Attorney Bios – Dietrich Siben Thorpe LLP

Matthew P. Siben

Since joining the plaintiffs' securities litigation bar upon graduating Harvard Law School, cum laude, in 2000, Mr. Siben has prosecuted a number of high profile and significant securities fraud actions. Mr. Siben prosecuted investors' claims against Citigroup as part of the team that recovered over $7 billion on behalf of victims of the Enron fraud. Mr. Siben has also been instrumental in obtaining significant recoveries on behalf of shareholders in In re Initial Public Offering ($1 billion), In re UnitedHealth Group ($895 million), In re Dynegy ($474 million), In re Honeywell ($100 million), and In re Elan ($79 million).

Prior to founding Dietrich Siben Thorpe LLP, Mr. Siben worked at the nationally recognized securities class action litigation boutique Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP. Along with Mr. Thorpe, Mr. Siben created the firm's opt out practice to represent institutional investors in direct individual actions. Mr. Siben successfully initiated, prosecuted and settled the firm's first opt out action. Representing mutual funds, two hedge funds, and a public pension fund, Mr. Siben and Mr. Thorpe settled the opt out action against Tyco for $100 million - representing a significant multiplier over our clients' recovery had they remained members of the class action.

Mr. Siben has also been at the forefront representing defrauded investors damaged in the wake of the recent subprime mortgage market collapse. In Accredited Home Lenders and Countrywide Financial, Mr. Siben was successful in bringing the first two securities actions against subprime lenders to survive scrutiny under the heightened pleading standards of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. After Mr. Siben conducted significant discovery, plaintiffs settled the Accredited Home Lenders action for $22 million.

Bar Admissions: California, Florida, Massachusetts, New York, United States District Court Southern District of New York, United States District Court Eastern District of New York, United States District Court Southern District of California, United States District Court Central District of California, United States District Court Northern District of California, United States District Court Eastern District of California, United States District Court District of Colorado

David A. Thorpe

Mr. Thorpe has an extensive background prosecuting successful opt out actions on behalf of investors. Along with Mr. Siben, Mr. Thorpe practiced at several of the top plaintiffs' securities firms in the country since graduating from law school. Prior to co-founding Dietrich Siben Thorpe LLP, Mr. Thorpe initiated and prosecuted many of the largest opt out securities fraud actions on behalf of institutional investors. The notable opt out cases in which he served as counsel include In re AOL Time Warner Individual Opt Out Litigation (over $600 million recovered), comprising both The Regents of the University of California et al., v. Parsons, et al. ($260 million recovery) and Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, et al., v. Richard D. Parsons, et al. ($175 million recovery), as well as In re Tyco International, Inc. Individual Opt Out Litigation ($100 million recovery) and In re Qwest Communications International Inc. Individual Opt Out Litigation.

Since co-founding Dietrich Siben Thorpe LLP, Mr. Thorpe has successfully represented opt out institutional investors and actively represents mutual funds, hedge funds, and charitable organizations in individual securities actions across the country.

Mr. Thorpe received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Los Angeles, and graduated from Southwestern Law School.

Mr. Thorpe is also the co-author of a paper for the Practicing Law Institute's Securities Litigation & Enforcement 2007 course handbook entitled "Auditor Liability: Institutional Investors Pursue Opt Out Actions to Maximize Recovery of Securities Fraud Losses."

Bar Admissions: California, United States District Court Southern District of California, United States District Court Central District of California, United States District Court Northern District of California, United States District Court Eastern District of California, United States District Court District of Colorado

Edward P. Dietrich

Edward P. Dietrich received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1983 from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. where he majored in Political Economy. He graduated with Highest College Honors and was one of four juniors elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

In 1986, Mr. Dietrich graduated from the National Law Center at George Washington University in Washington D.C. where he was elected to the Moot Court Board. He has been a member of the New York State bar since 1987 and the California bar since 1995.

Upon graduation from law school, Mr. Dietrich joined the litigation department of New York's LeBoeuf Lamb Leiby & MacRae. In 1990, Mr. Dietrich joined Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz and worked extensively in all phases of complex class actions on behalf of defrauded investors. In 1994, Mr. Dietrich opened the Los Angeles office of Stull Stull & Brody and supervised the litigation of over 75 securities cases. After passage of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act in 1995, he filed some of the first securities complaints in California state court. In 1998, Mr. Dietrich joined Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach and was made a partner in 1999 and an equity partner in 2003, and later was an equity partner in Lerach Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP. Mr. Dietrich's efforts on behalf of investors were extremely successful. He won numerous significant motions to dismiss, successfully opposed summary judgment motions, and negotiated many settlements (HealthSouth $445 million, Cohr $12 million, Immune Response $10 million, Simulation Sciences $6.5 million, MaxInternet $2.2 million, Infonet $18 million, Sonic $7 million, Charlotte Russe $3.9 million). In sum, 20 of his cases settled for over $665 million.

