Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP Opens West Coast Office and Welcomes Alan Schulman as Partner in Charge.

Business & Legal Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--January 3, 2000

Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP is pleased to announce the opening of a West Coast office in San Diego, California and the addition of Alan Schulman as partner in charge.

"Although our roots are in New York, our practice is nationwide," said Max Berger, senior partner of the firm. "The new California office firmly establishes our presence on both coasts."

The California office is under the leadership of Alan Schulman. Mr. Schulman's practice focuses on securities and consumer fraud class actions and complex business litigation. He has been representing investors as lead counsel in high profile securities class actions on the West Coast for more than a decade.

"We are especially pleased to have an attorney of Alan Schulman's stature join our firm to head this office," said Max Berger. "Alan brings invaluable skills and depth of experience to our class action litigation practice."

Mr. Schulman is the former managing partner of the California offices of Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach LLP. Mr. Schulman serves as Co-Chair of the Securities Litigation Committee of the ABA Litigation Section, Co-Chair of the Southern District of California Lawyer Representatives to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference. He is also an Officer and Member of the Board of Governors of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers - San Diego.

Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP prosecutes class and private actions, nationwide, on behalf of individual and institutional clients. The firm's litigation practice concentrates in the areas of securities fraud class actions in federal and state courts; corporate governance litigation, including claims for breach of fiduciary duty and proxy violations; antitrust; employment discrimination and employee rights; consumer advocacy; toxic torts and Year 2000 litigation.

The firm's institutional client base includes CalPERS, the New York State Common Retirement Fund, and the New York City Pension Funds, the three largest public pension funds in the United States, collectively managing over $350 billion in assets. Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP represents these pension funds as Co-Lead Counsel in the In re Cendant Corporation Securities Litigation, which recently settled for over $3 billion in cash. The settlement is, by far, the largest securities class action settlement ever.

Since its founding in 1983, Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP has successfully litigated some of the most complex cases in history. The firm was lead counsel in the celebrated In re Washington Public Power Supply System Litigation ("WPPSS"), which, after seven years of litigation resulted in the then largest securities fraud settlement in history. The $3 billion Cendant Settlement is over four times larger than the WPPSS recovery. Notably, the Cendant Settlement includes a $335 million cash settlement with the accounting firm of Ernst & Young, the largest amount ever paid by an accounting firm in a securities class action case. Finally, the Settlement calls for what has been widely recognized as unprecedented changes to Cendant's corporate governance practices.

Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP also was Co-Lead Counsel in the landmark employment discrimination case against Texaco, which ultimately resulted in the largest employment discrimination settlement in the history of Title VII litigation. The Texaco settlement included the creation of an independent Task Force to oversee and monitor Texaco's human resources activities for five years. The programmatic relief achieved in the Texaco case has served as a model for public companies facing diversity issues in their hiring and promotional practices.

For additional information about Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP, please visit the firm's web site at: www.blbglaw.com or contact us by E-mail at: [e-mail].