Attorneys

Charles Watkins, Principal

Charles Watkins is admitted to practice in Illinois (1979)), as well as before the United States Supreme Court, five U.S. Courts of Appeals, and many federal district courts, including the Trial Bar of the Northern District of Illinois. He served as a chair-qualified arbitrator for the National Association of Securities Dealers.

In twenty-six years of practice, Mr. Watkins has prosecuted and defended dozens of class action suits in both state and federal courts. Reported appellate decisions in cases handled and argued by Mr. Watkins include Steinberg v. Sys. Software Assocs., 306 Ill. App. 3d 157, 713 N.W.2d 709 (1st Dist. 2000) (upholding $3 million securities class action settlement); Lunn v. Montgomery Ward & Co., 166 F.3d 880 (7th Cir. 1999) (ERISA); Steel Warehouse of Wisconsin, Inc. v. Leach, 154 F.2d 712 (7th Cir. 1998); In re NationsMart Corp. Sec. Litig., 130 F.3d. 309 (8th Cir.1997) (reversing lower court's dismissal of securities class action under Sections 11 and 12 of the Securities Act of 1933 and establishing non-applicability of Rule 9(b), Fed. R. Civ. P., to such claims); Gluck v. Unisys Corp., 960 F.2d 1168 (3d Cir.1992) (reversing lower court's dismissal of ERISA class action and establishing important statute of limitations rules under ERISA); Ivanov-McPhee v. Washington Nat'l Ins. Co., 719 F.2d 917 (7th Cir. 1983) (Title VII sex discrimination); and Russ v. Pension Consultants Co., 182 Ill. App. 3d 769 (1st Dist.1989) (retaliatory discharge).

He was lead counsel, co-lead counsel, or Executive Committee counsel in Zalcberg v. Viral Testing Serv., Inc., No. 94-531 (D. Del. 1996) (securities fraud class action); Peregrine Options, Inc. v. Farley, Inc., No. 90-0285 (N.D. Ill. 1995) (securities class action settled for $10 million); and Lydon v. Winston, (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1993) ("going private" class action in the outdoor media industry settled for $1.5 million).

Mr. Watkins was also one of the principal attorneys in In re Gould Inc. Secs. Litig., No. 86-3598 (N.D. Ill.) ($10,300,000 recovery), In re Int'l Tech. Secs. Litig. (C.D. Cal.) ($12 million settlement). Among his other class actions are In re Corrugated Container Antitrust Litig., MDL 310 (S.D. Tex.) (recovery of approximately $300 million); In re Flight Transp. Secs. Litig., MDL 517 (D. Minn.) (recovery of approximately $55 million); In re GM THM 200 Transmission Litig., No. 80-215 (N.D. Ill.) (recovery of approximately $20 million for nearly four million car owners); and In re Steel Drums Antitrust Litig., No. 91-203 (S.D. Ohio).

Prior to 1993, Mr. Watkins was an equity shareholder with Sachnoff & Weaver, LLC, in Chicago. Mr. Watkins speaks and writes on class action and complex litigation topics. He is also on the editorial board of Class Action Reports and is a co-author of the Illinois Institute of Continuing Education chapter on Notice in Class Actions (2004) and recently spoke on the effects of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 at the Chicago Bar Association Securities Law Institute (2004 & 2005).

Education

Clerkship, Judge John Feikens in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

J. D., cum laude,The University of Michigan Law School (1978)

B. A., Michigan State University (1975)