Class Actions

Class action lawsuits – no matter how frivolous – frequently involve bet-the-company litigation. At Squire Sanders, we have the resources and experience to handle these high-stakes matters. We have successfully represented clients all over the United States in statewide, multistate and nationwide class action lawsuits. We have defended our clients in a number of multidistrict litigation (MDL) proceedings and have appeared before the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation.

Our class action experience covers a variety of industries – automotive, pharmaceutical, petrochemical, consumer and commercial lending, and insurance to name a few. And we have litigated class actions in nearly every area of the law including:

• Antitrust
• Consumer Fraud
• Environmental
• ERISA
• Labor & Employment
• Securities

No matter the legal issue, we have seen it and successfully represented clients involved in it.

We have also achieved precedent-setting successes in class certification proceedings. For example, after achieving decertification of a 29-jurisdiction class of consumers pursuing claims relating to the labeling and advertising of clothes dryers in 2008, we successfully moved to dismiss the individual plaintiff's claim by mooting it with an offer of judgment (and with the plaintiff ultimately taking nothing) and defended that result on appeal. We then successfully convinced the Seventh Circuit in 2010 to order the district court to enter an injunction against all class members and their counsel from seeking to certify a similar class in state or federal court. (Thorogood v. Sears, Roebuck & Co.) This matter is changing the way courts look at class action certification, with lawyers citing the precedent in arguments presented in state and federal appeals courts including the US Supreme Court.

Previously, we represented Bridgestone in the MDL involving Ford Explorers in which the Seventh Circuit also decertified a nationwide class.

We recognize, however, that a cookie-cutter approach to class action litigation can be ineffective. Every class action is unique, and we tailor our representation to fit the situation and to get the right results for our clients. Whether it be obtaining dismissal of the case prior to the class certification stage or defeating class certification, we take an individual and creative approach to each matter. We also recognize that fighting and defeating class certification is sometimes less advantageous to our client’s objectives than a favorable and well-crafted settlement that makes economic sense and insures the client against the uncertainty and expense of future litigation. For example, one of our clients wanted to resolve all potential liability associated with a transaction in a single settlement. Thus, we filed a reverse no-opt-out class action naming all the injured parties in a single action, which was then certified and settled within six months.

Importantly, our class action litigators are also seasoned trial lawyers. While trials in class action cases are rare given their size and complexity, we are fully prepared to take a class action to trial if that is the right decision for our client. Recently, we tried to a jury a 4,000 member class action case involving claims by local government and school districts, businesses and private homeowners for injunctive relief, nuisance, trespass, strict liability and fraud in relation to refinery-related contamination. After a 17-week trial, we obtained a complete defense verdict from the jury. This case (BP v. Neodesha, Kansas) was featured in the March 2008 edition of the American Lawyer.