Sean Micah Akchin

Sean Micah Akchin is an associate in Berman Tabacco’s San Francisco office.  Since joining the firm in 2024, Sean is dedicating his efforts to seeking financial justice through antitrust litigation.

Prior to joining Berman Tabacco, Sean worked in Manhattan, New York, where their practice focused on antitrust law, Ponzi schemes, and intellectual property disputes.  During their time in New York, Sean also maintained an expansive pro-bono practice representing Tibetan refugees, local schools, and national charitable organizations.

In law school, Sean worked as a research assistant and teaching assistant for Professor Arthur R. Miller in revising and editing the civil procedure treatise, Wright & Miller’s Federal Practice and Procedure.  Additionally, Sean interned at the Center for Public Research and Leadership at Columbia University, wherein Sean helped design and implement a procedure for identifying and assisting students at risk of not graduating high school.  Sean served as a staff editor for the New York University Journal of Legislation & Public Policy.

Before law school, Sean taught mathematics and English literature in north Texas public schools and is forever proud and thankful to have spent time with every one of those students.

Sean is a member in good standing of the State Bars of California and New York and the Southern and Eastern districts of New York.

Education

• New York University School of Law (J.D., 2017)
• Tulane University (B.S. Mathematics, Germanic Languages and Literature, 2006)

Experience

• Member of the co-lead class counsel team that represented a class of consumers in an antitrust class action against American Express, Moskowitz v. American Express Co., No. 1:19-cv-00566-NGG (E.D.N.Y.). After a three-week jury trial with a mixed verdict, the case reached a post-verdict settlement securing $17.5 million dollars for the class.
• Member of the co-lead class counsel team in an antitrust class action against pharmaceutical manufacturer Teva for delaying competition to its QVAR (beclomethasone dipropionate) product through illegally listing device patents in the Orange Book and engaging in a product hop, Iron Workers District Council of New England Health and Welfare Fund v. Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries, Ltd., No. 23-cv-11131-NMG (D. Mass.). A class settlement securing injunctive relief and a $35 million settlement fund is currently awaiting final approval.
• Member of the co-lead class counsel team representing self-funded union health plans in two on-going antitrust class action against pharmaceutical manufacturers for delaying competition through the use of improper Orange Book listings; In re Respimat Pharmaceuticals Antitrust Litigation, No. 1:25-md-03154 (D. Mass.); Value Drug Company v. Novo Nordisk Inc., No. 1:26-cv-00420-BMC (E.D.N.Y.).
• Member of the team representing self-funded health plans a landmark antitrust class action case alleging that AbbVie, Inc. engaged in a bundled rebate scheme involving the six largest Pharmacy Benefit Managers to suppress biosimilar competition in 2024 and 2025 for AbbVie’s biologic drug Humira, the highest revenue-grossing drug in history, Sheet Metal Workers’ Health Plans of Southern California, Arizona, and Nevada v. AbbVie, Inc., No. 25-cv-00615 (N.D. Ill.).
• Member of the team representing consumers in an antitrust action against American Airlines and JetBlue Airlines related to the two airlines’ Northeast Alliance, In re American Airlines/JetBlue, No. 1:22-cv-07374 (E.D.N.Y.).
• Member of the team prosecuting the novel action, Verthelyi v. PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust, No. 2:24-CV-05028 (C.D. CAL.), brought on behalf of a nationwide class, seeking injunctive relief and restitution with regard to two series of PennyMac’s fixed-to-floating rate Preferred Shares. Plaintiffs allege that PennyMac unlawfully and unfairly replaced the LIBOR-based benchmark rate, which ceased publication in 2021, with the initial fixed rate instead of transitioning to the replacement benchmark under the LIBOR Act and LIBOR Rule, the Secured Overnight Financing Rate.
• Member of the team prosecuting Storn v. Morgan Stanley, No. 1:26-cv-03475-PKC (S.D.N.Y.), brought on behalf of a nationwide class, seeking injunctive relief and restitution with regard to three series of Morgan Stanley’s fixed-to-floating rate Preferred Shares. Plaintiffs allege that Morgan Stanley unlawfully and unfairly replaced the LIBOR-based benchmark rate, which ceased publication in 2021, with the initial fixed rate instead of transitioning to the replacement benchmark under the LIBOR Act and LIBOR Rule, the Secured Overnight Financing Rate.

Admissions

• State Bar of California
• State Bar of New York
• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
• U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
• Second Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals

Affiliations

• LGBT Bar of New York
• New York City Bar Association

Publications, Presentations & Appearances

• Co-author of Recent Consumer Action Trial Against Amex in E.D.N.Y. Shines Light on Importance of Class Representatives, American Bar Association, Nov. 11, 2025
• Co-author of NY Gendered Pricing Law May have Limited Effect, Law360, Sept. 29, 2020