Class Actions/Mass Actions/MDLs

"Fishman Haygood possesses a strong litigation group noted for its versatile civil disputes practice. Its expertise includes defending clients in disputes... [and] it offers first class and extensive experience in the representation of plaintiffs."

Chambers and Partners USA (2024)

Fishman Haygood regularly represents parties in complex litigation matters. Our team’s unparalleled depth and experience in class actions, mass actions, and multi-district litigation (MDL) is a direct reflection of our ability to successfully represent both plaintiffs and defendants.

Partner Kerry Miller has been the lead defense lawyer in major class actions over the past decade. He was the lead counsel for Transocean in the Deepwater Horizon MDL and for Knauf in the Chinese Drywall litigation, among others.

Additionally, partner Lori Mince leads the firm’s consumer class action defense team. Lori has defeated class certification in cases against Louisiana’s largest grocer, a publicly traded equipment company, and a regional hospital. She is currently defending a class case brought against an automotive casualty insurer.

We also regularly represent plaintiffs in class cases.  Jim Swanson has represented groups of investors in securities cases, including his recent involvement against various banks for aiding and abetting R. Allen Stanford’s Ponzi scheme. This case settled in early 2023 for over $1.6 billion. He has a long history of representing defrauded investors in mass and class cases.

Fishman Haygood also is represented on the steering committee in the FTX MDL litigation which involves claims of breach of fiduciary duty against Sam Bankman-Fried. Both Miller and Swanson play major leadership roles in many of the related cases in that MDL. The firm is working on similar cases involving Binance and Voyager.

Also on the plaintiff-side, partner Jason Burge recently resolved a hard-fought national class action against Navient that will result in $236 million in debt relief for a class of debtors whose debts were relieved in bankruptcy.

Notably, in 2010 Fishman Haygood special counsel Steve Herman was appointed by the Court to serve as one of two Liaison and Lead Class Counsel for all businesses, individuals, and local governments involved in the Deepwater Horizon/BP Oil Spill litigation.

Representative Experience

Recent:

  • Reached a nationwide settlement with Navient Solutions, LLC and Navient Credit Finance Corporation (“Navient”) that will result in approximately $236 million in debt relief for private student loan borrowers, as well as $44 million in cash compensation. As stated in the class action lawsuit, Navient and its agents refused to recognize the discharges of these private student loans that were (a) to attend non-Title IV schools and programs or (b) made in excess of the cost of attendance, and then continued to collect on the loans even after borrowers obtained bankruptcy discharges.
  • Represented a proposed class of over 17,000 investors against five banks in a lawsuit alleging the banks’ aiding and abetting of the $7 billion Ponzi scheme perpetrated by R. Allen Stanford.

Noteworthy:

  • Represented an international driller in a four-month trial involving one of our nation’s largest environmental disasters, in which thousands of plaintiffs, federal, state and local governments were seeking damages under the Clean Water Act and Oil Pollution Act, with the result that the driller was found not grossly negligent under the Clean Water Act, and that the operator of the well was obligated to indemnify the driller for all Oil Pollution Act Damages in the Deepwater Horizon MDL (MDL 10-M-2179).
  • Represented a refinery operator following a release of 25,000 barrels of oil into a residential area. Successfully restricted the geographic area of the certified class. Following this, created and developed an aggressive settlement plan which resulted in a global settlement. After settlement, was refinery operator’s lead witness in an arbitration proceeding in London against several excess level insurers. Client was ultimately indemnified for all settlement payments and defense expenses. Also represented operator in this matter in connection with remediation of the contaminated properties. Remediation was supervised by EPA and Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality. Turner v Murphy Oil USA, Inc., Civil Action No. 2:05-cv-04206-EEF-JCW.
  • Represented an international manufacturer of building products in multi-district litigation and in state court product liability cases throughout the Gulf South. Tried several bellwether cases and settled thousands of property damage claims. In Re Chinese Drywall MDL (MDL 09-MD-2047).
  • Secured the denial of class certification for a retail grocer with more than forty stores throughout the Gulf South against a class-action suit alleging violations of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act.
  • Settled a Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action against our client for a nominal amount after filing a motion to dismiss  on the basis that that the claims were pre-empted by the McCarran-Ferguson Act.
  • Defense of multiple banks sued in merger challenges.