Consumer

• Defend a major health care network in a class action asserting Consumer Sales Practices Act (CSPA), fraud, and breach of contract claims related to rates charged for copies of medical and billing records
• Represent a leading private-label manufacturer of flushable wipes in class actions brought by consumers and municipalities that allege violations of various state consumer protection laws and common-law claims and seek national injunctive relief
• Represent national retailers in consumer class actions involving gift certificates, return policies on merchandise, truncation of credit card receipts, and false advertising
• Represent a food company in a nationwide consumer class action challenging the use of partially hydrogenated oils (PHO) and the use of the term “No Trans-Fat” on product labels
• Defend a food manufacturer in a “Made in USA” false advertising class action, which includes CLRA claims
• Served as lead trial counsel in a class action related to “natural” claims brought by an individual; obtained a nuisance-value resolution before protracted litigation
• Obtained dismissal for a large consumer products company in a class action asserting claims for violations of the state statutes, including CLRA, involving an anti-wrinkle/anti-aging cream product line
• Served as trial counsel and national coordinating counsel in class actions in four states alleging design and manufacturing defects in residential furnaces; all cases were resolved after class certification was denied in one jurisdiction
• Obtained dismissal and a favorable settlement without payment by the client of a class action against a leading ecommerce subscription service in a nationwide class action alleging breach of contract, fraud, RICO, and violation of state consumer protection statute claims, including CLRA
• Represented a nationwide retailer/rental agency in a consumer class action alleging violations of state consumer protection actions, including CLRA, regarding pricing, rates, and discounting
• Served as lead counsel representing a major credit reporting agency in more than 80 cases involving the FCRA in federal courts throughout the Midwest, including putative class actions
• Obtained a favorable settlement for a real estate lead-generation company of a TCPA class action
• Represented a banking association and its independent contractors/service providers in a case alleging violations of federal consumer statutes on credit transactions and alleged fraudulent practices
• Represented a national banking institution in a consumer class action arising from a credit card protection offer

Life Sciences Litigation

• Served as trial counsel and international coordinating counsel for over 15 years in individual and class action proceedings related to aesthetic medicine throughout the world for an international medical device manufacturer; acted as lead or co-lead appellate counsel in multiple affirmances in state and federal circuit courts
• Obtained dismissal of a medical monitoring class action against an international medical device manufacturer of transvaginal mesh
• Obtained dismissal with prejudice of a putative medical monitoring class action regarding a needle-free jet injection device used to administer a flu vaccine
• Represented a pharmaceutical company in a consumer class action arising from the Digitek® recall; class rejected
• Obtained summary judgment for a medical device company because plaintiff was a member of a non-opt-out class action settlement in a case involving injuries allegedly caused by silicone gel breast implants
• Obtained dismissal for a generic drug manufacturer in a class action asserting claims for breach of implied warranty of merchantability, fraudulent concealment, and unfair business practices; successfully defended judgment on appeal
• Defended a pharmaceutical company in a class action alleging economic damages resulting from off-label promotion; the matter settled favorably for the client shortly before trial
• Represented a pharmaceutical company in a class action following contraceptive recall

Employment

• Represent employers in numerous wage-and-hour law class actions and collective actions under federal and state law
• Represented a national medical staffing firm and its California joint venture in a wage-and-hour class action involving claims of failure to provide meal and rest breaks, failure to pay overtime, failure to reimburse expenses, and failure to provide accurate, itemized wage statements
• Represented a consolidated restaurant group in a wage-and-hour class action under California law
• Represented large retailers against employment class actions that included allegations of unfair competition and/or unfair business practice claims, in addition to underlying misclassification and unpaid overtime claims
• Represented a foodservice client in the defense of a collective action, resulting in decertification of the class and the restructuring of the client’s operations to ensure compliance with the law and minimize the risk of future legal claims
• Represented a retail client in the defense of a wage-and-hour collective action, resulting in the plaintiffs’ voluntary dismissal of the claim with no payment by the client
• Served as lead or co-lead regional counsel in a series of class action employment and discrimination lawsuits, obtaining seven pre-trial wins, including Sixth Circuit precedent-setting decisions relating to reverse discrimination claims
• Represented national clothing retailers in consumer class actions alleging their employment applications violated a statute prohibiting inquiry on prior misdemeanor drug convictions
• Defended manufacturers of vinyl chloride in personal injury, wrongful death, and class action claims in federal and state courts throughout the country relating to workers’ alleged occupational exposure to vinyl chloride

ERISA and Pension

• Served as lead counsel for internal ESOP trustees and the plan administrator in the defense of class action ERISA claims for breach of fiduciary duty, prohibited transactions and injunctive relief, and a parallel state-law shareholder derivative claim asserted by plan participants
• Served as co-counsel in the defense of ERISA breach of fiduciary duty and prohibited transaction claims asserted against the trustees of two union-sponsored multi-employer ERISA plans; obtained dismissal of all claims upon the filing of two motions to dismiss
• Served as lead counsel in a class action ERISA benefits claim regarding the proper credits owed to plan participants in a defined benefit pension plan after a change in control
• Served as special counsel to the independent settlement fiduciary upon the agreement to a $13.5-million settlement of class action ERISA breach of fiduciary duty claims regarding the fees incurred by a 401(k) plan
• Served as lead trial counsel in two class action ERISA cases regarding the benefits owed to class members after a corporate change in control
• Represented a state retirement system in litigation brought by a putative class of higher education employees who participate in alternative retirement plans and contest the right of the retirement system to hold back a statutorily required “mitigating rate” from the employer’s contribution to their retirement plans

Insurance

• Represent a major insurance carrier as national counsel in numerous class actions across the country challenging whether sales tax and title fees should be included in the calculation of the actual cash value of a total loss vehicle
• Represent a major insurance carrier as Ohio counsel in a class action challenging the calculation of the actual cash value of the repair of damaged property
• Represented a major insurance carrier in a class action seeking medical payments coverage; obtained voluntary dismissal of the case after dispositive briefing
• Served as trial counsel for a major insurance carrier in a class action of more than 100,000 policyholders during a 22-year class period involving windshield repairs; obtained a favorable settlement prior to trial
• Represented a major insurance carrier as Ohio counsel in a class action alleging price fixing through direct repair programs
• Obtained a voluntary dismissal of a class action against a major insurance carrier alleging a pattern of bad faith negotiations and settlement practices

Securities

• Represent a law firm in a securities fraud and professional negligence class action
• Represent offering sponsor of a private placement investment in a Delaware statutory trust in a federal court class action brought by trust investors alleging failure to disclose material facts, and related state court proceedings alleging breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and other claims
• Served as lead counsel in defending a company and board members in a transaction-related shareholder class action lawsuit brought by a national shareholder plaintiff firm; defeated claims for injunctive relief and obtained complete dismissal of lawsuit
• Served as co-lead counsel in defending a company against fiduciary duty class actions brought against a director in connection with an unsolicited proposal by a third party; obtained complete dismissal

Appellate

• Obtained reversal of certification in the Third Circuit of a consumer class action regarding run-flat tires on luxury vehicles
• Prevailed in two class action ERISA cases regarding the benefits owed to class members after a corporate change in control in the Sixth Circuit and Eighth Circuit Courts of Appeal
• Obtained reversal of court of appeals’ class action certification of “Light” smokers in a case of first impression under the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act before the Ohio Supreme Court
• Obtained affirmation of dismissal of class plaintiffs’ merit appeals from decisions of a Special Master appointed to oversee the settlement trust in a case alleging defective prostheses