Class Actions

Covington’s Class Action Litigation Group has achieved successful outcomes for some of the world’s leading companies in their most important disputes.

Our team has been recognized by Law360 as one of its "Class Action Groups of the Year," after we secured favorable outcomes on cutting-edge class action issues in cases with billions of dollars in potential exposure for several of the world's leading financial, technology, and life sciences companies. Our expertise in the intricacies of class action procedure and strategy, the substance of the law, creative approaches to every case, and the special considerations affecting individual industries provides an invaluable advantage in defeating attempts to pursue large damages awards and other broad relief.

We pride ourselves on bringing the right resources to every case, including our deep regulatory and industry expertise. Covington offers a unique blend of:

Breadth of Experience

Our team represents companies in class actions in nearly every major substantive area in which such suits are brought, including, among others, antitrust, consumer protection, privacy, product liability, securities, employment, and ERISA.

Early Resolution Successes

We have a long history of defeating class actions at the early stages of the cases. We routinely win dismissals on the pleadings, saving our clients years of litigation expenses.

Class Certification Victories

From the outset of a case, we focus on developing the factual and legal arguments necessary to defeat class certification outright, or to limit any class certification in ways that substantially reduce our clients’ potential exposure. And few can match our proficiency in handling appeals that challenge—or defend—decisions on class certification.

Summary Judgment, Trial, and Appellate Experience

Our class action litigators know how to develop a favorable record, and we consistently obtain favorable results on summary judgment, at trial, and on appeal.

Multi-Defendant Class Actions

We bring exceptional experience and resources to managing multi-defendant litigation. We have served as lead counsel in some of the most complex, multi-jurisdictional class actions. Other law firms trust Covington’s class action litigators to take the lead on issues most important to a joint defense effort.

Regulatory and Industry Expertise

In defending class actions, our litigators work closely with our leading regulatory and industry experts, whose deep knowledge of relevant regulatory frameworks often gives our clients the extra edge needed to achieve their litigation goals. In leveraging this expertise, we regularly represent leading companies in a range of industries, including:

We have achieved successful results for our clients in cases featuring some of the most cutting-edge, novel issues of the day, including:

Venue Experience

Our lawyers litigate in federal, state, and appellate courts throughout the country. With coverage across all five of our U.S. offices (Washington DC, San Francisco, Palo Alto, Los Angeles, and New York), our team has handled matters in most of the major class action forums and is well attuned to the special considerations arising in each jurisdiction, enabling us to hit the ground running.

Indemnification and Insurance Coverage

Clients often overlook that indemnification or insurance coverage may be available for events that give rise to class action lawsuits, and Covington’s leading commercial litigation and insurance recovery practices have often helped clients obtain coverage for many types of class action claims.

Representative Matters 

We regularly represent leading companies in a range of industries, including Consumer Products, Entertainment, Media, and Gaming, Financial Services, Food and Beverage, Life Sciences, Sports, Technology, and others.

Recent Notable Successes

• False Advertising Litigation.  Represented Facebook in a putative nationwide advertiser class action related to invalid ad clicks, we successfully narrowed the claims at the pleadings stage, defeated class certification, won summary judgment, and defended the rulings on appeal to the Ninth Circuit. Facebook advertisers asserted that the company had violated California's Unfair Competition Law (UCL) by allegedly misrepresenting its practices around charging for clicks from allegedly “fake” accounts. Covington successfully argued that the plaintiff’s false advertising claim failed because the statements at issue were true as to the plaintiff.
• Opioid Litigation.  Serving as lead counsel for national pharmaceutical distributor McKesson Corporation, we led a coalition of defendants in opposing certification of an unprecedented “negotiation class” covering thousands of federal opioid cases consolidated in an MDL proceeding. On behalf of the joint defense group, Covington argued and won a rare Sixth Circuit interlocutory appeal of the MDL court’s certification decision. Covington also led the joint defense group in successfully opposing class certification for claims associated with neonatal abstinence syndrome.
• Antitrust Litigation.  We defeated class certification of a multi-billion dollar claim against JPMorgan Chase in long-running multi-defendant litigation concerning aluminum benchmark pricing. Covington persuaded the court to deny class certification in the antitrust class action, in which the proposed class sought several billion dollars in damages from defendants JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Glencore, and their former London Metal Exchange warehouse subsidiaries.
• Overdraft Fee Litigation.  We successfully represented Wells Fargo Bank in multidistrict litigation seeking damages on behalf of millions of putative class members based on a challenge to the bank’s methodology for calculating overdraft fees. In April 2011, two days after the Supreme Court held that state laws prohibiting enforcement of arbitration clauses in consumer contracts were preempted, Covington moved to enforce arbitration clauses in Wells Fargo’s account agreements with its deposit customers. Following multiple appellate decisions in the bank’s favor, the district court finally dismissed the claims of all class members other than the named plaintiffs, a decision the Eleventh Circuit upheld in a final appeal.
• Paycheck Protection Program Litigation.  We successfully defended numerous financial institutions in dozens of nationwide class actions accusing lenders of failing to pay up to $3 billion in fees to agents that assisted borrowers in applying for loans under the Paycheck Protection Program during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. A team of Covington lawyers played the leading role in defeating the class actions, including successfully delivering oral argument on behalf of a joint defense group at the first motion to dismiss hearing. This win led to a stream of court decisions, and ultimately a law passed by Congress, siding with the arguments advanced by Covington on behalf of our clients.

