In an Opinion and Order dated February 3, 2022, United States District Court Judge Katherine Polk Failla granted Lead Plaintiff Jan Martínek's motion for class certification in its entirety, certifying a class of "all persons who purchased Series A preferred stock of AmTrust Financial Services, Inc. ('AmTrust'), or AmTrust’s Depositary Shares Representing 1/40th of a share of either AmTrust’s Series B, C, D, E or F preferred stock … on the open market on a U.S. stock exchange from January 22, 2018, to January 18, 2019, inclusive." Excluded from the class are defendants and their affiliates.
The Court also appointed Mr. Martínek as the Class Representative, and Wolf Popper LLP, counsel to Mr. Martínek, as Class Counsel, finding that Wolf Popper "is an experienced law firm that has litigated similar securities class actions in the past" and "has worked diligently" with its client "to initiate and prosecute this action."
In the 51-page Opinion and Order, the Court found that Lead Plaintiff had established that all relevant requirements of Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure had been met, and accordingly, class treatment of the action was appropriate. The Court also rejected defendants' attempts to narrow Lead Plaintiff's proposed class definition.
The case is Martínek v. AmTrust Financial Services, Inc., Case Number 19-cv-8030-KPF, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.