Mr. Pollack has practiced law in New York City for over 40 years. His practice has centered on the conduct of financial litigation, advising corporations on issues of corporate governance and advising executives on employment agreements and exit agreements.
Mr. Pollack received a B.A., magna cum laude, from Harvard College in 1960, received an M.A. in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University in 1962 and an LL.B. from Harvard Law School in 1965. He founded his previous firm, known as Pollack & Kaminsky, in 1967.
In 1979, representing Anchor Corporation, a large New Jersey-based mutual fund company, Mr. Pollack argued and won, in the Supreme Court of the United States, the landmark case on corporate governance in the mutual fund field, Burks v. Lasker. That case was the first to endorse the use of a Special Committee of Independent Directors as a vehicle for determining the appropriate course of action for a mutual fund company in litigation. Mr. Pollack returned to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1983, arguing the case ofDaily Income Fund v. Fox, another mutual fund litigation.
Mr. Pollack was also the successful Lead Trial Counsel in three of the six mutual fund advisory fee cases that have been tried to judgment under Section 36 (b) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, including Schuyt v. Rowe Price Prime Reserve Fund (for T. Rowe Price), Kalish v. Franklin Advisors (for Franklin Resources) and Meyer v. Oppenheimer (for Oppenheimer Management). Most recently, Mr. Pollack was the successful Lead Counsel in Smith v. Franklin Templeton Distributors (for Franklin Distributors), winning a dismissal of the case in June 2010 in the Federal Court for the Northern District of California.
In 2005 Mr. Pollack, acting on behalf of J. & W. Seligman, a mutual fund company, challenged New York Attorney General Elliot Spitzer by filing a lawsuit against him for exceeding his authority in the market-timing investigations. At the time of that lawsuit, The Wall Street Journal published an editorial entitled "Man Bites Dog" praising the courage of Seligman and Mr. Pollack for their willingness to stand up to Mr. Spitzer. Mr. Pollack first came to public notice early in his career in a lengthy trial on behalf of institutional commercial paper holders against Goldman Sachs arising out of the collapse of Penn Central. His ground-breaking work in that trial was chronicled in a book published last year on Goldman Sachs entitled "The Partnership."
Mr. Pollack has, during the course of his career, tried over 20 civil jury trials to verdict and over 30 non-jury trials. He has appeared as appellate counsel in numerous federal and state appellate courts, is a Member of the Bar of the U.S. Supreme Court and is a Member of the Bar of the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Seventh and Eleventh Circuits. He was elected a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers in 1985. Representative corporate litigation clients have included: T. Rowe Price Associates, Franklin-Templeton, AIM, Fidelity, Wachovia, UBS Asset Management, PNC Advisors, PNC Bank N.A., J. & W. Seligman and AMERIPRISE.
Another aspect of his practice since 1990 has focused on representing senior corporate executives or corporations in exit and entry negotiations and agreements. In this context he has, in recent years, advised the CEO of Putnam, the CEO of Rockefeller & Co, the CEO of Dresdner Kleinwort and the CEO of HSBC, among others. Mr. Pollack has served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Arizona Law School, teaching a seminar in 2009 and 2010 on "Negotiating Employment Agreements." He is listed in the 2008-2012 issues of The Best Lawyers in America.
Mr. Pollack is married to Susan F. Pollack, a graduate of Radcliffe College and Harvard Law School and Counsel to the law firm of Curtis Mallet-Prevost Colt & Mosle, LLP. Mr. and Mrs. Pollack have two adult children: a son who is a graduate of the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University and a daughter who is a graduate of Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Memberships & Affiliations
American College of Trial Lawyers, Fellow
American Bar Association, Member
New York State Bar Association, Member
Federal Bar Council, Member
Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Member
New York County Lawyers Association, Member
New York University School of Law, Adjunct Professor of Law in Trial Practice (1975-1977)
University of Arizona, James Rogers College of Law, Adjunct Professor of Law in Employment Law (2009)
News
09/06/11, The Best Lawyers in America Recognizes 34 McCarter Lawyers in 2012 Referral Guide
08/11/10, The Best Lawyers in America Recognizes 35 McCarter Lawyers in 2011 Referral Guide
10/01/2009, Pollack & Kaminsky Joins McCarter & English, LLP
Publications
02/09/2010, Opinion: Is American Funds Case the Calm Before the Storm?
Daniel A. Pollack
Board IQ