Class Action Defense

Briggs and Morgan's litigation department has blazed trails in the field of defending clients who face class actions. We have successfully defended clients in a wide variety of industries in scores of class actions involving breach of contract, consumer, antitrust, securities, mass tort, employment, and other statutory and common law claims.

Our litigation department has handled hundreds of class action suits in state and federal courts across the country, frequently dealing with claims of tens or hundreds of millions of dollars. We are keenly aware that class actions can amass thousands of small claims to pose a serious threat to the very survival of a business. Our experienced class action litigators serve corporate clientele, including large employers, financial institutions, and members of the railroad, food and transportation industries.

Briggs attorneys have successfully opposed class certifications and litigated merit determinations through judgments and appeals. We have handled mass tort claims and issues relating to train derailments for several leading railroad networks; wage and hour claims, including those associated with the Fair Labor Standards Act; securities and shareholder disputes; and general employment law matters.

Our litigation team also has extensive class action experience in the areas of consumer finance and mortgage banking. Our representation has included defeating attempts to certify classes in a variety of statutory and common law claims against the financial services industry. Issues brought before state and federal trial and appellate courts have generally dealt with discharge fees, escrow practices, fair lending statutes, truth-in-lending claims, RESPA allegations, debt-collection practices, insurance requirements, and private mortgage insurance. To give the best possible counsel to lender clients, Briggs and Morgan mortgage banking attorneys team with seasoned litigators to create an innovative, low-cost resolution to a complex series of class actions.

Notable Class Action Representation:

  • Ongoing representation of various railroad networks in connection with train derailments and the resulting release of contaminants into the environment;
  • Service as lead counsel in securities class action litigation involving derivatives;
  • Defense in employment class action litigation, including wage and hour law, ERISA and discrimination claims;
  • Defense of former officers and directors in shareholder class action litigation alleging breach of fiduciary duty claims in connection with a corporate cash-out merger;
  • Acquisition of a federal court's dismissal (which the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed) of a class action by retailers alleging price-fixing by large regional dairies;
  • Work as lead counsel in multi-district class actions brought in connection with a major broker/dealer's underwriting of billions of dollars in direct investments, where only a fraction was returned to investors;
  • Representation of a manufacturer in claims on behalf of consumers under state usury and consumer protection statutes;
  • Defense of more than 20 mortgage banking clients against claims that client fee arrangements amount to kickbacks for originating loans at excessive interest rates.