Class Action, Derivative, and Multi-Party Litigation

Clients of all types and sizes turn to Taft to deliver our extensive experience in class action litigation and complex multi-party litigation. We have defended and prosecuted class action and multi-party cases involving a wide variety of legal issues, including:

• Consumer claims
• Contractual and other commercial claims
• Data privacy
• Employment
• Constitutional
• Antitrust
• Product liability claims
• Insurance claims
• Securities
• Environmental
• Personal injuries and toxic torts

We find that in the class action arena, the incidences of actual trials to verdict on the merits of a lawsuit are rare. More typically, the outcome of the litigation is determined early in preliminary issues, including whether the initial complaint is dismissed or a class is certified.

Our litigators have experience in defending class actions filed by groups of our clients’ customers or consumers and pursuing and certifying class claims. We have extensive experience defending and prosecuting all varieties of class action lawsuits, including for prominent retailers, automotive and consumer goods manufacturers, and banks and financial institutions. Historically, we have been successful at both getting dismissals before arriving at the class certification state and defeating class certification and securing early class certification for our clients.

At a very sophisticated level, we defend public corporations and their officers and directors in securities class action litigation, shareholder derivative actions, and ERISA actions in state and federal courts. We have represented large classes of individuals claiming injury from toxic exposures in precedent-setting class action and multi-district proceedings. Taft also regularly represents corporations, boards, and board committees and individuals in SEC and self-regulatory organization enforcement matters.

Our attorneys have acquired extensive experience in all aspects of class-certification proceedings (successfully defeating and obtaining certification) by:

• Selecting, defending, and challenging related technical and scientific experts.
• Managing massive document reviews and production challenges.
• Navigating complex multi-district or multi-state proceedings.
• Negotiating with political, governmental, and regulatory entities.
• Addressing related criminal investigations.
• Exploring alternative dispute mechanisms (such as ADR, mediation, consent orders, and settlements).

We manage not only the traditional investigative, discovery, pre-trial, and appellate work in these cases, but also the development of the overall case-management strategy based on the goals of our clients. Our collaborative working relationship with clients leads to more cost-effective, efficient, and innovative methods of resolution.

Our attorneys have garnered national and international recognition for pre-eminence and achievements in both the defense and prosecution of these cases. We have been honored by prestigious legal forums such as Chambers USA, Best Lawyers in America, Super Lawyers, and Benchmark Litigation.