Class Action Defense

Our team effectively manages complex class actions that allege antitrust and unfair competition violations, including price fixing, no-poach, market allocation, output restrictions, and actual or attempted monopolization. Our attorneys are adept at litigating complex disputes, including at trial and on appeal, and navigating the procedural and logistical challenges of large multidistrict litigation class actions. We are skilled courtroom advocates with a deep understanding of antitrust and competition law and successfully defend our clients against class actions, combining substantive antitrust knowledge with practical experience and knowledge of our clients’ businesses.

We have a track record of successfully litigating federal and state consumer protection matters across the country. Our leading consumer class action defense team provides defense and counseling regarding common law claims sounding in fraud, breach of warranties, and unjust enrichment, federal statutes like the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and state-level statutes such as state consumer protection statutes, PROP 65, California’s Legal Remedies Act, the California Consumer Privacy Act and the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act.

We represent colleges, universities, academical medical centers, public and independent schools, and other educational institutions on a range of class action cases. Recent representative matters include two D.C. universities sued by students seeking tuition relief and fee refunds as a result of the shift to remote instruction during the Covid-19 pandemic, RICO allegations alleging a scheme to defame a putative class, settlement for a university medical center accused of disclosure of protective medical records, and courtroom dismissal of a class action lawsuit regarding student athlete scholarships at Ivy League universities.

Leading retailers and food and beverage manufacturers turn to Crowell for defense of class actions involving ingredients, labeling, and other claims. Having litigated against dozens of plaintiffs’ firms, we know the precedent and the most effective arguments, and we reach successful resolutions while minimizing exposure for our clients. We work with clients at every point along the supply chain and involving all product lines—from snack foods to pet foods, and from alcoholic beverages to dietary supplements.

Crowell has extensive experience defending clients in the health care and managed care industries across a broad range of class action litigation. Combining the skills and legal acumen of lawyers in our top-ranked Health Care group, we represent clients in class action lawsuits in federal and state courts across the U.S., including all levels of the appellate process. Our team helps clients understand the legal and business implications of health care litigation and crafts appropriate resolutions that help businesses achieve their legal and business goals. For more information on our Health Care class action experience, click here.

Crowell has a history of representing publicly traded companies, private businesses, and other employers in high-stakes class and collective actions in both federal and state courts. Our team has successfully managed complex cases involving class-wide claims of discrimination in pay, promotion, and other employment practices, violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and state wage and hour laws, violations of ERISA, no-poach antitrust lawsuits, and other workplace disputes. For more information on our Labor & Employment Class Action experience, click here.

We have defended domestic and international businesses in a broad array of class actions and multidistrict litigations claiming personal injury or economic loss from alleged defective products. In regulated industries, we partner with our deep bench of regulatory attorneys to enhance our defense strategy. Recent cases have involved consumer products, personal care products, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, toxic chemicals, and electrical appliances. Our team has successfully resolved matters for our clients in state and federal courts throughout the country and have coordinated numerous multi-jurisdictional defenses. For more information on our product liability work, click here.

Our attorneys handle all aspects of data breaches, cyber incidents, and privacy issues, successfully defending clients against class actions. Recently, we defended a healthcare client in multiple class actions arising from two breaches that affected 1.5 million members. In addition to managing the class action legal strategy, we resolved a U.S. Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights (OCR) investigation without fines or corrective actions. We also represent companies in class actions for alleged state privacy law violations and recently succeeded in a federal financial privacy law class action.

Crowell’s multidisciplinary team represents and advises transportation clients including railroads, automotive manufacturers, aviation players, and others confronting class and mass actions across industry sectors. For CSX Transportation, we have served as lead and/or national coordinating counsel in class actions involving purchasers of rail freight services, train derailments, occupational exposures, chemical release event, and fiber optic cables. In the automotive sector, we have repeatedly defeated class certification and achieved dismissal for global OEM and parts suppliers in class actions and in individual product litigation.