Education:

• B.A., State University of New York at Stony Brook (1980), Pi Sigma Alpha Honor Society
• J.D., Boston University School of Law (1984)

Bar affiliations & court admissions: 

• New York State Bar
• United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
• United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
• United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
• United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin
• United States Courts of Appeals for the Second, Third, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth and the District of Columbia Circuits

Professional affiliations: 

• New York State Bar Association
• Association of the Bar of the City of New York
• Michigan Association of Public Employee Retirement Systems (MAPERS)
• Dean’s Advisory Board, Boston University School of Law
• Advisory Board, Boston University School of Law Small & Mid-Size Firm Apprenticeship Program (SMAP)

Peter S. Linden joined Kaplan Fox in August 2021. Mr. Linden’s practice concentrates on securities, commercial, and healthcare fraud litigation. His clients include public pension funds and other institutional investors, individuals, businesses, and governmental entities. Prior to joining Kaplan Fox, Mr. Linden was a partner at another national securities law firm, where he spent over 30 years, including almost ten years as one of that firm’s managing partners. During his career, Mr. Linden has obtained numerous outstanding recoveries, totaling in excess of a billion dollars. 

In the area of securities litigation, Mr. Linden has played a leading role in numerous successful class actions, including the following examples. He represented plaintiffs, as lead counsel, in In re Citigroup Inc Securities Litig., 07 Civ. 9901 (S.D.N.Y.), a class action arising out of Citigroup’s alleged misrepresentations regarding their exposure to losses associated with numerous collateralized debt obligations. This case settled for $590 million — at the time, the largest CDO-related settlement ever, as well as the largest settlement of a fraud-only action. In In re BISYS Securities Litig., 04 Civ. 3840 (S.D.N.Y.), Mr. Linden’s representation of a municipal pension fund as co-lead counsel in a securities class action alleging accounting improprieties resulted in a $65 million recovery. In In re Laidlaw Bondholder Litig., No. 3-00-2518-17 (D.S.C.), Mr. Linden represented, as lead counsel, two major insurance companies and a bondholder class in a securities class action resulting in a $42.875 million recovery. Finally, he represented several large municipal bond issuers in confidential FINRA arbitrations against large, institutional banks. The claims alleged various misrepresentations and breaches of statutory and fiduciary duties by the underwriters of auction rate securities. Currently, Mr. Linden represents plaintiffs in Kinnie MA IRA, et al. v. Ascendant Capital, LLC, et al., No. 19-cv-01050-RP (W.D.Tex.), a proposed class action in which the Court has appointed Kaplan Fox as Plaintiffs’ Co-Lead Class Counsel. The action alleges that GPB Capital Holdings, LLC and Ascendant Capital engaged in a scheme to improperly sell over $1.8 billion of limited partnership interests to thousands of investors.

Mr. Linden has handled many notable actions in the consumer protection area as well. He served as Chairman of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in In re MCI Non-Subscriber Litig., MDL No. 1275 (S.D. Ill.), a consumer class action resulting in an approximately $90 million recovery for the class. In Carnegie v. Household International, Inc., et al., No. 98 C 2178 (N.D. Ill.) he and his firm served as co-lead counsel in a class action against H&R Block and Household Bank (as successor to Beneficial National Bank) for the benefit of taxpayers who had obtained Refund Anticipation Loans (“RALs”). The case alleged that H&R Block and Beneficial National Bank made misrepresentations and charged people undisclosed fees on RALs.  After years of litigation and appeals, the case resulted in a settlement of $39 million in cash. In In re IDT Corp. Calling Card Terms Litig., No. 207 CV 01076  (D.N.J.), Mr. Linden served as lead counsel in a class action litigation against certain related prepaid calling card providers, alleging that they failed to inform consumers sufficiently about the applicable rates and charges for such calling cards, and thereby violated various state consumer protection acts and other laws.  The case resulted in a settlement of up to $20 million in Refund PINs (representing free domestic telephone minutes), $2 million in charitable donations, and additional relief consisting of enhanced disclosures of calling card charges.

Within the area of consumer protection, Mr. Linden is also involved in the firm’s growing data privacy and cyberlaw practice. Mr. Linden is currently representing plaintiffs in two data privacy class actions: In Re: HealthEC LLC Data Breach Litig., No. 2:24 -cv-26-JKS-ESK (D.N.J.); and Negron v. Ascension Health, No. 4:24-CV-669-JAR (E.D.Mo).

In the healthcare arena, Mr. Linden represented the State of Michigan in Bill Schuette, Attorney General of The State Of Michigan, ex rel The State of Michigan v. McKesson Corporation, et al., No. 11-629-CZ (Ingham Cty. Cir. Ct.), a lawsuit arising out of a scheme to increase the Average Wholesale Prices of hundreds of brand name drugs causing the submission of false claims to the Michigan Medicaid program, and the overpayment of Medicaid pharmacy claims. The court determined that the State had successfully pled a cause for money damages under its Medicaid False Claims Act. 

Mr. Linden’s advocacy also has resulted in many notable decisions, including: Epstein v. MCA, Inc., finding a private right of action, and granting partial summary judgment, under Section 14(d)(7) of the Securities Exchange Act; and In re eBay, Inc. Shareholders Litig., finding that investment banking advisors could be held liable for aiding and abetting insiders’ acceptance of IPO allocations through “spinning.” 

Mr. Linden has been selected by Super Lawyers for securities litigation. His past work has also resulted in recognition in Law360 and the National Law Journal’s “Plaintiffs’ Hot List.” 

Prior to going into private practice, Mr. Linden worked as an Assistant District Attorney in the Kings County District Attorney’s Office for over six years and gained significant trial and appellate experience. He ultimately served as a supervising attorney of that Office’s Economic Crimes Bureau.