On the Pulse…Class Action Practice Group
Defense Digest, Vol. 23, No. 2, June 2017
By Jay S. Rothman, Esq.*
Class actions come in a variety of flavors. Unfortunately, they are rarely “vanilla.” However, whether consumer, commercial, financial products, environmental, employment, manufacturing, data security, an MDL action or one of the other myriad flavors, one thing is constant—if not properly defended, class actions have potentially devastating effects on your business’s reputation and bottom line. These actions are almost always prosecuted by an experienced plaintiffs’ class action bar.
To meet the needs of our clients who find themselves embroiled in these matters, Marshall Dennehey has a dedicated team of lawyers who use a multi-disciplinary approach to finding practical solutions in the face of class actions. Our ability to draw from 38 deep, diverse and substantive practices groups is what differentiates Marshall Dennehey from other firms practicing in this area. We coordinate this acumen with other litigators who comprise our class action technician team to provide our clients with a comprehensive approach to meeting their objectives.
Critical to virtually all class action defense strategy is blocking the path to class certification. Accurately assessing the likelihood of certification is what our clients need to know, and we have a proven track record in counseling our clients in the face of this risk. Because we are able to draw from our substantive acumen in the discreet area of law which is the subject of the class action, we can quickly identify the critical issues to raise with the court at the preliminary phase of the case, which often results in what would otherwise be a newsworthy event to a trivial passing line.
Our infrastructure allows us to handle these data- and document-intensive cases with efficiencies that provide real cost savings to our clients. We have the technologies to internally handle e-discovery, and we pass on those savings directly to our clients.
At any one time, we are actively handling an inventory of dozens of class actions. While we have enjoyed great success at the preliminary phase of these cases, the lawyers at Marshall Dennehey are also prepared to continue the fight into the courtroom for trial should the matter so proceed. Ours is not a firm with a handful of litigators who comprise the litigation department, who have handled a few class actions in their career and who seldom try cases to verdict. Rather, Marshall Dennehey has over 500 lawyers who litigate in the state and federal courts and self-regulatory entities and administrative agencies. In short, if you need your case tried to verdict, we have the depth and the experience.
* Jay is Co-Chair of the Class Action Practice Group. He works in our Philadelphia, Pennsylvania office and can be reached at jsrothman@mdwcg.com or 215.575.2802.
Defense Digest, Vol. 23, No. 2, June 2017. Defense Digest is prepared by Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin to provide information on recent legal developments of interest to our readers. This publication is not intended to provide legal advice for a specific situation or to create an attorney-client relationship. ATTORNEY ADVERTISING pursuant to New York RPC 7.1. © 2017 Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin. All Rights Reserved. This article may not be reprinted without the express written permission of our firm. For reprints, contact tamontemuro@mdwcg.com.