Declaration of Sarah N. Westcot in Support of the Motion of Movants Abe Kurdi and Teodoro Russell Pueyrredon to Appoint Lead Plaintiffs and Approve Their Selection of Lead Counsel — In re January 2021 Short Squeeze Trading Litigation (Dkt. 365-1, S.D. Fla.)
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A Declaration of Sarah N. Westcot in Support of the Motion of Movants Abe Kurdi and Teodoro Russell Pueyrredon to Appoint Lead Plaintiffs and Approve Their Selection of Lead Counsel in In re: January 2021 Short Squeeze Trading Litigation, Case 1:21-md-02989-CMA (Case No. 21-2989-MDL-ALTONAGA/Torres, Document 365-1, 7 pages), in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, entered July 27, 2021. Sarah N. Westcot, a partner at Bursor & Fisher, P.A., attaches the movants' certifications, the Kwon v. Robinhood Financial LLC order appointing lead counsel, and the Firm Resume of Bursor & Fisher. The declaration quotes courts finding that Bursor & Fisher will fairly and adequately represent a class and is executed July 27, 2021, at Miami, Florida.
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“Declaration of Sarah N. Westcot in Support of the Motion of Movants Abe Kurdi and Teodoro Russell Pueyrredon to… (Dkt. 365-1).”
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Case 1:21-md-02989-CMA Document 365-1 Entered on FLSD Docket 07/27/2021 Page 1 of 7
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
CASE NO. 21-2989-MDL-ALTONAGA/Torres
IN RE: JANUARY 2021 SHORT SQUEEZE
TRADING LITIGATION
This Document Relates to: All Actions Involving Federal Securities Laws
DECLARATION OF SARAH N. WESTCOT IN SUPPORT OF THE MOTION OF
MOVANTS ABE KURDI AND TEODORO RUSSELL PUEYRREDON TO APPOINT
LEAD PLAINTIFFS AND APPROVE THEIR SELECTION OF LEAD COUNSEL
Case 1:21-md-02989-CMA Document 365-1 Entered on FLSD Docket 07/27/2021 Page 2 of 7
I, Sarah N. Westcot, declare as follows:
1. I am a partner at Bursor & Fisher, P.A. (“Bursor & Fisher”). I am an attorney at
law licensed to practice in the State of Florida, and I am a member of the bar of this Court. I have
personal knowledge of the facts set forth in this declaration and, if called as a witness, I could and
would testify competently thereto. I make this declaration in support of the motion of Movants
Abe Kurdi and Teodoro Russell Pueyrredon (“Movants”) to Appoint Lead Plaintiffs and Approve
their Selection of Lead Counsel.
2. My office is located in Miami, Florida. I am very familiar with this Court’s rules
and procedures having litigated and appeared before this Court.
3. Attached hereto as Exhibit A are Movants’ signed PSLRA certifications attesting
that they are willing to serve as representatives of the class, are willing to assume the duties and
responsibilities of being class representatives, and are willing to provide testimony at deposition
and at trial, as necessary.
4. Our firm has an active securities practice, and has recently been appointed lead
counsel in another action against Robinhood involving federal securities laws. See 4/12/21 Order
(ECF No. 55), Kwon v. Robinhood Financial LLC et al, Case No. 4:20-cv-09328-YGR (N.D. Cal).
The Order is attached hereto as Exhibit B.
5. Attached hereto as Exhibit C is a true and correct copy of the Firm Resume of my
law firm, Bursor & Fisher, P.A. The attorneys at my law firm have represented both plaintiffs and
defendants in more than 100 class action lawsuits in state and federal courts throughout the country
in a variety of fields, including securities law, data privacy, home appliances, dietary supplements,
pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, residential mortgage foreclosures, online social networking
sites and others. We have been court-appointed to represent purchasers of Avacor, Xenadrine, LG
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Case 1:21-md-02989-CMA Document 365-1 Entered on FLSD Docket 07/27/2021 Page 3 of 7
refrigerators, and Crest toothpaste products, Bell & Howell pest repellers, Maytag washing
machines as well as customers of AT&T Wireless, Cingular Wireless, T-Mobile, CitiMortgage,
MyLife.com, Michaels Stores, Facebook and Hyland’s homeopathic cold and flu remedies, among
many others. We also negotiated and obtained court-approval for two landmark settlements in
Nguyen v. Verizon Wireless and Zill v. Sprint Spectrum (the largest and second largest classes ever
certified, respectively). These settlements required Verizon and Sprint to open their wireless
networks to third-party devices and applications. Moreover, in Hendricks v. StarKist Co., No. 13-
cv-00729-HSG (N.D. Cal.), Bursor & Fisher crafted a settlement plan that resulted in the
nationwide submission of over 2.4 million claims from class members, the largest number of
claims ever submitted in the history of Rule 23 class actions.
