CLASS ACTION PRESERVATION PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS

*   Argued pending appeals challenging class action bans in the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Tenth and Eleventh Circuits, Supreme Courts of Nevada and Kentucky, and Florida appeals court.

*   Briefing appeals challenging class action bans in the Florida Supreme Court and state intermediate appellate courts in Nevada and Ohio.

2009

*   Won Masters/Murphy v. DirecTV in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, striking down the company’s choice-of-law provision that would preclude nationwide class actions.

*   Won Carideo v. Dell, Inc., a Washington federal court decision invalidating an arbitration clause and class action ban requiring individual arbitration before the National Arbitration Forum.

*   Won decisions against three payday lenders in North Carolina striking down class action bans in their contracts’ mandatory arbitration clauses and certifying class actions against them.

*   Won Homa v. American Express in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, eliminating a circuit split and rejecting the credit card company’s arguments that federal preemption, its class action ban, and its choice-of-law provision allowed it to bar class actions against it.

*   Won Coneff v. AT&T , a Washington federal court decision rejecting the phone company’s arguments that federal preemption, the class action ban in its mandatory arbitration clause, and its choice-of-law provision barred a nationwide class action against it under Washington law.

*   Helped win In re American Express Merchants Litigation in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, rejecting the company’s class action ban and preserving antitrust class actions.

2008

*   Won Fiser v. Dell, Inc., a unanimous New Mexico Supreme Court decision preserving consumer class actions in that state and striking down a class action ban and choice-of-law provision because they would “unilaterally exempt” Dell “from New Mexico consumer protection laws.”

*   Won McKee v. AT&T , a unanimous Washington Supreme Court decision striking down the phone company’s consumer class action ban, refusing to apply its choice-of-law provision, and rejecting its argument that the Federal Communications Act preempts Washington state law.

*   Helped win Tillman v. Commercial Credit Loans, Inc. , in the North Carolina Supreme Court, striking down its mandatory arbitration clause banning class actions.

*   Won Betts v. McKenzie, striking down a Florida payday lender's class action ban because it would effectively gut the state’s consumer protection and lending laws.

2007

*   Won Scott v. Cingular Wireless , a Washington Supreme Court decision preserving consumer class actions in that state and striking the phone company’s class action ban because it “exculpates Cingular from liability for a whole class of wrongful conduct.”

*   Helped win Gentry v. Circuit City Stores , Inc. , a California Supreme Court decision preserving employment class actions in that state and finding class action bans could undermine workers’ rights and “pose a serious obstacle to the enforcement of the state’s overtime laws.”

*   Helped win Skirchak v. Dynamics Research Co. in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, finding an employment class action ban unconscionable and unenforceable.

*   Testified before both Houses of Congress on the dangers of class action bans in arbitration clauses and the benefits of class actions.

*   Organized and co-sponsored a nationally-prominent conference on “Justice and the Role of Class Actions” with the American Constitution Society and Cardozo Law School in New York.

*   Won Reuter v. Davis , striking down a Florida payday lender's class action ban as unconscionable because enforcing it would be “depriving Ms. Reuter of any claims against Check ‘n Go.”

*   Helped defeat and correct Netflix’s proposed nationwide class action settlement in California, which would have imposed automatic credit card charges and hurt many class members. The automatic charges were dropped and Netflix gave the class members real relief instead.

Earlier

*   Won Discover Bank v. Superior Court in the California Supreme Court, preserving consumer class actions in that state and finding a credit card issuer’s class action ban unconscionable.

*   Helped defeat and correct Verizon’s proposed settlement in the Maryland Bell Atlantic case, which would have paid the class $156,000 and class counsel $13 million. The revised settlement paid the class $16.8 million and class counsel a reasonable fee.

*   Helped win State ex rel. Dunlap v. Berger in the West Virginia high court, striking down the class action ban in an installment retailer’s mandatory arbitration clause as unconscionable.

*   Won Ting v. AT&T in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, holding the long distance company’s consumer class action ban unconscionable and unenforceable.

Ongoing

*   Consulted with plaintiffs’ counsel and helped plaintiffs win important decisions striking down class action bans or limitations in cases throughout the nation, including in several U.S. Courts of Appeal, Alabama, California, Illinois, Missouri, Ohio, Oregon, and Wisconsin.

*   Educated the legal community and public about class actions’ critical social value, corporate attacks on class actions, and how to defeat them through presentations at numerous other conferences, continuing legal education programs, meetings nationwide, and articles in several nationally-circulated publications.