We provide class action defense that is state of the art and unsurpassed in intelligence and sophistication, successfully defending clients in class actions with hundreds of millions and even billions of dollars of claimed liability on the line. We have overcome and defeated some of the most difficult kinds of class actions, brought by aggressive and prominent plaintiffs’ lawyers, in the most difficult circumstances, saving our clients from exposures that threatened their continued existence as business enterprises. When tenacity, ingenuity and judgment are critical, clients can count on us.
We have successfully defended clients in federal and state court systems throughout the country, from California to Massachusetts, from trial courts to the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation and numerous federal courts of appeals. Our lawyers have successfully defended not only one-off class actions but also groups of class actions filed in multiple jurisdictions, including matters consolidated into multidistrict litigation, and waves of class actions filed across the entire country. We have been called upon at the eleventh hour by clients to take over class actions they were losing and successfully rolled back the tide. Whatever challenges face our clients, we have been there and are prepared to respond with formidable strength and ingenuity.
Defending against class actions takes courage, judgment, and depth of knowledge and understanding. It requires tenacity, creativity and long-term focus when early victory is not possible. Passivity and lack of depth can be fatal. Our approach is proactive and strategic. We set our own agenda and refuse to follow the plaintiffs’ script. We often find that plaintiffs’ counsel are surprised to encounter resolute opposition.
Our lawyers have been on the cutting edge of countering “no injury” class actions, specious “economic loss” and “fraud on the consumer market” theories, and shortcuts around due process through use of issue classes and other compromises to normal discovery and trial procedures. We have developed innovative theories and practices to combat abuses of statistics and economic principles used to rationalize class actions. We pioneered economic and legal analysis showing that the value-based measure of restitutionary relief permitted under California’s Unfair Competition Law is not amenable to common proof.
We are experienced in approaches to securing dismissal of claims and attacking class allegations at the pleading stage all the way through appellate processes and use of mandamus procedures when necessary to secure victory. We guide clients through the maze of decision points to find the right strategy for each case.
Our experience covers virtually every substantive area of class and “aggregate” litigation, including securities, consumer fraud and protection, antitrust, data privacy and security, products, mass tort, environmental, health and safety, and labor and employment.
Illustrative examples of our wide-ranging experience include:
We defend clients across all industry sectors, including manufacturers of all kinds (from drugs to electronic and consumer products to building materials and heavy industry), banks and financial service providers, retailers, transportation companies, cable companies and many others. We even successfully defended a major service provider against a massive class action on behalf of its business customers.
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