Technology

• Meta Independent Contractor Class Actions.  Served as lead counsel to Meta in successfully resolving two high-profile class actions brought by content moderators.
• Facebook False Advertising Litigation.  Defeated class certification, won summary judgment, and successfully defended the rulings on appeal to the Ninth Circuit in a nationwide putative class action related to invalid ad clicks.
• Technology Companies Privacy Class Action.  Secured early dismissal of allegations that two technology companies had monitored users through their smartphone cameras in violation of multiple privacy laws.
• Multinational Technology Company Privacy Class Action.  Won dismissal of class action suit involving novel privacy claims under state statutes that prohibit the disclosure of consumers’ names and addresses coupled with their music listening information.
• FullStory Privacy Class Action.  Won dismissal at the pleadings stage of two class action lawsuits alleging violations of the California Invasion of Privacy Act and the California Constitution's right to privacy.
• LinkedIn Privacy Class Action.  Achieved dismissal at pleading stage of a putative class action alleging violations of the Stored Communications Act and state law.
• Yodlee Privacy Class Action.  Defending Yodlee, Inc. in a putative class action alleging account verification software collects individual personal information that is resold to third parties; won dismissal at the pleadings stage of claims brought under the Stored Communications Act, Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and California’s Unfair Competition Law.
• Samsung Privacy Class Action.  Won dismissal of a range of federal and state privacy claims alleging unauthorized collection and disclosure of personal information related to Smart TVs.

Consumer Products

• Procter & Gamble False Advertising Class Actions.  Defeated a nationwide putative class action alleging false advertising of Crest charcoal toothpaste products.
• Multi-District Litigation Benzene Class Action.  Representing Procter & Gamble in multidistrict litigation challenging the company’s marketing and advertising of certain aerosol products that allegedly contain benzene.
• Freshmates False Labeling Class Actions.  Represented Procter & Gamble in resolving a 49-state consumer product class action claiming that its personal hygiene wipes were falsely marketed as flushable.
• Doctor’s Best Consumer Protection Class Action.  Successfully represented Doctor’s Best in a nationwide class action challenging the company’s marketing and advertising of glucosamine supplements.
• Clorox Deceptive Advertising Class Action.  Defeated nationwide putative class action alleging deceptive marketing and false advertising claims relating to Clorox’s Splash-less bleach.
• Novel Supply Chain Class Action.  Secured win in a class action involving the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act and related claims arising out of the alleged use of forced labor in the supply chain for cobalt.
• Multinational Consumer Products UCL Class Action.  Achieved dismissal with prejudice (affirmed on appeal) of claims alleging California UCL violations related to a discount battery program.
• Schlage Lock Company BIPA Privacy Class Action.  Secured early dismissal of claims alleging violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act.
• TCPA Class Action. Defended Sherwin-Williams in a putative class action alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act in connection with a commercial text message program for paint contractors.

Financial Services

• JPMorgan Chase Credit Card Class Actions.  Represented JPMorgan Chase in numerous antitrust and consumer class actions and attorney general representative actions challenging fees, disclosures, and other banking practices.
• Aluminum Benchmark Antitrust Litigation.  Defeated class certification of a multi-billion dollar claim against JPMorgan in long-running multi-defendant litigation concerning aluminum benchmark pricing.
• JPMorgan Chase Property Inspection Fee Class Action.  Defeated class certification, obtained summary judgment, and prevailed on appeal in nationwide class actions alleging that a leading financial institution charged unnecessary and excessive property inspection fees.
• Paycheck Protection Program Litigation.  Successfully defended financial institutions in dozens of nationwide class actions accusing lenders of failing to fees to agents that assisted borrowers in applying for loans under the Paycheck Protection Program during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Navient Public Service Loan Forgiveness Class Action.  Won motion to dismiss thirteen of fourteen claims leading to a favorable nationwide settlement in lawsuit challenging Navient’s representations to borrowers about the federal governments’ Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.
• Navient “True Lender” Class Actions.  Successfully represented the nation’s largest student loan servicing company in three lawsuits contending that Navient should be treated as the “true lender” on certain student loans made by national banks.
• Retail Consumer FX Class Action.  Defeated motion for class certification in antitrust class action involving retail consumer foreign currency purchases.
• Financial Benchmarks Antitrust Class Actions.  Represented Citibank in class actions involving antitrust, commodities fraud, and RICO claims relating to alleged manipulation of financial benchmarks, including the London Interbank Offering Rate (LIBOR), foreign currency exchange benchmarks, and ISDAFIX®.
• Overdraft Fee Litigation.  Successfully represented Wells Fargo Bank in multiple Eleventh Circuit appeals confirming the enforceability of its arbitration agreements in multidistrict class action litigation on overdraft fees.
• Capital One Interest Charges Class Actions.  Defeated numerous nationwide class action lawsuits accusing one of the nation’s leading credit card issuers of improperly charging customers for interest.
• Buy-Now Pay-Later Nationwide Fee Disclosures Class Action.  Obtained successful results after enforcing arbitration agreements in putative class actions against buy-now pay-later companies challenging fee disclosures and alleging violations of the California Unfair Competition Law.

