Defending and Resolving Class Litigation | Service | Services

Defending and Resolving Class Litigation

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Dickstein Shapiro has achieved remarkable success in some of the nation’s most visible and significant class actions—both in defending against class litigation aggressively in court and in employing the class mechanism creatively to limit future exposure and bring finality to open-ended litigation. The representative engagements listed below include high-profile defenses in federal and state courts across the United States, as well as singular achievements—by the firm’s Complex Dispute Resolution (CDR) Group—in designing, negotiating, and implementing innovative class settlements and other complex compensation programs.

Class Action Defense

Dickstein Shapiro has defended class action lawsuits targeting the nation’s leading pharmaceutical, telecommunications, energy, chemical, securities, tobacco, and financial companies.

In re Pharmaceutical Industry Average Wholesale Price (AWP), Multidistrict Litigation, U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts (and related class actions)
One of the broadest litigation attacks ever on the pharmaceutical industry, the “AWP Litigation” challenges pricing practices extending back to the early 1990s under false claims, unfair trade, and other statutes. The litigation includes approximately 10 state and federal class actions, State Attorney General suits, qui tam actions, and Justice Department investigations and civil actions. The firm serves as Baxter Healthcare Corporation’s national litigation and settlement counsel and as settlement counsel for two other defendants. The firm was lead coordination counsel for all industry defendants in several states.
Lead Paint Litigation (state courts across the country)
The firm represents E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company as national strategic counsel in the defense of class and related non-class and government litigation involving lead-based paint products. The firm also serves as resolution counsel, advising the company on pro active measures to address and forestall potential government suits.
In re NASDAQ Market-Makers Antitrust Litigation, Multidistrict Litigation, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
The firm served as litigation and settlement counsel for Spear, Leads & Kellogg and as co-liaison counsel for 37 of the largest NASDAQ market-maker defendants in 20 class action lawsuits and related SEC and Justice Department investigations.
In re Nationwide Fiber-Optic Cable Litigation, Multidistrict Litigation, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana
The firm represented AT&T in defending multiple class lawsuits in nationwide and statewide landowner class litigation involving easement rights in railroad and other utility corridors throughout the United States.
Prescription Drug Importation and Pricing Litigation (federal and state court litigation)
The firm represented Pfizer Inc in defending class litigation involving efforts to prevent the illegal importation of prescription drugs from Canada and concerning the pricing of prescription drugs in the United States.
Energy Price Manipulation Litigation (federal court and regulatory litigation and related investigations)
The firm represented Duke Energy in dozens of class actions (all of which were dismissed), as well as before State Attorneys General, federal and state legislative investigating committees, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and U.S. Attorney Offices in connection with claims of electricity price manipulation in western states.
In re Wireless Telephone Radio Frequency Emissions, Multidistrict Litigation, U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
The firm represents Audiovox Communication and Kyocera Wireless as national litigation counsel in class litigation alleging personal injury from cell phone usage.
Farmers Group Stock Options Litigation, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
The firm represented PaineWebber, Inc. in defending a federal class action and an arbitration involving securities fraud and RICO claims in connection with options trading in Farmers Group after the announcement of a takeover by BAT.
DeLoach v. Philip Morris Cos., U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
The firm served as counsel for Lorillard Tobacco Company in defending a putative class action brought by tobacco farmers claiming that aspects of the tobacco industry’s master settlement agreement with numerous states violated antitrust laws.
In re Stock Exchange Options Trading Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
The firm served as counsel for one of the country’s leading securities firms, and liaison counsel for all market-maker defendants, in civil litigation alleging that the NYSE and certain of its members agreed to restrict the listing of certain options to a single exchange.
In re Currency Conversion Fee Antitrust Litigation, Multidistrict Litigation, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
The firm represented MasterCard International, Inc. in defending and resolving class litigation alleging a price-fixing conspiracy related to foreign currency conversion fees by VISA, MasterCard, and their member banks.
In re MasterCard Int’l Internet Gambling Litigation, Multidistrict Litigation, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Firm attorneys served as liaison counsel for defendants in RICO class litigation relating to internet gambling.

