Reed R. Kathrein, a nationally recognized complex litigation attorney announced today he has joined the class action and large-scale litigation firm Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro (HBSS), and will head up HBSS's new San Francisco office.

According to managing partner Steve W. Berman, Kathrein's deep experience in securities fraud, consumer and antitrust class actions will be a strong addition to HBSS.

"We are all very excited to welcome Reed to HBSS," said Berman. "Reed's experience matches perfectly with our work, and we are very fortunate to have him lead our new San Francisco office."

Kathrein's 30 year practice has been dedicated to protect the rights of individuals and institutions through consumer and antitrust class actions. He has been the lead or co-counsel on many significant rulings over the years including a recent win involving a $1 billion settlement with Tenet Healthcare, a case he shared with HBSS.

"Practicing law is always more rewarding when you work alongside like-minded, talented people, and I have found that in HBSS," Kathrein said. "I am excited about helping the firm expand its practice, and to expand the firm's presence by leading its new San Francisco office."

HBSS is headquartered in Seattle, with offices in Cambridge Massachusetts, Chicago, Phoenix, Los Angeles and now San Francisco.

"We are doing more and more work representing consumers and others in California, and it made sense to strengthen our presence there," Berman added. "Reed's familiarity with the courts in California make him even more of a potent ally for the firm, and for our clients."

Among Kathrein's other notable successes include a $259 million settlement for shareholders against 3Com Corporation involving accusations the company defrauded investors by hiding a $160 million loss, a case that was then one of the nation's largest securities class-action settlements. Kathrein was also instrumental in the 2003 settlement in the largest investment manager fraud case in U.S. history against Capital Consultants, which resulted in a $300 million settlement on behalf of labor pension funds.

Kathrein served as co-chair of the Securities Working Group in California, tasked by Chief Justices Marilyn Hall Patel and Vaughn Walker to propose and assist in revising the Court's local securities fraud class actions rules. He also served on the executive committee of the National Association of Securities and Consumer Law Attorneys, the Private International Law Committee of the American Bar Assocation and acted as an advisor to the U.S. State Department's Advisory Committee on Private International Law.

About Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro

The law firm of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro is based in Seattle with offices in Chicago, Cambridge, Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Francisco. Since the firm's founding in 1993, it has developed a nationally recognized practice in class-action and complex litigation. Among recent successes, HBSS has negotiated a pending $300 million settlement as lead counsel in the DRAM memory antitrust litigation; a $340 million recovery on behalf of Enron employees which is awaiting distribution; a $150 million settlement involving charges of illegally inflated charges for the drug Lupron, and served as co-counsel on the Visa/Mastercard litigation which resulted in a $3 billion settlement, the largest anti-trust settlement to date. HBSS also served as counsel in a $850 million settlement in the Washington Public Power Supply litigation and represented Washington and 12 other states in lawsuits against the tobacco industry that resulted in the largest settlement in the history of litigation. For a complete listing of HBSS cases, visit www.hbsslaw.com.