Class Actions
They have a very strong team, and have the capacity to handle large engagements.Chambers USA
Practice Overview
Buckley is among the preeminent class action defense firms in the United States for the financial services industry. Our firm vigorously defends leading banks, insurers, mortgage lenders and servicers, credit card issuers, auto lenders, and retailers in putative class actions and other complex litigation across the nation. We are involved in class action claims alleging violations of federal and state consumer protection and consumer credit statutes, wrongful underwriting and servicing practices, credit discrimination, and inflated or otherwise wrongful insurance claims, to name a few.
Buckley has achieved groundbreaking success for our clients involving a wide variety of disputes. We represent clients in federal and state court class and mass actions throughout the country. We consistently deliver efficient and effective representation in class action matters by leveraging our firmwide knowledge and abilities in financial services litigation and the relevant regulations to devise the best possible and most comprehensive defense strategies imaginable.
Given the high stakes of class action claims, we recognize the importance of the early identification of an optimal exit strategy — whether such a strategy is through the dismissal of pleadings, defeat of class certification, prevailing on summary judgment, or obtaining a favorable negotiated resolution for our client. In addition, we frequently handle the complex parallel proceedings involving concurrent government enforcement and civil litigation, congressional investigations, and regulatory counseling matters that often present themselves alongside class action litigation.
Our Class Actions team is comprised of a selection of the most experienced financial services class action trial and appellate attorneys in the country. Our firm is ranked nationally in Band 1 by Chambers for consumer finance litigation, with three Buckley lawyers included among the top 18 consumer finance litigators in the U.S.
Noteworthy matters include:
- Represented numerous insurance companies in multiple putative nationwide and state specific class actions concerning lender-placed insurance
- Represented a mortgage originator and affiliated entities in a putative class action alleging violations of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) and common law unjust enrichment related to a captive mortgage reinsurance arrangement
- Settlement reached on a nationwide class action brought on behalf of credit card customers regarding a reduction in a credit line and the assessment of overlimit fees; a nationwide class settlement was reached
- Represented a mortgage originator and servicer in a mass action involving hundreds of mortgage borrowers alleging various fraudulent acts in connection with the origination and servicing of their loans, allegedly in violation of New York General Business Law § 349 and common law; the client prevailed on a motion to sever and dismiss claims
They have a very strong team, and have the capacity to handle large engagements.Chambers USA
Articles
"NY credit card securitization class action misuses Madden" by Walter E. Zalenski (Law360)
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit's decision in Madden v. Midland Funding LLC is deservedly notorious. The Madden court erroneously held that state usury laws may prohibit a national bank’s assignee from enforcing the interest rate on a credit agreement that was valid under the law...
ArticlesSpecial Alert: D.C. Circuit significantly narrows FCC’s order defining autodialer
On March 16, the D.C. Circuit issued its much anticipated ruling in ACA International v. FCC . The D.C. Circuit’s ruling significantly narrows a Federal Communication Commission order from 2015, which, among other things, had broadly defined an “autodialer” for purposes of the Telephone Consumer...
Special Alerts"The great data breach standing circuit split" by Amanda R. Lawrence and Michael A. Rome (Law360)
Data breaches are back in the news in a big way. Over the past several weeks alone, prominent hotel chains, online platforms and retailers announced significant data breaches. Unsurprisingly, in the aftermath of these disclosures, consumers filed class actions alleging that the data breaches...
Articles"The rise and fall of statistical sampling in RMBS cases" by Amanda Lawrence and Michael A. Rome (Law360)
The 2008 mortgage crisis prompted a wave of residential mortgage-backed securities and repurchase litigation as trustees, certificate holders (i.e. investors), monoline insurers, securitizers and other stakeholders pursued claims related to loans securitized in RMBS trusts. One of the hallmarks of...
ArticlesFredrick S. Levin Authored a Law360 Article, "2 Litigation Trends Offer Guidance On TCPA Compliance"
$76 million, $14.8 million, $12 million and $3.7 million. These numbers represent some of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act settlement agreements negotiated in 2017. As shown by these numbers, TCPA litigation continues to be a leading litigation risk for corporate America. Recently, several...
ArticlesAmanda Lawrence and Michael A. Rome Authored a Law360 Article, "The Great Class Action Ascertainability Debate"
In recent years, courts have divided sharply over whether or not Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure creates an implicit requirement that a class must be ascertainable in order to be certified. This article addresses the meaning of ascertainability, the circuit split over whether and to...
