By Nathan Hale

Law360 (December 8, 2020, 10:00 PM EST) -- Labaton Sucharow, Levi & Korsinsky and The Rosen Law Firm are vying before a Florida federal court to serve as lead counsel for a proposed shareholder class action against Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. over its response to the COVID-19 pandemic and stock selloffs it faced earlier this year.

The three firms' clients each entered motions to serve as lead plaintiff on the Monday deadline set by Miami-based U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. Williams, with each asserting that they believed they had the largest financial interest based on the respective losses they incurred on Royal Caribbean stock purchases made during the class period between Feb. 4 and March 17.

The Indiana Public Retirement System, which proposed Labaton Sucharow LLP as lead counsel and Saxena White PA as liaison counsel for the class, said it incurred losses of nearly $1.84 million based on such transactions.

Michael Greco, who proposed Levi & Korsinsky LLP as lead counsel and Cullin O'Brien Law PA as liaison counsel, said he lost about $322,357.

Rosen's clients Jeffrey Robinson, Robert Chamberlin and Richard Abanes filed a joint motion saying they lost about $192,952.

The various plaintiffs all described their claims and interests as closely aligned with those of the other plaintiffs in the case, saying their losses provide them with a strong incentive to see the case through to a successful conclusion.

INPRS touted its position as a "sophisticated institutional investor," while Greco also described himself as a sophisticated investor, noting that he has an MBA, 40 years of investing experience and had worked for Ford Motor Co. as a financial analyst.

"The [Private Securities Litigation Reform Act's] legislative history shows that a large, sophisticated institutional investor like INPRS is precisely the type of investor that Congress intended to empower to lead securities class action litigation," the pension fund said.

Additionally, all three touted their counsel's experience in successfully guiding securities class actions as further proof they could adequately lead the class.

"As a result of the firm's experience in litigation involving issues similar to those raised in this action, movants' counsel has the skill and knowledge to prosecute this action effectively and expeditiously," the Rosen Law Firm's clients said of their counsel. "Thus, the court may be assured that by approving movants' selection of lead counsel, the members of the class will receive the best legal representation available."

The litigation is the consolidation of two cases filed against Royal Caribbean. The first was filed by the City of Riviera Beach General Employees Retirement System on Oct. 7, followed on Oct. 27 by a related suit brought by Thomas Altomare. Judge Williams entered an order Monday consolidating the two under the Riviera Beach docket.

The investors allege that the Miami-based Royal Caribbean failed to disclose the decrease in bookings that it was experiencing outside of China during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and falsely assured the public that its protocols for dealing with the coronavirus were aggressive and effective.

"Despite these assurances, the company's policies and procedures were grossly inadequate to control the spread of the virus and failed to protect the health of its passengers and crews," the lawsuit said. "In fact, the company's disregard of reasonable safety measures exacerbated the spread of COVID-19 throughout the world."

The suit claims that the extent of COVID-19's impact on the company's overall bookings and the "inability of Royal Caribbean to prevent the virus' spread on its ships" were revealed to the public in a series of corrective disclosures from February to March, during which time Royal Caribbean's share price faced repeated blows.

On March 10, the company withdrew its 2020 financial guidance and increased its revolving credit facility by $550 million because of the proliferation of the virus, causing a 14% drop in the company's share price over the next trading session. Another 32% drop came the following day when competitor Carnival announced a two-month suspension of all operations, "prompting concern that Royal Caribbean would follow suit," the complaint alleges.

Shortly following a final 19% share price drop on March 18 after Stifel Nicolaus cut its one-year price target on Royal Caribbean from $161 to $40, two lawsuits were filed accusing the cruise company of failing to protect its crews, the suit said.

The suit follows similar proposed class actions filed against Carnival Corp. and Norwegian Cruise Line in the Southern District of Florida after the COVID-19 pandemic brought the cruise industry to a halt in February and March, although the suits differ in their allegations of misconduct on the part of the cruise companies.

Counsel for the moving plaintiffs did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday. A spokesperson for Royal Caribbean did not immediately comment when reached.

Judge Williams referred the three motions to U.S. Magistrate Judge Chris M. McAliley.

The Riviera Beach fund and INPRS are both represented by Christopher J. Keller, Eric J. Belfi and Francis P. McConville of Labaton Sucharow LLP, and Maya Saxena, Joseph E. White III and Lester Hooker of Saxena White PA.

Greco is represented by Shannon L. Hopkins of Levi & Korsinsky LLP and Cullin O'Brien of Cullin O'Brien Law PA.

Robinson, Chamberlin and Abanes are represented by Laurence M. Rosen and Phillip Kim of the Rosen Law Firm PA.

Royal Caribbean is represented by Boris Feldman, Doru Gavril, Drew Liming and Elise Lopez of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer US LLP and Eva Spahn and David Coulson of Greenberg Traurig LLP.

The case is City of Riviera Beach General Employees Retirement System v. Royal Caribbean Cruises LTD et al., case number 1:20-cv-24111, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

--Editing by Steven Edelstone.

Update: This story has been updated to include counsel information for Royal Caribbean.

For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.