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Bethany G. Lukitsch

She | Her | Hers

Partner

Los Angeles
T +1.310.442.8856
F +1.310.820.8859
blukitsch@bakerlaw.com
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Overview

Bethany serves as Co-Leader of BakerHostetler’s Class Action Defense practice team and has over two decades of experience litigating class actions and complex litigation, including the defense of consumer class actions, antitrust cases, data privacy matters, mass tort and product liability claims and commercial disputes. Her commitment, tenacity and ability to streamline the most complicated cases makes her a trusted advisor to clients in some of their most complex and challenging matters. In 2022, Bethany was awarded California Lawyer of the Year for Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions by The Best Lawyers in America® and was named a Leading Litigator in Class Action, Antitrust and Advertising by Lawdragon.

Bethany has significant first-chair and liaison experience in multidistrict and class litigation for global and Fortune 500 companies and product manufacturers. Her class action experience includes defeat of nationwide class certification, summary judgment under various states’ consumer protection laws and successful mediation and resolution of class-wide claims when the client’s business interests dictate resolution over protracted litigation. Bethany holds the CIPP/US credential as a Certified Information Privacy Professional from the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP). Bethany also serves as the co-lead of the firm's Los Angeles/San Francisco Women's Committee.

Select Experience

  • Currently representing a global engineering, manufacturing and digital technology solutions leader as lead counsel in consolidated civil antitrust class actions for an alleged no-poach agreement filed against Pratt and Whitney, a division of Raytheon, and five aerospace outsourcing companies in the District Court of Connecticut. Borozny v. Pratt and Whitney, Case No. 3:21-cv-01657 (D. Connecticut).
  • Trial counsel for one of the largest mutual life insurance companies in construction defect litigation involving one of its investments, a 544-unit apartment complex in Marina del Rey, California.
  • Currently defending Red Lobster in a putative class action alleging that certain sustainability statements on its menu are false or misleading. Marshall v. Red Lobster, Case No. 2:21-cv-04786 (C.D. Cal.).
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Experience

  • Currently representing a global engineering, manufacturing and digital technology solutions leader as lead counsel in consolidated civil antitrust class actions for an alleged no-poach agreement filed against Pratt and Whitney, a division of Raytheon, and five aerospace outsourcing companies in the District Court of Connecticut. Borozny v. Pratt and Whitney, Case No. 3:21-cv-01657 (D. Connecticut).
  • Trial counsel for one of the largest mutual life insurance companies in construction defect litigation involving one of its investments, a 544-unit apartment complex in Marina del Rey, California.
  • Currently defending Red Lobster in a putative class action alleging that certain sustainability statements on its menu are false or misleading. Marshall v. Red Lobster, Case No. 2:21-cv-04786 (C.D. Cal.).
  • Represent the largest U.S. technology-enabled provider of ARM solutions in multijurisdictional litigation arising out of a ransomware attack. Claims are asserted for alleged violations of the CCPA, CIPA, Constitutional Right to Privacy, various state consumer protection laws and common law causes of action such as negligence, breach of implied contract and unjust enrichment.
  • Represent multiple retailers in putative class actions for alleged violations of CIPA (California Invasion of Privacy Act) arising out of their website chat technology.
  • Representing a large family-owned grocery store chain in a putative consumer class action against false and deceptive advertising claims under the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act arising out of the “sale” price of its wine and alcohol.
  • Currently representing a specialty non-profit long-term health care company in a putative class action based in Los Angeles Superior Court, Complex Division, arising out of a ransomware attack. Claims include both constitutional and common law invasion of privacy, negligence, breach of implied contract, breach of the CCMIA, unfair competition and declaratory judgment.
  • Defended 12 national retailers in three putative class actions (one matter pending in Pennsylvania state court and two in the Western District of Pennsylvania) in claims under Pennsylvania’s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law arising out of the taxation of cloth face masks during the pandemic. Won dismissal of the two federal court actions.
  • Served as trial counsel for a marketing firm in a remote bench trial in the Central District of California in lawsuit alleging breach of settlement agreement. Successfully defeated cross-claims for millions of dollars in claimed damages and secured the client more than $100,000 in back payments.
  • Represented a medical device company in a putative class action in Massachusetts state court involving claims that certain patients were exposed to blood-borne pathogens during colonoscopies. Claims resolved on an individual claimant basis and class claims dismissed with prejudice.
  • Secured dismissal on behalf of a publicly-traded kitchen and bath cabinet manufacturer in a putative class action in the Central District of California in which the plaintiff alleged claims for defective cabinet finish under the CLRA, UCL, Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act and Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. The court dismissed the case with prejudice.
  • Defended a pharmaceutical company in a putative class action filed in the Central District of California regarding marketing of an aesthetics product. Successfully narrowed nationwide claims to California and resolved the case on an individual plaintiff basis after aggressive discovery and motion practice.
  • Represented an American retailer of hard surface flooring in the Northern District of California in a putative nationwide class action brought against them by purchasers of bamboo flooring. The parties reached a settlement after narrowing the scope of the allegations to a single product line and limiting the putative class to six state classes.
  • Represented an American retailer of hard surface flooring as lead counsel in multidistrict litigation involving more than 140 class actions alleging excessive levels of formaldehyde in Chinese manufactured laminate flooring. The parties reached a settlement after winning partial summary judgment and dismissal of half of the claims.
  • Represented an American automobile manufacturer before the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation in defeating plaintiffs’ efforts to create an industry-wide multidistrict litigation. Secured transfer of the matter under 28 U.S.C. § 1404 to the client’s home jurisdiction in the Eastern District of Michigan.
  • Defended a polyurethane foam manufacturer in direct purchaser and indirect purchaser antitrust class actions and opt-out litigation stemming from allegations of price-fixing and market allocation.
  • Represented an American consumer packaged goods holding company as liaison counsel in multidistrict and state court litigation involving several hundred individual and purported class action lawsuits alleging salmonellosis from the consumption of one of its products. Defeated class certification, awarded summary judgment and dismissals in more than 100 individual cases and effectively implemented coordinated national discovery procedures.
  • Represented global power tool manufacturer in toxic tort cases and domestic and international discovery matters.
  • Represented and provided counsel to food and beverage manufacturers, furniture and cabinet manufacturers, and equipment manufacturers and retailers in labeling disputes involving California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Proposition 65).
  • Won summary judgment against the State of New Hampshire for a handheld outdoor power tool manufacturer in declaratory judgment matter regarding the state’s new dealer laws. Summary judgment upheld on appeal to the New Hampshire Supreme Court.
  • Defended a handheld outdoor power tool manufacturer in prominent California wildfire litigation.
  • Defended a NYSE-traded insurance company in complex antitrust litigation involving alleged violations of federal antitrust laws and state consumer protection statutes.
  • Defended a Fortune 100 company in multidistrict class action and opt-out antitrust litigation involving the vitamins industry in the District of Columbia and various state courts.

