Practice Areas: Class Action Litigation

Consider the potential payout of a class action suit, and you’ll know you’re not just at risk of losing a case. You’re at risk of losing a company. In this situation, it’s imperative that you retain a firm with the experience, the infrastructure and the technology to handle the huge demands of class action litigation.

McGuireWoods is that firm. With more than 25 years in the defense of major class actions and complex litigation, we have continually expanded our practice and refined our capabilities not only in defending class action claims but also in the management of documents and coordination of multiple cases in complex litigation.

We have developed new and innovative technology and logistical capabilities needed to complement traditional litigation skills to support large-scale class action litigation.

Our class action lawyers have represented clients in countywide, statewide and national class actions in state and federal courts across the United States, and they’ve also handled class actions under the new acts in Canada. These lawyers come from several departments, including commercial, products liability, labor and employment, environmental, banking and antitrust. They have experience defending class action litigation involving:

• Civil rights
• Consumer credit
• Employment
• Products liability, and
• Securities claims

At McGuireWoods, our experience ranges from certifications to notice campaigns, to class discovery, to mediations, settlement negotiations and trials. Our attorneys also counsel clients on risk management issues to minimize the client’s exposure to potential class litigation.

Representative Work

• Served for many years as national counsel for a major chemical manufacturing defendant in the polybutylene plumbing litigation. Case involved multiple national class actions filed in Texas and Alabama courts and attempted statewide class actions in 25 other states. The Alabama national class action was successfully settled and the other class actions were dismissed. Successful resolution required extensive negotiations and cooperation among many different plaintiffs’ firms and several co-defendants.

• Represented the manufacturer of the steering system used aboard the Exxon Valdez in a case brought in Alaska federal court after the ship’s grounding and subsequent oil spill off the coast of Alaska. This suit eventually involved seven class actions.

• Represented public companies and major accounting firms in federal securities class actions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, including claims under Sections 10 (b) and 14. Successfully defeated class actions at the motion to dismiss and class certification stages.

• Represented several banking clients in class actions filed in state and federal courts involving such claims as truth-in-lending violations, breach of contract, and fraud.