About
History
When the Firm began – 1945- Wolf Popper’s founders intended to concentrate their practice before governmental agencies, as they came from responsible positions in government, both at the national and international level.
Benedict Wolf had been the First Secretary and Chief Trial Examiner of the National Labor Relations Board and Martin Popper had been a Consultant to the United States Delegation to the Founding Conference of the United Nations. Soon however, the Firm’s practice grew to include a robust domestic commercial practice and the representation of many Eastern European government agencies and officials.
During the McCarthy era in the 1950’s, Wolf Popper litigated constitutional rights in highly publicized proceedings. The “Hollywood 10,” as certain accomplished film industry people were known, were being tried for so-called un-American activities. Pursuing a goal of strengthening the American system, Wolf Popper played a key role in defending the First Amendment rights of the Hollywood 10. The Firm also represented, in various legal matters, many other well-known artists at the time, among them Paul Robeson, Ring Lardner Jr., Dalton Trumbo and Albert Maltz.
In the early 1960’s, busloads of students, known as the “Freedom Riders,” traveled from the northern states down to Mississippi to support every American’s right to vote. In the often recalled history, three of these students disappeared. Among them was Andrew Goodman, a 20-year-old college student. Due largely to Popper’s efforts, and as a direct result of his meeting with President Lyndon B. Johnson and Andrew Goodman’s parents, this disappearance was elevated from a local to a federal concern, and the FBI took over the investigation. The FBI set up shop in the Popper apartment and worked closely with the Firm until the discovery of the boys’ bodies; they had been murdered by the Ku Klux Klan. This story was memorialized in the movie “Mississippi Burning,” which was the FBI code name for the investigation.
Wolf Popper always has been ahead of the curve in gender equality. In 1959, no law firm would hire Ruth Bader Ginsburg, yet Wolf Popper already had hired Shirley Thau, a young woman associate who became a partner in the Firm in 1962. Marian Rosner followed in Thau’s footsteps, helping to grow the Firm’s securities litigation practice and eventually becoming Chairperson of that department. For more than six decades, women have played a key role in the Firm; today Emily Madoff is Managing Partner, ushering in the next generation.
Beginning in the late 50’s, and gaining momentum that continues through the present, Wolf Popper became increasingly involved in class actions in securities and consumer fraud litigation. The interests in these fields grew from the firm’s historical commitment to protecting the rights of individuals. To date, the Firm has successfully prosecuted hundreds of class actions which have resulted in recoveries for investors and consumers of well over a billion dollars.
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