Our Class Action and Complex Litigation Practice Group has unparalleled experience and success defending class actions across the United States.   We have successfully litigated many of the most significant class actions in recent years, amassing an impressive win record in trial and appellate courts, including the Supreme Court of the United States.  The Firm's unrivaled experience and judgment in this area enables us to attack enterprise-threatening liability claims systematically,  efficiently, and creatively.

Dismissing Class Claims and Defeating Class Certification

Our Practice Group has developed rigorous and methodical strategies for attacking class claims at an early stage.  We have an arsenal of approaches designed to secure dismissal of class claims at the motion to dismiss stage and for defeating the certification of nationwide, statewide, and other proposed classes of plaintiffs.  The Practice Group maintains an extensive, centralized database of legal research, briefs, pleadings, and strategy documents available to lawyers throughout the Firm.  We carefully track developments in this area of the law to ensure that from the outset of a case our defense draws upon the deepest and best legal analysis possible.

Managing Parallel Federal-State Class Actions and Multi-District Litigation

Our lawyers have extensive experience handling matters in which multiple class actions are filed within a very rapid timeframe in numerous—and geographically disperse—federal and state courts across the country.  Our lawyers have pioneered innovative approaches for removing cases from state forums to federal courts and for centralizing class actions in a single convenient jurisdiction.  We have appeared regularly before the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation and have a strong record of success bringing order, predictability, and effective case management to parallel federal and state multi-district litigation.   

Companion Government Investigations

Class action litigation often proceeds in tandem with, and many times is prompted by, investigations by the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, state Attorneys General, or other federal or state regulators.   Our Practice Group has developed comprehensive and coordinated legal strategies for managing these situations and for ensuring that steps taken in government investigations do not later prejudice developments in civil litigation.  Our Practice Group also works closely with the Crisis Management Practice Group to manage the critically important media and public relations dimensions of these matters.

Class Action Trials

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher has an unparalleled track record of trying—and winning—class action cases.  The Firm is home to nationally renowned trial lawyers who have been entrusted with mounting the trial defense for national manufacturers and retailers, insurers and managed care companies, and preeminent companies in the pharmaceutical, defense, energy, and transportation industries.  We have handled dozens of jury trials of complex and class action litigation in state and federal courtrooms throughout the country, and we have obtained numerous complete defense verdicts in nationwide "test" cases.

Class Actions Settlements

As a result of our unparalleled success in the trial of complex matters and class actions, and proven record of securing early dismissals, we are often able to resolve these matters at an early stage and on very favorable terms for our clients.   When litigation is not the answer—and a negotiated resolution is in the best interests of our clients' business goals—our Practice Group brings substantial expertise to crafting settlements that secure court approval and provide comprehensive global peace and finality for our clients. 

The Appellate Process

Class actions that reach the stage of appellate review require sophisticated legal counsel.  Working closely with the Appellate and Constitutional Law Practice Group, our Practice Group has achieved significant reversals of fortune for our clients by overturning or reducing unfavorable rulings.  We are frequently asked to step into a case after a class has been certified and in such circumstances have succeeded in reversing class certification orders in cases involving some of the largest certified classes in history.       

Specific Types of Class Actions and Complex Litigation

The Class Action and Complex Litigation Practice Group both augments and employs the resources of the Firm's Litigation, Appellate and Constitutional Law, Antitrust and Trade Regulation, Crisis Management, Energy, Environment and Natural Resources, Insurance and Reinsurance, Labor and Employment, and Securities Litigation Practice Groups to provide our clients with exceptional representation and service. 

In addition to handling class actions in these areas, the Practice Group has substantial experience representing clients in the following types of cases:

• Consumer Class Actions.  We have extensive experience litigating consumer class actions in state and federal courts throughout the country.  Our lawyers have developed an array of successful defenses in response to the increased use of broad consumer protection laws by both class action counsel and lawyers acting under state consumer protection statutes and have pioneered new defenses under the federal Class Action Fairness Act. 
• Product Liability Class Actions.  We have extensive experience defending product liability class actions for manufacturers and retailers in many different industries.  We have led the charge against "no injury" class actions in which plaintiffs sue not for any actual or manifested defect in a product, but for a claimed "propensity" to failure, and our lawyers have unparalleled experience fighting the imposition of large punitive damage awards.
• California Business & Professions Code Section 17200.  Our California lawyers have vast expertise fighting suits alleging violations of the trio of California's consumer protection statutes—the Unfair Competition Law (Business & Professions Code Section 17200), the False Advertising Act (Business & Professions Code Section 17500), and the Consumer Legal Remedies Act (Civil Code Sections 1750-1784).  The Practice Group has handled several cases involving these statutes in the Supreme Court of California, and we maintain frequent communication with attorneys in the offices of the California Attorney General and District Attorneys regarding trends in the law and in enforcement.  We also have extensive exposure to the specific "complex" judicial panels in the Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Francisco Superior Courts.

Further Information

To learn more about our Class Action and Complex Litigation Practice Group please contact the Practice Group chair, Gail Lees, or the Group's vice-chairs, Drew Tulumello and Chip Nierlich.