Overview
EX KANO S. SAMS II earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of California Los Angeles. Mr. Sams earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of California Los Angeles School of Law, where he served as a member of the UCLA Law Review. After law school, Mr. Sams practiced class action civil rights litigation on behalf of plaintiffs. Subsequently, Mr. Sams was a partner at Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP (currently Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP), where his practice focused on securities and consumer class actions on behalf of investors and consumers.
During his career, Mr. Sams has served as lead counsel in dozens of securities class actions and complex-litigation cases, and has worked on cases at all levels of the state and federal court systems throughout the United States. Mr. Sams was one of the counsel for respondents in Cyan, Inc. v. Beaver Cty. Employees Ret. Fund, 138 S. Ct. 1061 (2018), in which the United States Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of respondents, holding that: (1) the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act of 1998 (“SLUSA”) does not strip state courts of jurisdiction over class actions alleging violations of only the Securities Act of 1933; and (2) SLUSA does not empower defendants to remove such actions from state to federal court. Mr. Sams also participated in a successful appeal before a Fifth Circuit panel that included former United States Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor sitting by designation, in which the court unanimously vacated the lower court’s denial of class certification, reversed the lower court’s grant of summary judgment, and issued an important decision on the issue of loss causation in securities litigation: Alaska Electrical Pension Fund v. Flowserve Corp., 572 F.3d 221 (5th Cir. 2009). The case settled for $55 million.
Mr. Sams has also obtained other significant results. Notable examples include: Beezley v. Fenix Parts, Inc., No. 1:17-CV-7896, 2018 WL 3454490 (N.D. Ill. July 13, 2018) (denying motion to dismiss); In re Flowers Foods, Inc. Sec. Litig., No. 7:16-CV-222 (WLS), 2018 WL 1558558 (M.D. Ga. Mar. 23, 2018) (largely denying motion to dismiss; case settled for $21 million); In re King Digital Entm’t plc S’holder Litig., No. CGC-15-544770 (San Francisco Superior Court) (case settled for $18.5 million); In re Castlight Health, Inc. S’holder Litig., Lead Case No. CIV533203 (California Superior Court, County of San Mateo) (case settled for $9.5 million); Wiley v. Envivio, Inc., Master File No. CIV517185 (California Superior Court, County of San Mateo) (case settled for $8.5 million); In re CafePress Inc. S’holder Litig., Master File No. CIV522744 (California Superior Court, County of San Mateo) (case settled for $8 million); Estate of Gardner v. Continental Casualty Co., No. 3:13-cv-1918 (JBA), 2016 WL 806823 (D. Conn. Mar. 1, 2016) (granting class certification); Forbush v. Goodale, No. 33538/2011, 2013 WL 582255 (N.Y. Sup. Feb. 4, 2013) (denying motions to dismiss); Curry v. Hansen Med., Inc., No. C 09-5094 CW, 2012 WL 3242447 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 10, 2012) (upholding complaint; case settled for $8.5 million); Wilkof v. Caraco Pharm. Labs., Ltd., 280 F.R.D. 332 (E.D. Mich. 2012) (granting class certification); Puskala v. Koss Corp., 799 F. Supp. 2d 941 (E.D. Wis. 2011) (upholding complaint); Mishkin v. Zynex Inc., Civil Action No. 09-cv-00780-REB-KLM, 2011 WL 1158715 (D. Colo. Mar. 30, 2011) (denying motion to dismiss); and Tsirekidze v. Syntax-Brillian Corp., No. CV-07-02204-PHX-FJM, 2009 WL 2151838 (D. Ariz. July 17, 2009) (granting class certification; case settled for $10 million).
Additionally, Mr. Sams has successfully represented consumers in class action litigation. Mr. Sams worked on nationwide litigation and a trial against major tobacco companies, and in statewide tobacco litigation that resulted in a $12.5 billion recovery for California cities and counties in a landmark settlement. He also was a principal attorney in a consumer class action against one of the largest banks in the country that resulted in a substantial recovery and a change in the company’s business practices. Mr. Sams also participated in settlement negotiations on behalf of environmental organizations along with the United States Department of Justice and the Ohio Attorney General’s Office that resulted in a consent decree requiring a company to perform remediation measures to address the effects of air and water pollution. Additionally, Mr. Sams has been an author or co-author of several articles in major legal publications, including “9th Circuit Decision Clarifies Securities Fraud Loss Causation Rule” published in the February 8, 2018 issue of the Daily Journal, and “Market Efficiency in the World of High-Frequency Trading” published in the December 26, 2017 issue of the Daily Journal.