Additionally, Mr. Dietrich was largely responsible for plaintiffs' victory in the Ninth Circuit's landmark decision in No. 84 Employer-Teamster Joint Council Pension Trust Fund v. America West. Mr. Dietrich was able to achieve the first plaintiffs' victory in 20 attempts in the Ninth Circuit after the passage of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act in 1995.

In 2007, Mr. Dietrich left Lerach Coughlin to form his own firm. Among other cases, he ably represented the interests of aggrieved shareholders as the court-appointed Lead Counsel in In re Syncor Securities Litigation. After successfully arguing before the Ninth Circuit, Mr. Dietrich achieved an excellent settlement for Syncor shareholders.

Bar Admissions: California, New York, United States District Court Southern District of New York, United States District Court Eastern District of New York, United States District Court Southern District of California, United States District Court Central District of California, United States District Court Northern District of California, United States District Court Eastern District of California, United States District Court District of Colorado, United States Court of Appeals, for the Ninth Circuit.

Shawn M. Hays, Of Counsel

After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1988, Mr. Hays went to work for the Federal Defenders of San Diego, Inc. From his first day working at Federal Defenders until he left in 1993, Mr. Hays was in court on a near daily basis. Responsible for all aspects of federal criminal practice while with the Federal Defenders, Mr. Hays made hundreds of court appearances and tried more than twenty jury trials. Mild mannered outside the courtroom, Mr. Hays is a tenacious advocate. Rarely working with notes of any kind, Mr. Hays developed a reputation for being fast on his feet and particularly skilled in the art of effective cross-examination. Mr. Hays, who has taught practicing attorneys at Criminal Justice Act seminars and for the Inns of Court, is recognized by his peers as an experienced and respected courtroom trial attorney.

From his time with the Federal Defenders, Mr. Hays is particularly proud of his instrumental role in establishing the provision of Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 32, which codifies for criminal defendants the right to have their attorney present during a pre-sentence interview with a probation officer. The Ninth Circuit established this right, which was not previously recognized, as a result of Mr. Hays's written and oral advocacy before both the district and the appellate court. Congress would later codify the holding as the law of the country.

After leaving the Federal Defenders office in 1993, Mr. Hays worked at the largest class action securities law firm in the nation. Due to Mr. Hays's courtroom experience, he was assigned to take numerous depositions and prepare cases for trial. For instance, Mr. Hays has taken and defended hundreds of depositions in securities fraud actions - a level of experience perhaps unmatched in the securities litigation bar. Further, while at the firm, Mr. Hays tried a securities class action fraud case to a successful jury verdict - making Mr. Hays one of the few attorneys in the country to do so.

Mr. Hays’s practice has included preparing the Enron litigation for trial and his efforts were extremely important in the class action
recovery of $7.2 billion from defendants.

Mr. Hays's experience is varied but his training, teaching, and focus have always been on questioning witnesses, preparing for trial, and trying a case before a jury. Mr. Hays's training and experience have made him a formidable and fearless courtroom attorney and Dietrich Siben Thorpe LLP is pleased that he is of counsel to our firm.

Andrew J. Thorpe, of counsel

Mr. Thorpe has been a practicing lawyer since 1976. Prior to joining Dietrich Siben Thorpe LLP as of counsel in 2014, Mr. Thorpe worked for 35 years as a Public Defender for the County of Los Angeles. As a Public Defender, Mr. Thorpe handled serious felonies, murders, and special circumstance cases, where the death penalty remained an open possibility. For over 28 years, Mr. Thorpe was in court on a near daily basis and tried approximately 250 cases to jury verdict.

In addition to his trial skills, Mr. Thorpe served as both a Head Deputy and the Special Circumstance Coordinator for the Office of the Public Defender. As a Head Deputy for the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Torrance Branch, which included the criminal courts of Inglewood, California, Mr. Thorpe supervised approximately 30 attorneys and 20 staff, including investigators, paralegals, and secretaries. As the Special Circumstance Coordinator, Mr. Thorpe supervised approximately 100 attorneys who handled murder cases with special circumstances, and oversaw an open caseload of 45 to 70 cases at any given time.

Mr. Thorpe has been recognized on numerous occasions by his peers as an experienced trial attorney, and has lectured extensively on trial practice and the death penalty.

Mr. Thorpe received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Los Angeles, and graduated from Western State College of Law.

Bar Admissions: California