Class Action

LPHS has extensive experience defending class actions and mass torts in state and federal courts across the country. Regardless of the forum or the claims made, we have the expertise, experience and resources to defend these bet-the-company cases. LPHS defended such cases in more than 15 states, including cases brought in forums considered plaintiff-friendly, such as California, Washington and Illinois.

LPHS’s successful record in defending class actions involves many strategies, including obtaining early dismissal on the merits, enforcing arbitration clauses, securing the denial of class certification, disqualifying opposing experts, negotiating favorable settlements, trying cases to a favorable verdict and winning appeals. When litigating class actions, LPHS employs a proactive approach to discovery and has the resources to manage all phases of class-action discovery while minimizing costs.

LPHS has a proven class-action track record against some of the most prominent plaintiffs’ class-action firms in the country. The breadth and depth of our class-action experience has afforded us insight into the tactics used by plaintiffs’ class-action counsel and how those tactics can be thwarted. Our class-action experience crosses many different industries. LPHS has litigated class actions in many different subject areas, including antitrust, financial services, aviation, consumer products, labor and employment, mass tort, securities, RICO and unfair business practices.

In addition to defending companies in class action, LPHS has experience in defending mass tort and MDL actions involving the pharmaceutical industry. LPHS’s experienced team of trial lawyers came together recently to represent a major drug company in state court and MDL litigation involving the manufacture and promotion of opioid painkillers.

LPHS served as lead counsel for Southwest Airlines in a nationwide class action on behalf of all passengers who flew from 2002 to 2008. Plaintiffs alleged that Southwest’s maintenance program was deficient, as evidenced by a record-setting $10 million FAA fine, and that Southwest was required to reimburse passengers who flew on planes that were operated in violation of FAA rules. After extensive discovery and briefing, we obtained an order dismissing the case prior to the issuance of a class certification decision.
LPHS defended a major manufacturer of mobile phones against claims of breach of express and implied warranty. In that case, plaintiffs alleged that one model of the manufacturer’s mobile devices randomly powered off due to design defects in the device’s electronics. After extensive fact and expert discovery, the federal district court denied class certification, which effectively ended the case.
LPHS defended an unfair trade practices class-action lawsuit begun in Louisiana state court. The case settled after our lawyers obtained the Fifth Circuit’s reversal of the federal district court’s order remanding the case to state court. Opelousas Gen. Hosp. v. FairPay Solutions Inc., 655 F.3d 358 (5th Cir. 2011).
We defended a large financial institution in a Pennsylvania statewide class-action lawsuit in federal court based on allegations of predatory lending and violations of the insurance code. We tried the case for almost four weeks, and then settled favorably right before closing arguments.
We represented ACS, Lynn Blodgett (president and CEO) and board member Robert Druskin in litigation seeking to enjoin Xerox’s approximately $9 billion merger with ACS.
LPHS also represented Purdue Pharmaceuticals in state court litigation in Oklahoma and in related MDL litigation related to the company’s marketing and sales of its opioid painkiller Oxycontin.