Interior of the Office of Kaplan Johnson Abate & Bird LLP

Class Action Litigation

Class action litigation couples intellectual and procedural intricacy with the potential of substantial liability exposure. Our attorneys at Kaplan Johnson Abate & Bird LLP recognize well that the class certification battle effectively begins before any suit is filed, and each procedural step along the way presents risks and opportunities bearing on Rule 23 considerations.

We pride ourselves on partnering with corporate counsel and often are asked to suggest methods of minimizing the class litigation risk associated with anticipated or emerging business problems.

Nationwide Experience with Class Actions

Our attorneys have extensive experience litigating complex class actions in state and federal courts from coast to coast, and that experience spans multiple industries. In particular, our attorneys have defended class actions involving, among other industries, financial services, life insurance, wealth management, credit cards and consumer lending, food service and hospitality, natural resources, transportation, retail and residential mortgages.

Our attorneys also have prosecuted class actions involving the calculation of oil and gas royalties, long-term disability insurance, and individual retirement accounts. Our experience extends across multiple areas of law, including shareholder derivative suits, securities fraud, consumer fraud (including California UCL claims), wage and hour claims, unfair competition and antitrust, and product liability.

We also represent clients in state and federal regulatory inquiries and investigations that often emerge in tandem with class and derivative litigation, and insurance coverage disputes under D&O policies are sometimes ancillary to such litigation.

Representative Matters

  • Advance Trust Life & Escrow Services, LTA v. Security Life of Denver Insurance Company, 2021 WL 62339 (D. Colo. Jan. 6, 2021): Won partial summary judgment in putative nationwide class action alleging cost of insurance rates had improperly been raised, defeating class certification of those claims.
  • Wiseman v. ING Groep, N.V., 2017 WL 4712417 (S.D.N.Y): Lead counsel in putative class action concerning exchange rights under universal life policy
  • Abbit v. ING USA Annuity and Life Insurance Company, 252 F. Supp. 3d 999 (S.D. Cal. 2017): Successfully obtained summary judgment in class action concerning value of fixed index annuities.
  • Back v. Chesapeake Appalachia, LLC et al., 773 Fed. Appx. 294 (6th Cir. 2019): Won reversal on appeal of lower-court dismissal of putative class action concerning royalty payments from natural-gas extraction from private lands.
  • Hillgamyer v. ReliaStar Life Ins. Co., 2013 WL 5523989 (W.D. Wisc.): Lead counsel in putative class action concerning interest on life insurance death benefits
  • Ramirez v. Hertz Global Holdings, Inc., 2:13-cv-7050 (D.N.J. Oct. 8, 2014): Successfully obtained dismissal of shareholder securities class action against former CFO related to restated company financial results.
  • Edelman v. Protective Life Corporation et al., No. 01-Civ-2014-90247400 (Ala. Cir. Ct. Jeff. Co. Sept. 19, 2014): Successfully obtained dismissal of shareholder class action concerning $5.7 billion going-private merger.
  • Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority v. Volgenau et al., 2013 Del. Ch. Lexis 197, 2013 WL 4009193 (Del. Ch. Aug. 5, 2013): Successfully obtained summary judgment in shareholder class action against private equity purchaser in $1.9 billion acquisition of public company.
  • Poplar Creek Development Co. v. Chesapeake Appalachia, L.L.C., 636 F.3d 235 (6th Cir. 2011): Obtaining affirmance of class settlement in oil and gas royalty calculation class action.
  • Avritt v. Reliastar Life Ins. Co., 615 F.3d 1023 (8th Cir. 2010): Successfully affirmed denial of class certification in case challenging interest credits on fixed annuities.
  • Oetinger v. First Residential Mortg. Network, Inc., 2009 WL 2162963 (W.D. Ky. 2009): Successfully obtained decertification of conditional class and denial of class certification in overtime case brought by mortgage brokers.
  • In re CKF Shareholder Derivative Litig. (Franklin Circuit Court, Kentucky): Served as lead counsel.

Contact Us

We counsel and represent clients in Metro Louisville and throughout the nation. To speak with one of our lawyers, call our office at 502-416-1630.