Class Action Litigation

Why Cooley

The prevalence of commercial class actions (those not involving securities violations) has dramatically increased over the past several years and has become a growing threat to many businesses. The stakes are high and potential exposure is significant, particularly in cases with potentially large classes of plaintiffs.

Cooley has in-depth experience representing companies, across many industries, in various types of commercial class actions. In both state and federal courts, including the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, our lawyers have litigated matters involving consumer protection, fraud, wage and hour, RICO, healthcare, finance and banking, copyright, products liability, internet transactions and payment processing, privacy, antitrust, mass torts and statutory violations.

We work closely with clients to obtain favorable resolutions as early and as efficiently as possible, whether by obtaining pre-certification or post-certification dismissals, defeating class certification motions, negotiating favorable settlements before or after class certification, or litigating cases through trial and appeal.

Representative Matters

• Defeated class cert in Google Gmail class actions, which implicated billions of emails exchanged with 400+ million Gmail users
• Settled one of the largest right of publicity class actions ever filed for Facebook, where the proposed class would have included nearly 50% of the American population
• Landmark appellate victory for Sony in a case involving an issue of first impression related to the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA)
• Obtained dismissal of claims and denial of class certification in several federal consumer class actions brought against E*TRADE alleging violations of the Truth-in-Lending Act and California's consumer protection statute, §17200
• Complete victory for eBay, obtaining dismissal of all claims in data breach class action
• Secured two separate settlements for Sony with the direct and indirect purchasers of lithium batteries in a multi-year antitrust class action
• Negotiated unique style of cy pres remedy, resolving Beacon privacy class action for Facebook
• Resolved more than a dozen class actions for eBay and its subsidiaries involving state auction laws, consumer fraud and protection statutes, online payment processing and ticket resales
• Appointed Lead and Liaison Counsel for CenturyLink in multidistrict litigation involving 75+ consolidated lawsuits and 600+ defendants concerning allegations of improper collection of "access charges" for wireless calls
• Obtained a published appellate decision in a class action against The TJX Companies and retailers doing business in California brought under the Song Beverly Credit Card Act, which limited the statute's reach to purchase transactions and a one-year limitations period