Class Action Defense

The momentous rise in class action litigation over the past decade has been challenging for businesses and litigators alike. In this shifting landscape where the stakes are high, clients need strong representation from a legal team who not only has the professional experience, but also a track record of success.

Our class action defense attorneys seek swift resolutions and across-the-board victories. We focus on early negotiation and dismissal, summary judgment without class discovery, defeating class certification, and leveraging favorable settlements to ward off future claims and reduce risk for businesses. We’ve successfully defended our clients in high exposure cases involving consumer fraud, securities, unfair competition, data privacy and communications, employment, RICO, product liability, mass tort, and antitrust in federal and state courts nationwide.  Our team also has extensive experience handling such complex cases in coordinated, consolidated, and multi-district litigation matters. 

Our diversified client base includes retailers, manufacturers, food and beverage, online services, healthcare, drug and medical device companies, media companies, technology companies, and financial services companies. We are fiercely loyal to our clients and their ideas of success, and we know that one size does not fit all. Our strong belief is that only the vigorous pursuit of rational principles, common sense and aggressive litigation both at trial and on appeal, yields results consistent with both conscience and shareholder interests.

How We Can Help

Consumer Protection, Fraud and False Advertising

Our trial attorneys have extensive experience defending consumer class actions in both state and federal courts ranging from “bet-the-company” nationwide class actions to statewide class actions. We’ve developed a diversified set of defense and settlement strategies to combat the increased reliance on broad consumer protection laws by the Plaintiffs’ Bar and have successfully implemented those strategies in a variety of consumer class actions, including cases involving labeling, marketing, advertising, pricing, and utilities.

TCPA, Privacy, and Data Collection

Our consumer privacy litigators make winning in and out of court the fundamental priority in all of our cases. With twelve U.S.-based offices, we defend clients in state and federal courts across the nation against claims alleging violations of federal and state consumer privacy, communications, data handling, and related laws.

We have defended against numerous multidistrict nationwide state and federal consumer privacy and communications claims brought under the following:

• Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”)
• Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”)
• Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (“FACTA”)
• Electronic Funds Transfer Act (“EFTA”)
• Stored Communications Act (“SCA”)
• Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”)
• Video Privacy Protection Act (“VPPA”)
• Related state statutes, most notably California’s Invasion of Privacy Act (“CIPA”) and California’s Song-Beverly Credit Card Act. 

Complementing this litigation and trial experience is our extensive knowledge of every major privacy regulation, including the Gramm Leach Bliley Act, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”), General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) and analogous state laws, such as state-specific telemarketing and data privacy laws, and consumer protection laws. We also have extensive experience with data handling, data sharing, e-discovery and social media issues in the law, and counsel clients with respect to e-commerce, consumer data handling, online privacy notices, social media use, social media policies, online privacy terms and conditions, and data collection practices.Our clients represent every regulated industry subject to data and consumer privacy regulation and include companies such as major retailers and manufacturers, credit bureaus, banks and other financial institutions, major sports teams, healthcare and pharmaceutical companies, auto manufacturers and dealers, debt-collection companies, telemarketing companies, social media and other Internet service providers, and other businesses that use consumer information.

Employment Litigation

• FLSA and wage and hour class and collective actions
• Title VII race discrimination class actions
• ADEA and parallel state collective and class actions
• Title VII gender discrimination class actions
• ECOA and other class actions involving charges of discrimination

We counsel our clients on effective methods to address such claims, and identify opportunities to narrow the claims or putative class representatives, including through early dismissals and referrals to arbitration. We also advise our clients on class and collective action rules and procedures, and assist them in identifying claims that should not proceed as a class or collective action. If necessary, we effectively utilize discovery, technology, and expert witnesses to help demonstrate that individual issues preclude certification, while always maintaining a focus on effective trial strategies should a trial of one or more claims become necessary.

Consumer Finance Litigation

Our class action team consists of experienced complex commercial attorneys who have defended multiple class action cases in state and federal courts in Pennsylvania and elsewhere. Our consumer finance litigation team is nationally recognized as one of the leaders in the industry and has significant experience defending against claims under Truth in Lending Act (“TILA”), Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”), Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (“RESPA”), Equal Credit Opportunity Act (“ECOA”), Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), and Pennsylvania’s Mortgage Satisfaction Act. Our attorneys frequently represent lenders, loan servicers, financial institutions, and other clients in connection with residential mortgage obligation matters and loan modification practices.

Securities Litigation

Our securities litigation practice has represented issuers, directors, officers, and other corporate executives in a broad range of securities class actions, including:

• Alleged violations of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 and the Securities Act of 1933
• Disclosure violations arising from alleged accounting fraud to financial restatements
• Insider trading and misappropriation
• Projections and forecasts
• Internal controls failure
• Merger integration issues

In addition, our class action litigators have successfully handled Private Securities Litigation Reform Act (“PSLRA”) class actions throughout the country, securing victories at the class certification and motion to dismiss stages or arranging for favorable settlements when appropriate. We also have significant experience in class actions and derivative litigation in the context of mergers and acquisitions and other change-of-control transactions by shareholder and/or derivative plaintiffs seeking to block and/or recover damages for merger activity.

Product Liability and Toxic Torts

Our product liability litigation practice has significant experience defending class actions involving product liability and toxic torts in federal and state courts throughout the country. We have a long track record of efficiently and effectively defending private-sector clients in the oil, petrochemical, aerospace, chemical, manufacturing, and agricultural industries, as well as public entities such as municipalities, in:

• Personal injury
• Environmental property damage claims
• Product safety and liability
• Medical monitoring relating to soil, water, and air contamination

What Sets Us Apart

• Law360 named Blank Rome a 2017 “Pennsylvania Powerhouse” and recognized “its prolific national litigation practice and deep bench strength.”
• Ranked Tier 1 in 2025 U.S. News & World Report–Best Lawyers^® (Woodward/White, Inc.) national ranks for Commercial Litigation, Banking and Finance, Bankruptcy, Labor & Employment, and White Collar Litigation. Also highly ranked nationally for Intellectual Property, Patent, Securities, Environmental, and Tax Law.
• Chambers USA editors have stated that Blank Rome has a:
  • “Significant commercial litigation practice, offering sought-after representation across a range of cases including securities, antitrust, environmental, construction and cybersecurity disputes. Further highlighted for its federal appellate work and for its experience in class action defense.”
• Chambers USA client feedback includes:
  • “The litigation team was excellent. Each of the lawyers brought a very interesting element to the team and they blended together well. They were great and I would highly recommend them!"