ArticlesSpecial Alert: California Supreme Court Invalidates Widely Used Arbitration Provisions and Curtails the Scope of Proposition 64
On April 6, the California Supreme Court published its opinion in McGill v. Citibank, N.A., finding unenforceable arbitration agreements that purport to waive claims for public injunctive relief brought under California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act (CLRA), Civ. Civ. Code, § 1750 et seq., its...
ArticlesSpecial Alert: Madden Class Action Moves Forward
On February 27, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a ruling in Madden v. Midland Funding, LLC , [1] holding that New York’s fundamental public policy against usury overrides a Delaware choice-of-law clause in the plaintiff’s credit card agreement. The court allowed...
ArticlesWhat Companies Can Expect After Campbell-Ewald
May defendants moot a putative class action by merely offering complete relief to the putative class representative? The U.S. Supreme Court says no, and the decision may have profound implications on class actions for years to come. Some options may remain, however, if more than a mere offer can be...
ArticlesClass Action Settlement Considerations: Ten Tips for a Successful Settlement (The Case Law)
The following article discusses recent, significant decisions on federal class action settlements. While not all inclusive, these cases may help practitioners avoid common (and some not-so-common) pitfalls when trying to reach a successful, lasting class action settlement. This article assumes that...
Articles
News & Blogs
District Court denies MSJ because of ambiguities in bank’s ATM fee contract language
On October 7, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California denied a national bank’s motion for partial summary judgment in a class action alleging the bank wrongfully charged ATM fees in violation of the bank’s standardized account agreement. According to the opinion, the...
InfoBytesDistrict Court denies TCPA class certification involving collection calls placed to wrong number
On September 27, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida denied class certification in an action alleging violations of the TCPA, the Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act, and the FDCPA brought against two companies. The action alleged that defendants used an automated...
InfoBytesClass certification granted in FCRA suit against credit reporting agency
On October 1, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California granted a plaintiff’s motion for class certification in an action against a national credit reporting agency for allegedly failing to follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy in the plaintiffs’...
InfoBytesDistrict Court dismisses investors’ data breach claims
On September 18, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed with prejudice a class action suit brought against an online payments firm and associated entities and individuals (collectively, “defendants”) for allegedly misleading investors (plaintiffs) about a 2017...
InfoBytesDistrict Court dismisses suit claiming banks evading Iran sanctions
On September 16, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York dismissed an action alleging 10 financial institutions (defendants) conspired to evade U.S. sanctions on financial and business dealings with Iran, resulting in the direct and indirect material support for terrorism...
InfoBytesDistrict Court allows majority of privacy invasion class action claims to proceed against social media company
On September 9, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted in part and denied in part a social media company’s motion to dismiss a multidistrict class action alleging the company failed to prevent third parties from accessing and misusing private data of its users, in...
InfoBytesDistrict Court says TCPA dismissal bid cannot rely upon Supreme Court ruling
On September 3, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey denied a medical laboratory’s motion to dismiss, ruling that the company cannot use a Supreme Court ruling to avoid a proposed TCPA class action suit concerning allegations that it made unsolicited calls using an “autodialer.”...
InfoBytesDistrict Court allows TCPA class action to proceed against auto company
On August 27, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California denied a car manufacturer’s motion to dismiss a class action alleging that it violated the TCPA by sending unwanted automated text messages. According to the opinion, after a consumer visited a car dealership, she...
InfoBytes3rd Circuit affirms dismissal of NFL season ticket class action
On August 29, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a putative class action alleging that an NFL team’s season ticket sales practices had violated the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act (CFA). As previously covered...
InfoBytes11th Circuit: Unsolicited text message doesn't establish standing under TCPA
On August 28, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit held that receiving one unsolicited text message is not enough of a concrete injury to establish standing under the TCPA. According to the opinion, a former client of an attorney received an unsolicited “multimedia text message” from the...
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FYI
"NY credit card securitization class action misuses Madden" by Walter E. Zalenski (Law360)
Recent Blog Posts
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October 11, 2019
District Court denies MSJ because of ambiguities in bank’s ATM fee contract language
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October 10, 2019
District Court denies TCPA class certification involving collection calls placed to wrong number
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October 4, 2019
Class certification granted in FCRA suit against credit reporting agency
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September 25, 2019
District Court dismisses investors’ data breach claims
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September 20, 2019
District Court dismisses suit claiming banks evading Iran sanctions