Recognitions and Memberships

Recognitions

  • Lawdragon, Leading Litigators in America: Class Action, Antitrust, Advertising (2022)
  • The Best Lawyers in America® (2021 to present)
    • California: Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions
      • Lawyer of the Year (2023)
  • Los Angeles Business Journal Top Women Attorneys (2020 to 2021)
  • Los Angeles Business Journal Women of Influence: Attorneys (2021)
  • Virginia "Super Lawyer" (2007, 2009)
    • Rising Star (2007, 2009)

Memberships

  • American Bar Association
    • Antitrust Division

News

News

Press Releases

Blog Posts

Events

Services

Emerging Issues

Admissions

  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
  • U.S. District Court, Central District of California
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of California
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia
  • California
  • Virginia

Education

  • J.D., University of Richmond School of Law, 1998, cum laude; University of Richmond Law Review, Manuscripts Editor
  • B.S., College of William and Mary, 1994

Blog

In The Blogs

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Class Action Lawsuit Defense
BakerHostetler Files Amicus Brief on Behalf of Ohio Chamber of Commerce
January 19, 2023
As predicted back in March 2022, class litigation related to Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a group of man-made chemicals that have been widely used in various industrial and consumer products, have skyrocketed over the last...
Read More ->
Class Action Lawsuit Defense
Eleventh Circuit Stands Firm – No Incentive Awards for Class Representatives
By Kamran B. Ahmadian
August 12, 2022
Nearly two years after it issued its initial decision in Johnson v. NPAS Sols., LLC, in which it held incentive awards for class representatives to be per se unlawful, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit denied a...
Read More ->
AD-ttorneys Law Blog
What Is a PFAS, and Why Should I Care? Part III – California's Proposition 65
By Ryan Fischbach, Bethany G. Lukitsch, Matthew D. Thurlow, Theodore Weiss
May 12, 2022
In Part I and Part II of this blog series, we introduced and discussed per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), commonly referred to as “forever chemicals,” which have been recent targets of consumer class actions and regulatory...
Read More ->
AD-ttorneys Law Blog
What Is a PFAS, and Why Should I Care? Part II – Restaurants and Food Packaging and Potential Personal Injury Classes
By Kamran B. Ahmadian, Bethany G. Lukitsch, Matthew D. Thurlow
April 1, 2022
In our initial blog post, we introduced readers to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), known as “forever chemicals,” and predicted the rise of PFAS consumer class actions and increased regulatory activity barring the use of PFAS in...
Read More ->
AD-ttorneys Law Blog
What is a PFAS, and Why Should I Care?
By Kamran B. Ahmadian, Bethany G. Lukitsch, Amy Ralph Mudge, Julie Singer Brady, Matthew D. Thurlow
March 9, 2022
We are bombarded with countless abbreviations every day – CPPA, GLBA, MSRP, SARS and BPA, to name just a few. Time to add one more to the list. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, colloquially known as PFAS, are a class of more than 4,700...
Read More ->

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