A sampling of our class action litigation includes:

• Secured dismissal of all claims against our clients Molson Coors and Coors Brewing Company, as well as numerous other American manufacturers and distributors or alcoholic beverages, in four class actions and three subsequent appeals in the state and federal courts of Ohio, Colorado, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.  The suits alleged that industry advertising was to blame for underage drinking.
• Obtained summary judgment in favor of Verizon Hawaii Inc. in a putative class action suit alleging that the company violated state consumer protection laws by misleading consumers about the costs and need for its Touch Calling service. The lawsuit sought tens of millions of dollars in retrospective damages and injunctive relief against the company. The Circuit Court found that both the filed-rate doctrine and the doctrine of primary jurisdiction barred plaintiffs' claims (Balthazar v. Verizon Hawaii Inc., No. 03-01-0139 (Haw. Cir. Ct. July 30, 2004)).
• Defended Kaiser Gypsum and Kaiser Cement over a 12-year period in a series of nationwide and statewide class action lawsuits seeking damages for the presence of asbestos in buildings. These included the nationwide action on behalf of all schools and the similar nationwide action on behalf of all colleges and universities and statewide actions in Hawaii, West Virginia and South Carolina. Mounted vigorous defenses and ultimately were dismissed without payment.
• The defense of a major international airline that was sued by a class of passengers claiming that fares had been fixed in violation of the antitrust laws. The case was settled after class certification issues had been fully briefed. At that time, it was the largest "coupon" settlement ever-i.e., the class members received discount coupons for future travel instead of cash.

Cases in which we defeated class certification include:

• Defeated class certification in false advertising/consumer fraud class action in Illinois state courts on behalf of top-10 fast food franchisor. Case was not pursued by plaintiffs following appellate affirmance of denial of class certification.
• Successfully represented a global engineering and manufacturing company in defeating a proposed nationwide class action alleging that lead leaching from brass pumps had contaminated proposed class members' drinking water.
• Represented leading tobacco company in defending a proposed class action on behalf of all smokers in the District of Columbia and was selected co-liaison counsel. The court denied class certification twice.
• Defeated class certification in a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act case in the Northern District of Texas, in the first major class action certification decided following the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals' decision in Allison v. Citgo. (Sibley v. United Student Aid Funds, Civ. No. 3:96-CV-0816-D (N.D. Tx. 1998)).

Contact Us
Hugh Latimer
202.719.4989 | hlatimer@wileyrein.com