Karl Fanter concentrates his practice on complex commercial litigation, both at the trial and appellate levels, with a particular emphasis on class action defense. His experience includes work on multimillion-dollar contractual, insurance and antitrust disputes. He has represented clients in a wide range of industries, including banking, insurance, retail, pharmaceutical, telecommunications, advertising and real estate.
Mr. Fanter has defended clients in class actions regarding insurance rating and claims adjustment practices, residential lending practices, commercial contract disputes, trust fund mismanagement, consumer finance and billing practices, and other consumer issues. Karl has considerable experience briefing class actions, having defeated them at both the motion to dismiss and class certification stages.
Mr. Fanter also maintains an active appellate practice and has written and filed briefs in federal and state court appellate courts, including the United States Supreme Court and the Ohio Supreme Court. Karl represented a senior government official in Iqbal v. Ashcroft, which involved challenges to detention policies after the September 11 terrorist attacks. The matter was litigated to the United States Supreme Court and resulted in a favorable defense ruling on the pleading standards required to bring actions in federal court. Mr. Fanter also has a strong interest in pro bono work, including criminal appeals and civil rights litigation.
While in law school, Mr. Fanter was a member of the Harvard International Law Journal and was a Teaching Fellow in the Harvard University Department of Economics, developing and teaching a writing-intensive seminar for sophomore economics majors.