Hillary B. Stakem

Hillary Stakem is a partner in Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP’s San Diego office, where her practice focuses on complex securities litigation.

Hillary was a member of the litigation team in Jaffe v. Household Int’l, Inc., a securities class action that obtained a record-breaking $1.575 billion settlement after 14 years of litigation, including a six-week jury trial in 2009 that resulted in a verdict for plaintiffs. She was also a member of the litigation teams that secured a $388 million recovery for investors in J.P. Morgan residential mortgage-backed securities in Fort Worth Employees’ Retirement Fund v. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., and that obtained a $350 million settlement on the eve of trial in Smilovits v. First Solar, Inc., the fifth-largest PSLRA settlement ever recovered in the Ninth Circuit. Hillary also helped secure a $131 million recovery in favor of plaintiffs in Bennett v. Sprint Nextel Corp, a $100 million settlement for shareholders in Karinski v. Stamps.com, a $97.5 million recovery in Marcus v. J.C. Penney Company, Inc., and an $87.5 million settlement in Monroe County Employees’ Retirement System v. The Southern Company.

Hillary has been named a Rising Star by Super Lawyers Magazine, listed on Benchmark Litigation’s 40 & Under List, and included in the 500 X - The Next Generation Lawdragon guide. She has also been named a California Lawyer Attorney of the Year by the Daily Journal. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations and Chinese, magna cum laude, from the College of William and Mary. Hillary earned her Juris Doctor from the UCLA School of Law, where she was a member of the UCLA Law Review.

• 500 X - The Next Generation, Lawdragon, 2023-2024
• California Lawyer Attorney of the Year (CLAY), Daily Journal, 2024
• 40 & Under List, Benchmark Litigation, 2023-2024
• Rising Star, Super Lawyers Magazine, 2021-2022
• 40 & Under Hot List, Benchmark Litigation, 2021

• UCLA School of Law, J.D., 2012
• College of William and Mary, B.A., 2009, magna cum laude 

• California
• United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• United States District Courts for the Central and Southern Districts of California
• United States District Court for the District of Colorado
• United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

Notable Cases