6. On November 21, 2011, my firm obtained class certification and was appointed
class counsel in In re Pacific Bell Late Fee Litig., No. MSC 10-00840 (California Superior Court,
Contra Costa County), representing a class of three million California residents who paid late fees
to PacBell for wireline telephone services. Also, in 2013, my firm negotiated and earned
preliminary approval for a $38 million nationwide class settlement in that case. Bursor & Fisher
has won many contested class certification motions, including winning a motion to certify a
nationwide class of purchasers of Capatriti 100% Pure Olive Oil, a motion to certify New York
and California classes of purchasers of Scotts Turf Builder EZ Seed, and most recently a motion
to certify nationwide class of purchasers of Bell & Howell ultrasonic pest repellers. Ebin v.
Kangadis Food Inc., 297 F.R.D. 561 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 25, 2014); In re Scotts EZ Seed Litig., 304
F.R.D. 397 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 26, 2015); Hart v. BHH, LLC, 2017 WL 2912519, at *9 (S.D.N.Y. July
7, 2017).
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7. Bursor & Fisher also has an active civil trial practice, having won multi-million
dollar verdicts or recoveries in six of six civil jury trials since 2008. For example, while serving
as lead trial counsel in Thomas v. Global Vision Products, Inc., our named partners, Scott Bursor
and Tim Fisher, obtained a $50 million jury verdict in favor of the plaintiff and class. In another
example, in Ayyad v. Sprint Spectrum, L.P., Bursor & Fisher obtained a $299 million trial verdict
for a class of Sprint customers on a claim for unjust enrichment. In McMillion v. Rash Curtis &
Associates, Bursor & Fisher won a class action jury trial for claims under the Telephone Consumer
Protection Act and secured a $267 million judgment.
8. Since December 2010, Bursor & Fisher lawyers have been court-appointed Class
Counsel or Interim Class Counsel in:
i. O’Brien v. LG Electronics USA, Inc. (D.N.J. Dec. 16, 2010) to represent a certified
nationwide class of purchasers of LG French-door refrigerators,
ii. Ramundo v. Michaels Stores, Inc. (N.D. Ill. June 8, 2011) to represent a certified
nationwide class of consumers who made in-store purchases at Michaels Stores
using a debit or credit card and had their private financial information stolen as a
result,
iii. In re Haier Freezer Consumer Litig. (N.D. Cal. Aug. 17, 2011) to represent a
certified class of purchasers of mislabeled freezers from Haier America Trading,
LLC,
iv. Rodriguez v. CitiMortgage, Inc. (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 14, 2011) to represent a certified
nationwide class of military personnel against CitiMortgage for illegal foreclosures,
v. Avram v. Samsung Electronics America, Inc., et al. (D.N.J. Jan. 3, 2012) to
represent a proposed nationwide class of purchasers of mislabeled refrigerators
from Samsung Electronics America, Inc. and Lowe’s Companies, Inc.,
vi. Rossi v. The Procter & Gamble Co. (D.N.J. Jan. 31, 2012) to represent a certified
nationwide class of purchasers of Crest Sensitivity Treatment & Protection
toothpaste,
vii. Dzielak v. Whirlpool Corp. et al. (D.N.J. Feb. 21, 2012) to represent a proposed
nationwide class of purchasers of mislabeled Maytag Centennial washing machines
from Whirlpool Corp., Sears, and other retailers,
viii. In re Sensa Weight Loss Litig. (N.D. Cal. Mar. 2, 2012) to represent a certified
nationwide class of purchasers of Sensa weight loss products,
ix. In re Sinus Buster Products Consumer Litig. (E.D.N.Y. Dec. 17, 2012) to represent
a certified nationwide class of purchasers of Sinus Buster products,
x. Ebin v. Kangadis Food Inc. (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 25, 2014) to represent a certified
nationwide class of purchasers of Capatriti 100% Pure Olive Oil,
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Case 1:21-md-02989-CMA Document 365-1 Entered on FLSD Docket 07/27/2021 Page 5 of 7
xi. Forcellati v. Hyland’s, Inc. (C.D. Cal. Apr. 9, 2014) to represent a certified
nationwide class of purchasers of children’s homeopathic cold and flu remedies,
xii. Ebin v. Kangadis Family Management LLC, et al. (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 18, 2014) to
represent a certified nationwide class of purchasers of Capatriti 100% Pure Olive
Oil,
xiii. In re Scotts EZ Seed Litig. (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 26, 2015) to represent a certified class of
purchasers of Scotts Turf Builder EZ Seed,
xiv. Dei Rossi v. Whirlpool Corp., et al. (E.D. Cal. Apr. 28, 2015) to represent a certified
class of purchasers of mislabeled KitchenAid refrigerators from Whirlpool Corp.,
Best Buy, and other retailers,
xv. Hendricks v. StarKist Co. (N.D. Cal. July 23, 2015) to represent a certified
nationwide class of purchasers of StarKist tuna products,
xvi. In re NVIDIA GTX 970 Graphics Card Litig. (N.D. Cal. May 8, 2015) to represent
a proposed nationwide class of purchasers of NVIDIA GTX 970 graphics cards,
xvii. Melgar v. Zicam LLC, et al. (E.D. Cal. March 30, 2016) to represent a certified ten-
jurisdiction class of purchasers of Zicam Pre-Cold products,
xviii. In re Trader Joe’s Tuna Litigation (C.D. Cal. December 21, 2016) to represent
purchaser of allegedly underfilled Trader Joe’s canned tuna.
