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John J. Stoia, Jr. received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Tulsa in 1983. While working on his degree, Mr. Stoia was elected President of the National Political Science Honor Society and graduated with highest honors. In 1986, Mr. Stoia received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Tulsa and graduated in the top of his class. In 1987, Mr. Stoia graduated in the top of his class from the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., receiving his Masters of Law in Securities Regulation. Thereafter, Mr. Stoia served as an enforcement attorney with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission prior to going into private practice. Mr. Stoia is one of the founding partners of Coughlin Stoia.
Mr. Stoia worked on dozens of nationwide complex securities class actions, including In re Am. Cont'l Corp./Lincoln Sav. & Loan Sec. Litig., MDL No. 834 (D. Ariz.), which arose out of the collapse of Lincoln Savings & Loan and Charles Keating's empire. Mr. Stoia was a member of plaintiffs' trial team, which obtained verdicts against Mr. Keating and his co-defendants in excess of $3 billion and settlements of over $240 million.
Mr. Stoia has been responsible for over $10 billion in recoveries on behalf of victims of insurance fraud due to deceptive sales practices such as "vanishing premiums," "churning," and discrimination in the sale of burial or debit insurance.
Mr. Stoia has been involved in over 40 nationwide class actions brought by policyholders against United States and Canadian life insurance companies seeking redress for deceptive sales practices during the 1980s and 1990s. Mr. Stoia was lead or co-lead counsel and actively involved in nationwide cases against, among others, Prudential ($4+ billion), New York Life ($600+ million), Transamerica Life Insurance Company ($250+ million), General American Life Insurance Company ($85+ million), Manufacturer's Life ($550+ million), Metropolitan Life ($2 billion), American General and subsidiaries ($500+ million), Allianz ($55+ million), Principal Life ($380+ million) and Pacific Life Insurance Company.
Mr. Stoia was also involved in numerous cases brought against life insurance companies for racial discrimination involving the sale of debt or "industrial life" insurance policies during the 20th century. Mr. Stoia was lead counsel in McNeil v. Am. Gen'l Life Ins. Accident Ins. Co., the first major settlement involving discrimination claims which resulted in a $234 million recovery for class members. Mr. Stoia resolved other race-based insurance cases, including Brown v. United Life Ins. Co. ($40 million), Morris v. Life Ins. Co. of Georgia ($55 million), and Thompson v. Metropolitan Life ($145 million).
Mr. Stoia brought some of the first cases against the insurance brokerage industry and insurers relating to undisclosed kickbacks known as "contingent commissions" and illegal bid-rigging activities. He is one of the lead plaintiffs' counsel in the consolidated MDL proceedings pending in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (In re Employee-Benefit Ins. Brokerage Antitrust Litig., Case No. 2:05-cv-1079(FSH), and In re Insurance Brokerage Antitrust Litig., Case No. 2:04-cv-5184(FSH), MDL No. 1663). He is also the lead trial counsel representing the California Department of Insurance against five of the largest Employee Benefit Insurance companies (MetLife, Prudential, Hartford, Cigna and UnumProvident) for violating California Insurance Regulations for failing to disclose payments of contingent commissions to brokers in California and other improper activities. The People of the State of California v. Universal Life Res., Case No. GIC838913 (Cal. Super. Ct., San Diego County). To date, four out of the five defendants have agreed to sweeping changes in their disclosure practices within California as a result of that action.
Mr. Stoia currently represents numerous large institutional investors who suffered hundreds of millions of dollars in losses as a result of the major financial scandals, including AOL/Time Warner, and is court-appointed Co-Lead Counsel in eight nationwide class actions against sellers of deferred annuities to senior citizens.
Mr. Stoia was selected as Litigator of the Month by The National Law Journal (July 2000). He is a member of ALI-ABA's Commercial Law Advisory Panel. Mr. Stoia was also selected as a Super Lawyer in Southern California Super Lawyers 2007 -- San Diego Edition. He is also a frequent lecturer on numerous legal topics. Recent speaking engagements and lectures include: ALI-ABA, Practicing Law Institute and American Trial Lawyers Association seminars and conferences: Speaker, Association of Life Insurance Counsel Panel (May 2007); Speaker, 2007 International Reinsurance Summit; Speaker, Conference on Industry Litigation 2007 (ALI-ABA); Speaker, 12th Annual ALI-ABA Conference on Life Insurance and Financial Services Industry Litigation (2007); Speaker, IBA West Blue Ribbon Conference (2006); Speaker, ATLA Annual Convention - Insurance Law Section, Panel: Broker/Dealer Liability (2006); Speaker, ATLA Winter Convention - Securities Fraud: Rights and Remedies of Shareholders; Co-chair, ALI-ABA Program 11th Annual: Financial Services and Insurance Industry Litigation (2006); Speaker, Barreau du Quebec Class Action Seminar (2005); Speaker, ACI Consumer Finance Class Actions Conference (2005); and ALI-ABA, Practicing Law Institute and American Trial Lawyers Association seminars and conferences: Speaker, ALI-ABA Program: Life and Health Insurance Litigation (2004).
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS:
March 5, 2008 San Francisco: Consumer Attorneys of California College of Trial Arts
San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association - Class Action Hurdles From the Plaintiff's Perspective
July 12, 2007 NYC: PLI Annual Conference on Class Action Litigation
June 6-8, 2007 Bermuda: 2007 International Reinsurance Summit
May 10-11, 2007 Chicago, IL: Insurance Industry and Financial Services Litigation
May 7, 2007 San Diego, CA: Association of Life Insurance Counsel Panel
July 27-28, 2006 New York City, NY: PLI Class Action Litigation Prosecution and Defense Strategies
May 1, 2006 Kona, Hawaii: IBA West Blue Ribbon Conference
March 30-31, 2006 Washington, DC: Co-Chair; ALI-ABA Conference on Life Insurance and Financial Services Industry Litigation
February 14, 2007 Washington, DC: The Federalist Society's Corporations, Securities & Antitrust Practice Group - Class Action Fairness Act: Two Years Later
October 21, 2005 Quebec, Canada: Barreau du Quebec Class Action Seminar
September 26, 2005 New York City, NY: ACI Consumer Finance Class Actions Conference
July 24, 2005 Toronto, Canada: ATLA Annual Convention - Insurance Law Section, Panel: Broker/Dealer Liability
March 18, 2005 New York City, NY: ALI-ABA Program: Financial Services and Insurance Industry Litigation.
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