Class Action Defense

Related Professionals

Venable's nationally recognized class action defense team forms a cornerstone of the firm's elite litigation practice group. We have successfully defended against class action claims involving consumer protection laws, antitrust, labor and employment, privacy law, and securities matters in courts across the country.

Our team is adept at developing solutions that fit the circumstance of our clients across a wide range of industries. These include food/beverage, dietary supplements, financial services, restaurant and hospitality, pharmaceutical and life sciences, media and entertainment, retail, and transportation, among others. In state and federal courts across the country, Venable routinely succeeds in dismissing putative class claims on motion before discovery can even commence. When cases aren't disposed of on the pleadings, our team has had significant success defeating motions to certify classes—swiftly reducing the potential exposure on a case from many millions of dollars to a negligible amount. And we have had considerable success in excluding expert testimony and shepherding the facts of each case to win at summary judgment. Should our early case assessment lead our clients to explore settlement, we are skilled at structuring creative settlements of complex class claims—settlements that received the required court approval and obtained the broadest possible binding effect, while also minimizing the economic impact on our clients.

Given our strong track record, we frequently serve as national coordinating counsel in class actions involving multiple states and federal districts, often using the Multi-District Litigation (MDL) process to consolidate and transfer multiple litigations to one forum. When the MDL procedure is not available, we have been successful at coordinating discovery and motion practice to minimize the impact on our clients while strategically positioning multiple cases for success. Whatever the case might involve, we are well versed in the complex procedure applicable to class and mass tort actions and work strategically to use it to our clients' advantage.

Experience

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Advertising and Marketing

Currently representing an international fast-food chain in a putative nationwide class action alleging false advertising and violations of California's unfair competition and consumer protection laws
Currently defending a dietary supplement company in a purported federal nationwide consumer class action involving joint health support claims for the company's glucosamine and chondroitin dietary supplement
Successfully secured dismissal with prejudice of a class action complaint against a large dietary supplement company for allegations of false and misleading labeling of the companies' testosterone-boosting supplement products
Represented a nationwide supplement retailer against false labeling allegations related to 16 different products. Venable obtained a dismissal with prejudice
Successfully defended an ABA-accredited law school against a putative class action filed in New York State Supreme Court by three of the school's alumni alleging that the school published misleading statistical information regarding its graduates' employment rates and salaries. Our motion to dismiss the amended complaint was granted in full and upheld on appeal

Antitrust

Secured a summary judgment victory on horizontal conspiracy claims for client Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. in major "reverse payment" case. This marked one of the first cases to reach the summary judgment stage after the Supreme Court's recent decision in FTC v. Actavis, 133 S. Ct. 2223 (2013)
Represented a sleep products trade association in connection with a multi-district litigation civil antitrust class action alleging output restrictions and price fixing in the polyurethane foam market
Represented a pharmaceutical trade association defending multi-district litigation Section 1 claims alleging price and output restrictions arising from data collection and reporting activities on behalf of a putative class of hospital and other health service providers
Represented a group of domestic steel companies in a putative class action alleging horizontal price fixing by Chinese producers of manganese
Successfully resolved class member and opt-out claims in MDL litigation involving a transportation industry client arising out of a criminal prosecution of price fixing and related conduct in that particular transportation industry

Labor and Employment

Representing a large media company in a wage and hour class action, in which the plaintiff alleges that the employer deprived employees of overtime wages and missed breaks. After several months of litigation, the plaintiff abandoned the overtime and missed break claims and substantially narrowed its claim for inaccurate wage statements. Currently, the parties are briefing the class certification of the significantly narrowed claim
Representing a global leader in the aerospace and defense high-precision manufacturing industry in a class action lawsuit alleging "wage and hour" violations

Privacy

Defeated class certification in a California class action involving alleged privacy violations arising from our client's, a research and publishing company, alleged recording of telephone communications between its sales force and customers
Won a motion to dismiss federal statutory privacy claims against an Internet advertising company in an MDL class action pending in the District of Delaware
Secured summary judgment in the Southern District of California of putative class claims challenging ordinary course of business telephone call monitoring and recording under California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) and 12 other state privacy statutes
Won a putative class action for an international security company in the Central District Court of California. Plaintiff alleged that our client failed to protect its employees' personal, confidential information from theft, in violation of privacy statutes
Successfully moved to dismiss with prejudice a putative nationwide class action filed in the Southern District of Texas against a national bank. The putative class alleged that the bank's marketing and administration of life insurance products to account holders violated state and federal privacy and RICO laws
Defeated class certification in a putative multi-state class action challenging our client's alleged data pass and other magazine subscription continuity programs, including cancel/save and IVR system issues

Securities

Defending an oil exploration and extraction consulting firm against securities fraud claims asserted in the Southern District of New York by shareholders of an oil company that retained our client to assess oil resource reserves in Canada. The case squarely presents this issue of the impact of meaningful cautionary statements contained in consultants' reports circulated in the securities markets. It is expected to have a direct impact on the evolution of the "bespeaks caution" doctrine
Successfully defended a national clothing retailer against a securities class action and several shareholder derivative suits alleging damages in excess of $100 million. In the course of the representation, Venable obtained cutting-edge rulings confirming a securities defendant's ability to discover the identity of an alleged corporate whistleblower (see Lefkoe v. Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc., 577 F.3d 240 (4th Cir. 2009)), and limiting the information available to a prospective plaintiff under §220 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (see Norfolk County Retirement System v. Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc., 2009 WL 353746 (Del. Ch. Feb. 12, 2009))
Successfully defended the former chief financial officer of a national bank in class action litigation alleging violations of the 1933 and 1934 Acts. After successfully moving to dismiss a related shareholder derivative suit commenced in Puerto Rico District Court, Venable successfully negotiated a settlement of the securities fraud suit brought against the client without any admission of culpability and on terms favorable to the client
Represented Royal Ahold and U.S. Foodservice (USF) in matters arising out of the restatement of Royal Ahold's financial statements as a result of accounting irregularities of its subsidiary, USF, which resulted in one of the largest securities claim settlements in history. Venable participated in the MDL securities class action brought by shareholders under the anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities laws, and was the lead counsel for Royal Ahold and USF in litigation against the former CEO of USF for breach of his fiduciary duties in connection with the accounting irregularities at USF

Recognition

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U.S. News – Best Lawyers
- Best Law Firms, Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants (Tier 1), National, 2011 – 2020, 2022
- Best Law Firms, Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants (Tier 1), Baltimore, 2011 – 2020, 2022 - 2023