M. Norman Goldberger
M. Norman Goldberger

M. Norman Goldberger

Partner

goldbergerm@ballardspahr.com
Tel 215.864.8850
Fax 215.864.8999
Philadelphia

M. Norman Goldberger is a partner in the Litigation Department, Practice Leader of the Securities Litigation Group, and a member of the Accounting and Professional Liability, Appellate, and Commercial Litigation Groups. Mr. Goldberger concentrates his practice in a wide variety of complex commercial matters, including securities litigation, consumer fraud class actions, restrictive covenants, derivative actions, internal investigations, False Claims Act litigation, RICO litigation, and issues relating to the availability of insurance coverage for commercial litigation matters.

Mr. Goldberger has represented clients of every size, from start-ups to Fortune 500 public clients, and from virtually every industry, including financial institutions, stockbrokers, investment/securities industry, banks and banking, accounting firms, cable and telecommunications, real estate investment trusts, real estate partnerships, construction companies, engineering firms, equipment leasing, semiconductors, chemicals, retailers, shopping centers, home shopping companies, slot machines, hospitals, nursing homes, and funeral homes.

Mr. Goldberger has worked on a wide variety of securities cases in the federal district courts and the federal appellate courts. He has also represented clients in NASD and NYSE arbitration proceedings on securities matters. Mr. Goldberger has also successfully defended derivative litigation as well as an important case revolving around a hospital's ownership of research information generated as a result of treatment performed on its patients. He also conducted an arbitration in which the client was awarded $16.2 million.

Mr. Goldberger has been involved in many consumer-fraud class action matters. He has also worked on more than 20 restrictive covenant matters and has used his experience litigating these matters to aid clients when drafting employment agreements that involve such clauses. The kinds of restrictive covenants he has encountered run the gamut from the mundane (e.g., nonsolicitation covenants that prevent poaching clients or customers of the former employer) to the complex (e.g., agreements that involve a garden leave clause requiring an employee to work from home while continuing to receive his or her usual salary and benefits once notice is given to the employer of an intent to work for a competitor).

For more than 20 years, Mr. Goldberger has advised clients about insurance and litigated with insurance carriers on a variety of D&O liability insurance matters. He also has performed risk analysis and due diligence for clients when selecting D&O coverage. He has also obtained coverage for clients under various policies for commercial matters when such coverage seemed at first glance to be unavailable. Mr. Goldberger has argued before the U.S. Supreme Court and in appellate and trial courts throughout the United States.

Professional Activities

American Bar Association

Pennsylvania Bar Association

Philadelphia Bar Association

Recognition & Accomplishments

Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business, litigation: securities law, 2009-2011

The Best Lawyers in America, commercial litigation, bet-the-company litigation, M&A litigation, regulatory enforcement litigation, and securities litigation, 2006-2012

The Best Lawyers® Annual Guide To Commercial Litigation, 2009

Publications

Co-author, "Pennsylvania's Strong Protections for Corporate Boards," Insights Magazine: Corporate Governance, February 2012

"Responding to Enforcement and Disclosure Requirements in the Securities Law Realm," Recent Developments in Securities Law, 2011 ed., 7–29, Aspatore Books (West), 2011

Co-author, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Fraud," Financial Fraud Law Report, September 2011

Co-author, "Fraud Prevalent in Reverse Merger Companies with Operations in China," BoardMember.com, July 8, 2011

Co-author, "SEC Issues Investor Bulletin about 'Reverse Merger' Companies," Ballard Spahr Securities Alert, June 14, 2011

Co-author, "Supreme Court: Materiality of Adverse Events is Not Tied to Statistical Significance," Ballard Spahr Securities Alert, March 31, 2011

Co-author, "Drop Preconceived Notions: Outlook on Damage in ERISA Stock Drop Cases," Pension & Benefits Daily, June 22, 2010, and July 26, 2011

Co-author, "Business as Usual for 3rd Circuit, Twombly Notwithstanding: Pleading Standard Under Rule 8 Remains Intact," The Legal Intelligencer and Pennsylvania Law Weekly, April 7, 2008

Speaking Engagements

"What Constitutes the Right Settlement Predictors, Blow Provisions, and Coverage Disputes," NERA's Thirteenth Finance, Law and Economics Conference, July 5, 2010

University of Pennsylvania Law School (J.D. 1978, cum laude)
Member, Order of the Coif; Editor, University of Pennsylvania Law Review

University of Pennsylvania (B.A. 1975, magna cum laude)

Pennsylvania