These were not cookie-cutter securities suits with well-worn paths. And where there could have been parallel federal enforcement actions to help guide the way, the U.S. Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission were absent.

So when it came time to go after the big banks for the mortgage-backed securities mess at the heart of the 2008 financial crisis, it took new legal theories, heavy investment and a measure of daring on the part of plaintiffs firms. Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann, the New York securities firm with a growing California presence, helped blaze the trail for institutional investors who had suffered some of the biggest losses in the financial meltdown. After years of battle against top defense firms and their elite litigators, Bernstein Litowitz in 2014 secured a trio of substantial recoveries in cases that showcased the work of its San Diego office, which has grown to 13 lawyers since the firm opened there in 2000.

David Stickney, Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann partner