Class Actions

Comprehensive Class Action Experience

We represent companies in consumer, employment and securities class actions.
Our class action experience spans federal and state courts nationwide.
Our class action clients are in a full range of business sectors, including large corporations involved in telecommunications, financial services, energy and insurance.
Clients work closely with our trial and appellate lawyers whose skills have earned recognition from Chambers USA, The Best Lawyers in America, Georgia SuperLawyers, Benchmark Litigation, the American College of Trial Lawyers, and other leading professional authorities.
We apply a lean, efficient staffing model and establish objectives at the beginning of each engagement to focus our litigation efforts to serve the client’s goals.

Navigating the Class Action Minefield

Class actions present some of the toughest challenges a company can face. The legal and procedural issues are complex, and the scope of discovery can be daunting. Frequently, there are also difficult tactical and strategic issues such as the potential involvement of governmental entities or the existence of competing class actions. Our attorneys have decades of experience in handling class actions, and we focus not only on understanding how to effectively defend a class action, but also in helping guide our clients through the tactical, strategic and logistical challenges that these cases can entail.

A Focus on Efficiency

Mounting a vigorous defense is only a small part of what we do in representing clients in class action litigation. We strive to defend the case in the most efficient way possible, utilizing three key strengths in the way we handle such matters:

Consulting with the client at the beginning of the case, and throughout its pendency, to ensure that our efforts are directed toward the client’s goals in defending the litigation or achieving a resolution;
Staffing the case leanly, with a small number of highly-qualified lawyers, to avoid inefficient multi-layer work on a matter and to ensure that all the lawyers on the matter are fully familiar with the case, the evidence, and the client’s goals.
Using our special internal e-discovery resources and skills to narrow the scope of documents to be reviewed and to minimize the use of outside e-discovery vendors.

A Ground-Breaking Class Action Defense

Client: A $35 billion company
Issue: Defense against a class claim of purported age discrimination following a substantial reduction in force (RIF)
Challenges: The case was large and the stakes were high – the lawsuit was initially brought by class counsel on behalf of more than 3,000 former employees, and they sought more than $200 million in damages.
Outcome: We brought a series of motions that produced favorable court rulings to dismiss the claims of approximately 80% of putative class members. Our trial strategy to handle the remaining claims led directly and quickly to a highly favorable settlement of the case.
Our approach and staffing: Our skill at motion strategies to defeat class certification was the foundation for a groundbreaking new defense strategy that we developed while working with our consulting experts to handle the remaining claims. With the great majority of class claims already dismissed, plaintiffs’ counsel faced dismissal of the rest of their case, and settled on terms very favorable to our client. This important defense was staffed with two partners and one associate.

Consumer Class Actions

Any company that does business with the public can be exposed to class actions brought by consumers. Rogers & Hardin has extensive experience defending against consumer class actions brought throughout the country under state and federal consumer protection statutes, as well as common-law theories, in the context of consumer lending, insurance, energy and other industries.

Employment Class and Collective Actions

Whether the case involves alleged violations of wage and hour laws, employment discrimination statutes, or less conventional theories like breach of contract claims, Rogers & Hardin has on-point experience to help guide employers through class or collective litigation.

Securities Class Actions and Derivative Suits

Throughout our firm’s more than 30 years, we have specialized in securities-related litigation, including both shareholder class actions and derivative lawsuits.