Class Settlement Design, Negotiation, and Implementation

Dickstein Shapiro has been an innovator in the use of the class settlement device to resolve mass disputes since the 1960s. CDR Group attorneys have been responsible for some of the most significant class and other complex resolutions in the last decades. These have involved both bet-your-company class litigation and public service assignments for the Federal Government (as in the design and implementation of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001).

In re Silicone Gel Breast Implant Product Liability Litigation, Multidistrict Litigation, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama
On behalf of Baxter Healthcare Corporation and Dow Corning Corporation, CDR Group attorneys are the principal architects of the breast implant class settlement, which has resolved more than 100,000 claims of injury allegedly related to the use of silicone gel breast implants. The class settlement adopted innovative provisions to maximize its feasibility, including product identification guidelines, detailed medical criteria to define eligibility for recovery, a double opt-out procedure, an independent review of claims, rolling and capped funding, and distinctions between claimants based on the date of onset of the compensable condition.
In re Pharmaceutical Industry Average Wholesale Price (AWP), Multidistrict Litigation, U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts (and related class actions)
Firm attorneys served as settlement counsel for three defendants in the industry-wide AWP Litigation and played a crucial role in the successful blind funding approach to the multi-party “Track Two” mediation with lead class counsel.
September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001
At the request of the U.S. Department of Justice, one of the CDR Group leaders served as Deputy Special Master for the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 and was responsible for the design and implementation of the congressionally created program, which distributed more than seven billion dollars to the terrorist attack victims and families.
In re Nationwide Fiber-Optic Cable Litigation, Multidistrict Litigation, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana
In its role as national settlement counsel for AT&T in this nationwide class litigation, the firm developed a state-by-state class settlement process effecting the quieting and transfer of easement rights across the country. The presiding MDL judge called the elaborate settlement process a “model” for federal class settlements.
In re “Agent Orange” Product Liability Litigation, Multidistrict Litigation, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York
One of the CDR Group leaders served as court-appointed Special Master in litigation involving claims of more than three million members of the United States, Australia, and New Zealand armed forces regarding allegations of illness and death related to the use of chemical herbicides during the Vietnam War. Dickstein Shapiro attorneys assisted the court in developing and implementing a plan for distributing the settlement proceeds to class members.
In re Factor VIII or IX Concentrate Blood Products Litigation, Multidistrict Litigation, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
The firm acted as special settlement counsel for Baxter Healthcare in connection with the nationwide settlement of personal injury claims from hemophiliacs who became infected with HIV (and settlement of related Justice Department claims).
Tobacco Class Actions (state and federal)
The firm has counseled a major tobacco company with respect to strategic analysis of state and federal class action devices in connection with both financial and personal injury claims.
NYPD-Latino Officers Class Settlement, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
Special Master Kenneth R. Feinberg retained the firm to process and adjudicate individual discrimination claims for compensation submitted by more than 1,200 minority police officers in the New York Police Department under the court-approved class settlement. Qualifying claimants were entitled to receive awards of up to $400,000 from the settlement fund. The firm adjudicated all claims submitted under a contested claims process that permitted objections from New York City, claimant responses to the objections, and hearings. Attorneys in the CDR Group also developed the claims processing procedures, worked with hardware specialists to create a claims database and web-based claims system accessible to the defendants class counsel, and supervised the claims administration process and toll free call-in center.
In re Baxter Healthcare Corporation Gammagard® Products Liability Litigation, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
The firm acted as special settlement counsel in connection with the negotiation and implementation of a class settlement involving Gammagard® and persons with Hepatitis C.
In re AT&T Optional Calling Plan Class Litigation, U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina
The firm represented AT&T in negotiating a nationwide consumer class settlement involving persons who switched to AT&T long distance service under locally administered promotions.
Miami “Mold” Litigation Henniguez v. Harbour House South (Florida state court)
The nation’s largest real estate investment trust engaged CDR attorneys to act as special settlement counsel after a Florida court certified a personal injury and property damage litigation class in highly publicized “mold” litigation. The resulting class settlement resolved both types of claims through a variety of innovative claim resolution procedures.