Class Action Defense - Appeals

Overview

Skilled in all phases of class action appeals, BakerHostetler’s Class Action Defense team represents clients before federal and state appellate courts in class certification appeals and appeals on the merits.

With decades of litigation experience, our attorneys are adept at creating persuasive written briefs and presenting strong and convincing oral arguments. We have successfully represented clients in appeals of class certification rulings and related issues in both state and federal courts.

Members of our Class Action Defense team have partnered with our national appellate team in preparing amicus briefs in several U.S. Supreme Court cases involving class action issues, including The Standard Fire Insurance Company, Petitioner v. Greg Knowles, Respondent and Comcast Corporation, et al., Petitioners, v. Caroline Behrend, et al., Respondents.

Select Experience

  • Represented one of the largest national auto insurance companies in defense of an appeal of the denial of class certification in an action challenging specification of non-OEM body parts in covered repairs. Denial of class action affirmed on appeal.
  • Obtained key reversal in the Seventh Circuit of class certification in a major property damage class action against one of the nation’s largest insurers. In addition to saving our client tens of millions of dollars in reinspection and repair costs, the appellate court’s decision also established groundbreaking new principles in class certification rules.
  • Obtained affirmance of summary judgment in Florida court of appeals in favor of a national title insurer, eliminating client’s potential exposure to class damages in the range of $50 to $100 million. The decision also relieved title insurers throughout the state of liability in similar cases pending in trial courts.
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Experience

  • Represented one of the largest national auto insurance companies in defense of an appeal of the denial of class certification in an action challenging specification of non-OEM body parts in covered repairs. Denial of class action affirmed on appeal.
  • Obtained key reversal in the Seventh Circuit of class certification in a major property damage class action against one of the nation’s largest insurers. In addition to saving our client tens of millions of dollars in reinspection and repair costs, the appellate court’s decision also established groundbreaking new principles in class certification rules.
  • Obtained affirmance of summary judgment in Florida court of appeals in favor of a national title insurer, eliminating client’s potential exposure to class damages in the range of $50 to $100 million. The decision also relieved title insurers throughout the state of liability in similar cases pending in trial courts.
  • Achieved victory on behalf of a large regional bank with a Sixth Circuit decision providing greater assurance to Ohio banks that they cannot be held liable for alleged fraudulent activities of account holders years after those activities occur and that there is finality to commercial transactions involving negotiable instruments.
  • Successfully defended on appeal the decertification of class in putative class action against title insurance company seeking discounts on title insurance. The decision reaffirmed strict adherence to the class-action requirement of predominance and introduced the concept of the impermissible “fail-safe” class to the Sixth Circuit.
  • Successfully obtained review and reversed certification of class against telephone provider in Ohio Supreme Court on grounds that it is proper to evaluate the merits of plaintiffs’ claims when considering class certification requirements, extending Walmart v. Dukes to Ohio law.
  • Successfully defended on appeal the denial of class certification in putative class action against insurance company seeking payment of interest on settlements.

Recognition

  • Chambers USA: Litigation
    • Litigation: General Commercial (Ohio) – Band 2 (2020)
    • Litigation: General Commercial (Colorado) – Recognized (2019)
    • Retail: National – Band 3 (2020)
  • Law360: Class Action "Practice Group of the Year" (2014)
  • LA Daily Journal: Top Appellate Reversals of 2014
  • Corporate Counsel® magazine guide to in-house law departments: "Go-to Law Firm" for litigation.
  • Recognized as one of the top law firms for client service, BakerHostetler was named to the 2020 BTI Client Service 30 for the sixth consecutive year.

News

Publications

Blog

In The Blogs

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Class Action Lawsuit Defense
BakerHostetler's 2023 Q1 Insurance Class Action Quarterly Report Released
By Mathew G. Drocton, Mark A. Johnson
May 9, 2023
BakerHostetler released its 2023 Q1 Insurance Class Action Quarterly Report, which summarizes a variety of insurance class action themes. Total loss class actions kept going around the country, and labor depreciation class actions...
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Class Action Lawsuit Defense
The Advisory Committee on Civil Rules Proposes a New Rule to Address Early Case Management in Multidistrict Litigation
By Kyle T. Cutts
March 30, 2023
On March 28, 2023, the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules (Committee) convened in West Palm Beach, Florida, to discuss a variety of proposed amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, including a new rule that would provide...
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Class Action Lawsuit Defense
New Challenges to Incentive Awards for Class Representatives Invite Supreme Court Review
By Nicholas A. Cordova, Julie Singer Brady
March 28, 2023
Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued a decision that highlights a growing disagreement among federal appellate courts as to whether class action settlements may include a cash incentive award to named...
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Class Action Lawsuit Defense
BakerHostetler Releases Insurance Class Action Quarterly Report – 2022 Q4
March 8, 2023
BakerHostetler released its Insurance Class Action Quarterly Report for 2022 Quarter 4, devolving trends in the insurance class action space from the past quarter. We witnessed further development of total loss, uninsured/underinsured...
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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...
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