Our firm's reputation as the country's top business trial firm is a significant asset in defending against and prosecuting class actions. Our willingness to try even the most difficult case sends a strong signal to opposing counsel that litigating against us will not be business as usual, and that they cannot rely on the inevitable strike-suit settlement. More than half our partners regularly represent clients in class actions. We have extensive knowledge of the procedure and litigation dynamics unique to class actions, as well as expertise in the underlying substantive areas of the law. Equally important, we have established productive working relationships with the plaintiff's class action bar, and these relationships pay dividends in terms of limiting discovery and other litigation disputes, as well as at the settlement table. Not surprisingly, major companies regularly turn to us to defend against the spate of class actions regularly filed against U.S. corporations.
Our class-action practice has covered a wide variety of representations across the United States, involving claims for securities fraud, antitrust violations, consumer fraud, RICO violations, product liability, unfair competition, false advertising, toxic tort, and wage-and-hour violations. We have successfully represented class-action clients in almost every major industry, including high-tech electronics, banking and financial services, oil and gas, entertainment, telecommunications, medical services, defense contracting, insurance, and toy and game manufacturing. Our lawyers have litigated class actions involving everything from computer hardware to Formula One racing, home-equity loans to bullet-proof vests, and credit cards to gas grills.
We know that class actions allowed to get out of hand can quickly become tools for litigation blackmail. Effective class action defense requires early identification of our client's optimal exit strategy. We are particularly proud of our track record resolving class actions at modest expense to our clients—whether through an outright win or a sensible business-savvy settlement. In several instances, we have persuaded plaintiffs' counsel to drop cases altogether after providing informal discovery. We have resolved other cases on very favorable terms through mediation before any discovery or certification proceedings.
Our experience in defending class actions has made us equally effective in prosecuting class actions. We have achieved excellent results on behalf of class-action plaintiffs alleging a variety of state and federal claims including, for example, claims asserting antitrust violations, RICO, and unfair business practices.
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See Our Securities Class Action Representations