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CLASS ACTIONS

If you are the target of a class action, you know that how you respond and the ultimate result can dramatically affect your company’s reputation or even its survival. There’s so much at stake that the attorneys you select for your defense will make a tremendous difference in the outcome.

  • Class Actions Representative Experience
    • Obtained a dismissal with prejudice in multidistrict litigation in the Middle District of Florida of claims alleging our clients had conspired to suppress the reimbursement rate for collision repairs in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act and various states trade practices laws.
    • Won an appeal resulting in the decertification of a class of hydrogen peroxide purchasers and the clarification of class-certification standards in a landmark ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in a Sherman Act §1 case.
    • Won an appeal resulting in the decertification of a class of direct purchasers of plastics additives in a Sherman Act § 1 case, and on remand, defeated plaintiffs’ motion to re-certify a class.
    • Obtained pre-answer dismissal of class actions brought by direct and indirect purchasers of methyl methacrylate and polymethyl methacrylate.
    • Defeated class certification in a suit for medical monitoring brought on behalf of former employees of a defunct textile dye plant in Paterson, N.J.
    • Defeated efforts to certify either a nationwide or a single state class in an action filed in New Jersey under the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act by an out-of-state consumer against a New Jersey-based company.
    • Defeated nationwide class certification in a product-liability case against a car manufacturer and obtained voluntary dismissal of the remaining state class claims.
    • Obtained voluntary dismissal with prejudice of all claims in a purported nationwide class action brought under the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act against an automotive importer.
    • Obtained a precedential Third Circuit decision recognizing that “ascertainability” of class membership is inherent in the Rule 23 certification analysis and delineating the limits of applying a “presumption of causation” to consumer-fraud matters, reversing the District Court’s grant of class certification.
    • Obtained pre-answer dismissal of a putative nationwide consumer-fraud class action for failure to demonstrate an actual loss where consumer failed to take advantage of manufacturer’s limited warranty when product malfunctioned during warranty period and striking class-action allegations where it was clear from the complaint that individual fact questions would predominate.
    • Achieved denial of nationwide and, later, single-state certification of consumer-fraud/false-advertising claims on various grounds, including the plaintiff’s inability to pursue claims under a “price-inflation” damages theory.
    • Defeated an $11 billion antitrust class-action lawsuit against a pharmaceutical wholesaler, as well as 100 opt-out lawsuits, in an 11-week jury trial in federal court in Chicago, three summary judgment motions and three separate appeals to the Seventh Circuit.
    • Obtained pre-answer dismissal of putative consumer-fraud class action where alleged defect had not manifested based on lack of Article III standing.
    • Obtained summary judgment in a nationwide putative class action under the FCRA.
    • Represented a coal company in a class-action lawsuit under the WARN Act and litigated the case in federal court in Pittsburgh through class identification.
    • Defeated class certification on behalf of a major national retailer in an ERISA severance-pay action.
    • Defended a mining industry client in ERISA class action in federal court in Kentucky.
    • Represented a metals industry client in a Title VII class action in federal court in Pittsburgh.
    • Defended an agricultural industry client in an ERISA class action involving retirement plan benefits in federal court in Pittsburgh.
    • Represented one of the nation’s largest life insurance companies in a nationwide collective action coupled with state-law claims brought under Rule 23.
    • Defended a mutual fund and investment management client in an FLSA collective action in federal court in Pittsburgh and in a corresponding Pennsylvania state court wage-payment class action and moved the case to private arbitration while it still involved only a single plaintiff.
    • Defended FLSA collective action in federal court in Pittsburgh for a metals manufacturing client.
    • Avoided class certification of an FLSA collective action filed in federal court in Pittsburgh on behalf of an Ohio-based liability insurer.
    • Served as counsel to a manufacturing client in the appeals phase of an FLSA collective action before U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
    • Defended an FLSA/ERISA class action in Ohio federal court.
    • Defeated class certification in an ERISA severance pay action.
    • Defeated an FLSA collective action against a national retail client related to several other such actions and five threatened state court wage payment actions.
    • Defended a credit-scoring agency against a purported class action bringing Sherman Act Section 1 claims in the Western District of Pennsylvania.
    • Represented client in a federal court ERISA class action where it had acted as both a lender and a trustee for an ESOP.
    • Represented client in a securities class action relating to allegedly misstated earnings.
    • Acted as co-counsel in a Pittsburgh federal court class action against a major financial institution regarding alleged securities violations.
    • Represented client to verdict on a consumer class action related to usury laws and excessive interest.
    • Served on part of the team on an Allegheny County class action regarding credit card interest rate miscalculations brought against major financial institutions. The case involved computer programs that allegedly improperly calculated interest on bank issued credit cards.
    • Represented client in a class action under Pennsylvania's consumer-protection laws, arising from foreign transaction fees a credit card company was charging customers.
    • Secured a class action victory for a client when a federal district court in Philadelphia denied plaintiff’s motion for class certification.
    • Obtained dismissal at the trial level and then favorably negotiated to prevent an appeal from going forward of a state court class action in which we defended a community development district that allegedly improperly utilized proceeds from bonds issued by the district and misappropriated amenity fees paid by homeowners. The opposing party was forced to pay part of Buchanan's fees in order to settle the matter.