Class Action

Overview

Class actions—litigation in which one plaintiff or a handful of plaintiffs represent an entire group—can result in jaw-dropping verdicts and settlements.

Steptoe & Johnson’s class action litigators use their experience in defending class actions to keep our clients from becoming tomorrow’s headlines.

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Areas of Focus

We have developed this experience in defending class actions in practically all areas in which they’re brought, including:

Consumer protection
Banking and credit
Employment
Privacy
Insurance
Energy (royalties, drilling, pipelines)

Representative Experience

Defended numerous purported class actions in the areas of consumer protection, consumer privacy, and consumer pricing
Defended medical record service provider in multiple overlapping class actions regarding the cost of medical record copies, including successful appeal to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals based on lack of standing of a named plaintiff
Defeated certification in action seeking to establish class of network doctors to pursue claims against health insurer for allegedly wrongful recoveries of overpayments
Extensive experience litigating wage payment class actions (optout) and FLSA collective actions (opt-in)
Obtained defense verdict in a nationwide FLSA collective action
Extensive experience with related multi-district litigation in federal courts, including coordinating nationwide removal and transfer strategy for hundreds of related cases
Experienced with class actions and multi-district litigation as longtime judicial clerk in federal district and appellate courts
Served as assistant national coordinating defense counsel in toxic tort litigation for a world-wide product manufacturer
Defended numerous purported class actions claiming breach of contract related to alleged natural gas royalty underpayments
Defended purported class actions and mass actions claiming negligence, nuisance, and/or trespass related to gas pipelines and/or drilling operations
Obtained summary judgment in mass action claiming fraudulent inducement and seeking rescission of leases of mineral rights
Represented pharmaceutical company in class actions and multidistrict litigation panel proceedings arising from allegations of antitrust violations
Represented mutual fund company in class action based on allegedly misleading prospectus
Represented broker-dealer in class certification motions in action arising from alleged insider trading
National coordinating counsel for a pharmaceutical company in actions involving failure to warn

Highlights

Using the Class Action Fairness Act to remove to federal court cases filed in state court
Using motions to dismiss to knock out the claims of named plaintiffs, ending cases early
In the right circumstances, reaching pre-certification class settlements to avoid the uncertainties of litigation and avoid potentially ruinous verdicts
Defeating class certification motions and stopping purported class actions in their tracks
When necessary, taking cases to trial