xix. In re Welspun Litigation (S.D.N.Y. January 26, 2017) to represent a proposed
nationwide class of purchasers of Welspun Egyptian cotton bedding products,
xx. Retta v. Millennium Products, Inc. (C.D. Cal. January 31, 2017) to represent a
certified nationwide class of Millennium kombucha beverages,
xxi. Moeller v. American Media, Inc., (E.D. Mich. June 8, 2017) to represent a class of
magazine subscribers under the Michigan Preservation of Personal Privacy Act,
xxii. Hart v. BHH, LLC (S.D.N.Y. July 7, 2017) to represent a nationwide class of
purchasers of Bell & Howell ultrasonic pest repellers,
xxiii. McMillion v. Rash Curtis & Associates (N.D. Cal. September 6, 2017) to represent
a certified nationwide class of individuals who received calls from Rash Curtis &
Associates,
xxiv. Lucero v. Solarcity Corp. (N.D. Cal. September 15, 2017) to represent a certified
nationwide class of individuals who received telemarketing calls from Solarcity
Corp.,
xxv. Taylor v. Trusted Media Brands, Inc. (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 17, 2017) to represent a class
of magazine subscribers under the Michigan Preservation of Personal Privacy Act,
xxvi. Gasser v. Kiss My Face, LLC (N.D. Cal. Oct. 23, 2017) to represent a proposed
nationwide class of purchasers of cosmetic products,
xxvii. Gastelum v. Frontier California Inc. (S.F. Superior Court February 21, 2018) to
represent a certified California class of Frontier landline telephone customers who
were charged late fees,
xxviii. Williams v. Facebook, Inc. (N.D. Cal. June 26, 2018) to represent a proposed
nationwide class of Facebook users for alleged privacy violations,
xxix. Ruppel v. Consumers Union of United States, Inc. (S.D.N.Y. July 27, 2018) to
represent a class of magazine subscribers under the Michigan Preservation of
Personal Privacy Act,
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Case 1:21-md-02989-CMA Document 365-1 Entered on FLSD Docket 07/27/2021 Page 6 of 7
xxx. Bayol v. Health-Ade (N.D. Cal. August 23, 2018) to represent a proposed
nationwide class of Health-Ade kombucha beverage purchasers,
xxxi. West v. California Service Bureau (N.D. Cal. September 12, 2018) to represent a
certified nationwide class of individuals who received calls from California Service
Bureau,
xxxii. Gregorio v. Premier Nutrition Corporation (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 14, 2018) to represent
a nationwide class of purchasers of protein shake products,
xxxiii. Moeller v. Advance Magazine Publishers, Inc. d/b/a Condé Nast (S.D.N.Y. Oct.
24, 2018) to represent a class of magazine subscribers under the Michigan
Preservation of Personal Privacy Act,
xxxiv. Bakov v. Consolidated World Travel Inc. d/b/a Holiday Cruise Line (N.D. Ill. Mar.
21, 2019) to represent a certified class of individuals who received calls from
Holiday Cruise Line,
xxxv. Martinelli v. Johnson & Johnson (E.D. Cal. March 29, 2019) to represent a certified
class of purchasers of Benecol spreads labeled with the representation “No Trans
Fat,”
xxxvi. Edwards v. Hearst Communications, Inc. (S.D.N.Y. April 24, 2019) to represent a
class of magazine subscribers under the Michigan Preservation of Personal Privacy
Act,
xxxvii. Galvan v. Smashburger (C.D. Cal. June 25, 2019) to represent a proposed class of
purchasers of Smashburger’s “Triple Double” burger.
9. Bursor & Fisher maintains an office in this District and has 23 lawyers available to
staff this action, along with additional support staff. The firm also has ample resources available
to devote to investigation, the hiring of experts, and whatever else may be necessary to prosecute
this action.
10. Chief United States District Court Judge England of the Eastern District of
California appointed Bursor & Fisher as interim class counsel in Melgar v. Zicam, LLC, No. 2:14-
cv 00160-MCE-AC (E.D. Cal. Oct. 29, 2014). A copy of Judge England’s order is attached hereto
as Exhibit D. Judge England’s order notes that Bursor & Fisher “has extensive experience
representing plaintiffs in large class actions, both in negotiating settlements and litigating through
trial.” Judge England further commented that “Bursor & Fisher is a well-established, reputable
firm that is up to handling the challenges of this litigation and is capable of committing the requisite
resources to doing so. The Court is confident that Bursor & Fisher will fairly and adequately
represent the interests of the class.” (citation omitted).
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Case 1:21-md-02989-CMA Document 365-1 Entered on FLSD Docket 07/27/2021 Page 7 of 7
I declare under the penalty of perjury under the law of the State of Florida that the foregoing
is true and correct, executed on July 27, 2021, at Miami, Florida.
By: /s/ Sarah N. Westcot
Sarah N. Westcot
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