Jason R. Meltzer is a partner in Gibson Dunn’s Washington, D.C. office.  He practices in the firm’s Litigation Department and serves on the firm’s Hiring Committee.  Mr. Meltzer has experience in a wide range of complex commercial litigation, with an emphasis on securities and consumer products class action defense.  Mr. Meltzer also has extensive experience representing clients in antitrust, mass tort, breach of contract, commercial fraud, insurance and merger-related litigation.  The National Law Journal named Mr. Meltzer a 2020 DC Rising Star for Civil Litigation – Class Action Defense.  Super Lawyers and The Washington Post Magazine have also recognized Mr. Meltzer on multiple occasions as a class actions and civil litigation “Rising Star.”

Mr. Meltzer has successfully defended corporations in trial and appellate courts across the country.  He routinely counsels Fortune 100 companies in class actions involving hundreds of millions or billions of dollars’ worth of claims.  His clients have included the largest investment banks, private equity firms, food and beverage manufacturers, consumer products retailers, international airlines, radio and communications providers, energy companies and government contractors in the world.  Examples of Mr. Meltzer’s recent successes for clients include*:

• Winning a unanimous jury verdict in a mass tort class action trial in federal court, following Mr. Meltzer’s successful cross examination of plaintiffs’ expert on issues relating to their negligence claims.
• Winning summary judgment in a consumer products class action asserting more than $500 million in claimed damages, based on deposition testimony Mr. Meltzer elicited from one of the named plaintiffs.
• Securing dismissal with prejudice of five consolidated class actions challenging “natural” labeling on consumer products as false or misleading.
• Securing dismissal with prejudice of six consolidated class actions challenging flavor labeling on consumer products as false or misleading.
• Securing dismissal of numerous other consumer products class action claims involving billions of dollars’ worth of products.
• Securing dismissal of a mass tort class action against some of the nation’s largest retailers.
• Securing dismissal of a securities class action involving more than $5 billion in mortgage-backed securities.
• Securing dismissal of shareholder derivative litigation against a leading defense contractor and its corporate officers and successfully defending the decision on appeal.
• Securing dismissal of securities fraud claims against a leading defense contractor.
• Successfully opposing class certification in a securities class action involving more than $20 billion in securities and successfully defending the decision on appeal.
• Convincing plaintiffs’ counsel to refrain from filing multiple consumer products class actions pertaining to hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of products.

Mr. Meltzer’s recent significant client engagements include, among others:

• Representing major food and beverage companies in more than thirty-five class actions in federal courts across the country challenging product labeling as false or misleading under state and federal consumer protection laws.
• Representing issuer and underwriter defendants in more than a dozen securities class and individual actions in state and federal courts across the country involving more than $30 billion in residential mortgage-backed securities.
• Representing a leading consumer products retailer in a class action challenging corporate social responsibility statements as false or misleading under state consumer protection laws.
• Consulting for several public companies regarding litigation risks pertaining to corporate social responsibility statements.
• Representing a leading defense contractor in securities fraud class actions and shareholder derivative actions arising out of allegations of employee misconduct and management failure to monitor.
• Representing a major international airline in antitrust class actions and investigations relating to horizontal price fixing allegations.

Mr. Meltzer also frequently serves as a Continuing Legal Education instructor for some of the country’s most prominent attorneys.  Recent examples of Mr. Meltzer’s speaking engagements and CLE courses include:

• “ESG Statements – Maximizing Opportunities While Understanding And Minimizing Risks” – CLE Presentation, Client In-House Legal and Marketing Departments (February 2021)
• “Trying A Mass Tort Class Action To Verdict” – CLE Presentation, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP (March 2018)
• “Hot Topics In Securities And Governance” – CLE Presentation, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP (June 2016)
• “Corporate Social Responsibility Statements:  Litigation Developments And Minimizing Risks” – CLE Presentation, Association of Corporate Counsel (April 2016)
• “Effectively Responding To Discovery Requests” – Presentation, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP (July 2014)
• “Securities Litigation Developments” – CLE Presentation, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP (February 2014)
• “Significant Developments in Class Actions – 2012-2013” – CLE Presentation, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP (April 2013)
• “Financial Crisis Fallout – Residential Mortgage Backed Securities Litigation and Developments in the Law” – CLE Presentation, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP (June 2011)

Mr. Meltzer received his B.A., magna cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania in 2002, and his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 2005.  He is admitted to practice in New York and the District of Columbia.

* Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.