Ari Ruben

Ari Ruben represents plaintiffs and defendants in high-stakes commercial litigation across the United States. Ruben advocates for his clients — who range from multinational banks and Fortune 500 Companies to individuals and their families — with passion, persistence, and poise.

TRIAL VICTORIES: Ruben has played a key role in securing major victories in complex trials and arbitrations.

• TGC Partners et al. v. SIG China et al. (Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas). Ruben’s team represented co-founders of Susquehanna International Group’s Chinese venture capital business (SIG China) in a jury trial against their former employer. The trial, which implicated SIG China’s ByteDance investment, generated extensive media coverage. Read more here and here. The case settled favorably one business day after Ruben’s direct and redirect examinations of plaintiffs’ venture capital expert.
• Confidential Arbitration. Ruben’s team secured a unanimous $22.6 million arbitration victory for an upstream oil-and-gas company against an insurer that issued—but refused to honor—a buyer-side representations-and-warranties policy in connection with an asset acquisition. Following a five-day merits hearing, where Ruben presented the client’s main witness, the arbitration panel awarded 100% of the damages sought, along with $2 million in attorneys’ fees.

PLAINTIFF-SIDE REPRESENTATIONS: Plaintiffs with some of the highest-stake claims in the country entrust Ruben with prosecuting their cases.

Complex Commercial:

• Trust for Advised Portfolios v. US Bancorp Fund Services & Eisner Amper (N.Y. Supreme Court, Commercial Division). Represents the Special Litigation Committee of the Trust for Advised Portfolios in this malpractice action arising out of the Infinity Q Diversified Alpha Fund’s implosion. Ruben deposed several key witnesses, including the former chief compliance officer and defense experts. Defendant Eisner Amper settled on confidential terms, while its co-Defendant US Bank’s summary judgment motion is pending. Read coverage of the events underlying this suit here and here.
• In Generic Pharmaceuticals Pricing Antitrust Litigation (E.D. Pa.). Represents Walmart against 48 of the nation’s largest pharmaceutical companies, in one of the largest antitrust MDLs in history.  Walmart, joined by 49 states, direct and end-payer classes, and other opt-out plaintiffs, alleges that defendants conspired to fix prices, rig bids, and allocate markets for generic drugs. Discovery is ongoing. Read coverage of Walmart’s suit here.

Class Action:

• Leonard et al. v. John Hancock Life Insurance Co. of New York et al. (S.D.N.Y.). Secured a settlement valued at $143 million, before fees and expenses, for a class of approximately 1,200 policyholders who alleged that Hancock breached their respective policies’ terms and overcharged them for life insurance. When granting final approval, SDNY Judge Alvin Hellerstein held that the settlement provided an “absolutely extraordinary” recovery rate for the class, and lauded Susman Godfrey’s “extraordinary work.” Ruben deposed multiple John Hancock witnesses, including its President and CEO, defended class-representative depositions, and led substantial aspects of discovery.
• Zaben v. John Hancock Life Insurance Co. of New York et al. (S.D.N.Y.), Arbuckle Funding, LLC v. Talcott Resolution Life & Annuity Insurance Company (S.D.N.Y.), & Toolan v. New York Life Insurance & Annuity Insurance Company (S.D.N.Y.). In three suits, Ruben represents putative classes of thousands of policyowners alleging that carriers breached their respective policies by failing to adjust cost-of-insurance rates after the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act. Discovery is ongoing in each matter.

Qui Tam:

• State of California ex rel. OnTheGo Wireless, LLC et al. v. Cellco P’ship DBA Verizon Wireless et al. (California Superior Court). Represented the whistleblower and over 30 local government entities in the state of California, (including the CSU system, UC system, and Los Angeles County) against the nation’s largest wireless providers for a fraudulent overcharging scheme. Over more than a year, Ruben crisscrossed the country to obtain critical deposition admissions that helped lead to a settlement for a combined deal valued at $175 million. Read more about the case on Law Street Media and Law360 (subscription required) or here.
• Total Asset Recovery Services, LLC v. MetLife, Inc., et al. (N.Y. Supreme Court, Commercial Division). Represents the whistleblower alleging that twenty of New York’s largest life insurance companies submitted fraudulent “holder reports” concealing millions of dollars’ worth of “abandoned property” that should have been escheated to the state. Discovery is ongoing.

DEFENSE-SIDE REPRESENTATIONS: Ruben leverages the skills he has honed as a plaintiffs’ advocate to sharpen his defense of businesses on the other side of the “v.” That perspective makes him a more effective, trial-ready defense lawyer—one who anticipates plaintiffs’ strategies and pressures from the outset. He has secured defense-side victories in courts across the country:

• Lone Star Production Co. et al. v. Rushmore Acquisitions 1 LLC et al. (Texas District Court). Successfully defended Rushmore Resource Partners (“RRP”), an exploration and production company, from a $200 million+ breach-of-contract claim in Harris County, Texas. Ruben handled numerous aspects of the case, elicited key deposition admissions, and helped obtain a confidential settlement.
• Columbus Life Insurance Company v. Wilmington Trust Company (Delaware Superior). Obtained a favorable settlement for the policyowner against insurer seeking to void two $5 million life insurance policies for STOLI while keeping $8 million in premiums. Ruben took or defended 27 depositions, argued all dispositive motions, and managed all aspects of discovery and trial preparation. 
• A. Rama Krishna et al. v. Pzena Investment Management Inc. (Delaware Chancery). Obtained dismissal by the Delaware Court of Chancery of contract claims that jeopardized Pzena Investment Company’s $168 million go-private transaction. Read more (subscription required).

BACKGROUND

Before joining Susman Godfrey, Ruben practiced commercial litigation at a multi-national Vault 10 firm.  During that time, he represented an AIG affiliate that brought RICO, fraud, and contract claims valued at over $1 billion against defendants who purchased life insurance policies and sold them at inflated prices.  After a two-month bench trial in the SDNY, the parties reached a confidential settlement.

Ruben graduated cum laude from both Harvard Law School and Harvard College.  At Harvard, he earned the Thomas T. Hoopes Prize, an award for top honors theses in the College. Ruben finessed his writing, research, and analytical skills clerking for Judge Bruce M. Selya of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and for Judge Richard J. Sullivan, then of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Outside of his practice, Ruben is a member of UJA-Federation of New York’s Lawyers Division Council and its Israel 2048 Committee. Ruben and his wife are raising their daughter, son, and goldendoodle on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

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