Mark A. Strauss

Mark A. Strauss is a partner in our New York office. He concentrates his practice in complex commercial litigation with an emphasis on prosecuting securities, shareholder and consumer class actions, shareholder derivative actions, and whistleblower cases. He has also represented victims of Ponzi schemes, illegal price-fixing, and improper cutbacks in pension benefits. Mr. Strauss has litigated cases throughout the country, and represented aggrieved plaintiffs in federal and state courts.

Some of Mr. Strauss' relevant work includes significant roles in the following litigations:

■ Representation of a putative class of mortgage borrowers against Homeward Residential Holdings, Inc. (f/k/a American Home Mortgage Inc. or AHMSI), its insurer QBE Insurance Corp., and certain of their affiliates alleging an unlawful scheme to recoup overstated reimbursements for force-placed hazard insurance. The lawsuit alleges that QBE gave Homeward secret premium rebates or kickbacks on its force-placed hazard insurance, but that homeowners fraudulently were billed for reimbursement based on the full premiums. This litigation is ongoing;

■ Representation of a class of mortgagors charged for lender-placed insurance by the debtor GMAC Mortgage LLC in In re Residential Capital, LLC, et al., No. 12-12020 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y.). On May 25, 2016 Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn granted final approval to a class action settlement recovering an allowed unsecured claim in the amount of $13 million;

■ Representation of a whistleblower in a False Claims Act/Qui Tam lawsuit against Hong-Kong based manufacturer Noble Jewelry, which was accused of fraudulently avoiding U.S. customs duties in connection with goods imported into the United States. The action resulted in a recovery of $3.85 million on behalf of the taxpayers, of which the whistleblower will receive approximately 19%;

■ Representation, as co-lead counsel, of a multinational bank as lead plaintiff in In re Adelphia Communications Corp. Securities & Derivative Litigation, a securities class action which resulted in a total recovery of $460 million for the class;

■ Representation, as co-lead counsel, of a class of hedge fund investors in Cromer Finance v. Berger et al., a securities class action which resulted in a total recovery of $65 million, and one of the largest ever recoveries against a non-auditor third party service provider;

■ Representation, as lead counsel, of a class of investors in a hedge fund, Lipper Convertibles, L.P., which fraudulently overstated its investment performance, in In re Serino v. Lipper et al. This litigation is resulted in a $29.9 million recovery for the class; and

■ Representation, as lead counsel, of a class of bond investors in Amazon.com in Argent Classic Convertible Arbitrage Fund v. Amazon.com, a securities class action which resulted in a total recovery of $20 million for the class.


Prior to joining KM, Mr. Strauss practiced at Christy & Viener, LLP and Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP where he focused on complex commercial litigation.