Benjamin Kaufman is a partner at Wolf Haldenstein. He has extensive experience in complex class actions, representing clients such as institutional investors, including public and labor pension funds, labor health and welfare benefit funds, and private institutional investors who have suffered losses due to corporate fraud. Additionally, Mr. Kaufman has extensive experience litigating complex commercial cases in both state and federal courts. Mr. Kaufman is a member of the Firm’s Investor Protection, Business Disputes and Derivative Litigation practice groups.

Mr. Kaufman joined Wolf Haldenstein in 2013 after practicing for fifteen years as an associate and then partner at a national class action law firm. Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Kaufman served as a Court Attorney for the New York State Supreme Court, New York County from 1988 to 1990 and as Principal Court Attorney to Justice Herman Cahn of the Commercial Division of the Supreme Court, New York County, from 1990 to 1998.

Representations

• Mr. Kaufman currently represents clients in a wide array of matters, including:
  • Shareholders of a large cooperative complex alleging breach of fiduciary duty by the board of directors and property manager;
  • Investors in a scheme to defraud members of the Chinese diaspora; and
  • Shareholders alleging misleading or insufficient information in proxy solicitations in connection with corporate mergers and acquisitions.
• Mr. Kaufman has successfully litigated and negotiated numerous matters resulting in multi-million dollar settlements and significant corporate governance reforms.  For example:
  • Lynn v. Tennessee Commerce Bancorp, Inc., et al., No. 3:12-cv-01137 (M.D. Tenn.) ($2.6 million settlement);
  • Cohen v. Saks, 169 A.D.3d 51 (1st Dep’t 2019). Shareholders of Saks, Inc. alleging that the board of directors and its investment advisor sold the company for inadequate consideration. Cohen v. Saks, 169 A.D.3d 51 (1st Dep’t 2019) ($21 million settlement)
  • In re ClubCorp Holdings Shareholder Litigation, No. A-17-758912-B (D. Nev.) ($5 million settlement and corporate therapeutics);
  • Served as counsel in a complex international securities litigation case against Deutsche Telekom requiring evidentiary discovery in both the United States and Europe which settled for $120 million; and
  • Served as co-lead counsel in numerous securities class and derivative actions throughout the United States, representing institutional and individual investors, recovering hundreds of millions of dollars and obtaining significant corporate governance reforms against such companies as Asia Pulp & Paper, PMA Capital, InvaCare and Comverse.

Affiliations

Community

Mr. Kaufman is a member of the Board of Trustees of Congregation Beth Sholom in Lawrence, New York. He is also a former member of the Board of the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaways.

Professional

Mr. Kaufman is a member of the Commercial and Federal Litigation Section of the New York State Bar Association, the American Association for Justice the International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists, and the Jewish Lawyers Guild. He served as Chairperson of the Jewish Lawyers Guild 2017, 2018 and 2019 Annual Dinners and is currently President (2026-2028) of the Jewish Lawyers Guild.

Mr. Kaufman has been recognized as SuperLawyer each year since 2012.