diego Cty.) (global settlement of class and derivative litigations for total of $65 million); Flecker v. Hollywood Entertainment Corp. (D. Or.) ($15 million settlement, reached the day before trial was to begin); Biben v. Card (W.D. Mo.)(93% of class members' damages recovered in settlement) and, currently, In re Parmalat Securities Litigation (S.D.N.Y.), which is litigating the alleged largest fraud in European corporate history. She also has represented parties in securities arbitrations (both as claimant's counsel or defense counsel for the broker) and defended clients in investigations and enforcement actions of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
In consumer cases, Ms. Mezzetti is or was one of the lead counsel in In re Lupron Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation (D. Mass.) (brought against pharmaceutical companies on pricing policies and methods; combined $150 million settlement); Howard v. Ford Motor Co. (Cal. Sup. Ct.) (order of the Court on equitable count required prospective recall of 1.7 million cars; settled immediately before scheduled second jury trial); and Fischl v. Direct Merchants Credit Card Bank, N.A. (Henn. Cnty., Minn.) (brought by credit card consumers, alleging improper charges and payment processes; settlement included credits for overpayments and changes in business practices). She has litigated class actions under the ERISA laws, and brought one of the first class actions filed under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.
Ms. Mezzetti is a public arbitrator for the National Association of Securities Dealers, hearing disputes between customers and brokers. She speaks at legal education seminars and has been quoted in the media on issues concerning both consumer law and securities class actions. Ms. Mezzetti was a panelist at the Federal Trade Commission’s Workshop on Consumer Class Actions and at the annual conference of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (now American Association for Justice) on unfair trade practices and deceptive trade practices statutes. The transcript of the FTC workshop, and her related article, The Coupon Can Be the Ticket: The Use of “Coupon” and Other Non-Monetary Redress in Class Action Settlements (co-authored with Whitney Case) are published at 18.4 Geo. J. Legal Ethics 1431 (2005). She also speaks on corporate governance issues at conferences of institutional investors, and was a guest panelist on a Washington, D.C. cable television show concerning hiring and working with stock brokers and financial advisors.
Before joining Cohen Milstein, Ms. Mezzetti was a litigation associate of Shea & Gould of New York City.
Ms. Mezzetti serves as a member of the Boards of Directors of two non-profit organizations: The International Alliance for Women (a worldwide organization that supports and promotes women entrepreneurs, professionals and executives; www.tiaw.org) and The Financial Women’s Association of New York (www.fwa.org). She also serves on the Corporate Affiliate Board of the National Association of State Treasurers and has served on the D.C. Advisory Board of The Joffrey Ballet of Chicago.
Ms. Mezzetti graduated from the Columbus School of Law, Catholic University of America in 1980, where she served as a Vice-Chancellor of the Moot Court Board and was a Teaching Assistant for the Legal Writing and Research Course for first-year students. In 1986, she received a Master of Laws degree, with a specialty in Securities Regulation, from Georgetown University Law Center. Her bachelor's degree was awarded by Stonehill College (B.A, English, magna cum laude, 1977).
Ms. Mezzetti is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and New York.
Contact: lmezzetti@cmht.com
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