Food and Beverage

• Environmental False Advertising Class Actions.  Successfully resolved class action claims against MOWI, the world’s largest salmon producer, in multiple putative class actions claiming the company falsely represented that its products were “sustainably sourced.”
• Mondelēz Labeling Class Action.  Won dismissal on behalf of snack foods giant Mondelēz Global against allegations that the company’s “Stoned Wheat Thins” product misleadingly conveys that the main wheat ingredient is stoneground whole wheat flour.
• TVPRA Class Action.  Representing leading manufacturer of chocolate and cocoa products in a Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act class action relating to labor conditions on cocoa farms in Cote D'Ivoire.
• Icelandic Provisions Advertising Class Action.  Successfully defended two consumer class action lawsuits under the California UCL, FAL, and CLRA, asserting that the labeling and advertising of Skyr cultured dairy products misleadingly suggests the product is made in Iceland.
• Vanilla False Advertising Class Actions.  Successful representation of numerous food companies, including Aldi Inc., The Price Chopper, Inc., The Golub Corporation, and HP Hood LLC in multiple class action lawsuits alleging that various vanilla-flavored dairy products are falsely labeled and deceptive to consumers.
• Neurobrands “Natural Flavors” Class Action.  Achieved a favorable resolution of allegations of deceptive marketing of beverages as containing “natural flavors” and “no artificial colors and flavors."
• Tootsie Roll “Slack-Fill” Class Actions.  Successfully represented Tootsie Roll in three nationwide and state class action lawsuits claiming that Tootsie Roll’s boxes of Junior Mints contain “non-functional slack-fill.”

Life Sciences

• Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Class Actions.  Represented McKesson in defeating class certification of claims associated with neonatal abstinence syndrome.
• Opioid Litigation.  Led a coalition of defendants in winning an interlocutory appeal overturning certification of an unprecedented “negotiation class” covering thousands of federal opioid cases consolidated in an MDL proceeding.
• Product Liability Class Action.  Served as national lead counsel to Boehringer Ingelheim in a product liability class action alleging deceptive design, manufacturing, and marketing of a prescription medicine.
• LEO Pharmaceuticals False Advertising Class Action.  Defending LEO Pharmaceuticals against class-action claims accusing the company of misrepresenting the risks of skin cancer from the use of prescription medicine. 

Entertainment, Media, and Gaming

• Employee Recruiting Antitrust Class Actions.  Represented The Walt Disney Company, Pixar, and Lucas Films in multi-defendant antitrust class actions alleging unlawful agreements among Silicon Valley animation studios to limit their recruiting of each other’s employees.
• Casino Gaming Class Action.  Served as lead counsel for Aristocrat and Big Fish Games in nationwide consumer class actions challenging online social casino-style games as illegal gambling and asserting unfair competition claims.
• Children's Privacy Class Action.  Achieved favorable resolution for ViacomCBS in a putative class action concerning the alleged collection of data from children for targeted advertising purposes.
• Digital Music Royalty Class Actions.  Represented Sony Music Entertainment in a high-profile class action challenging its method of calculating royalties on foreign streaming for legacy recording artists. Secured a class-wide settlement that reflects Sony Music's commitment to further modernizing royalty and accounting practices for artists paid under decades-old contracts.
• Hulu Video Privacy Protection Act Class Action.  Achieved summary judgment in a putative class action alleging violation of the Video Privacy Protection Act. 

Sports

• NFL Painkillers Class Action.  Successfully represented the NFL member clubs in a class action brought by retired players involving alleged improper administration of prescription pain medications.
• Cheerleader Class Action.  Represented the NFL in defeating, both in the district court and on appeal, a class action brought by cheerleaders accusing the NFL and its member clubs of unlawfully conspiring to fix cheerleader compensation and to enforce anti-poaching agreements.
• United States Olympic and Paralympic Class Action.  Represented the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee in claims brought by taekwondo athletes that the USOPC was engaged in a RICO enterprise and violated federal laws against sex trafficking, forced labor, and obstruction of justice.
• Financial Aid Limits for Student Athletes.  Represented the American Athletic Conference in a putative antitrust class action challenging NCAA and Conference rules on financial aid limits for student athletes.
• San Francisco 49ers Antitrust Ticketing Class Actions.  Won dismissal of two putative class actions challenging a sports franchise’s ticketing policies.

Other

• Aramark Wage and Overtime Class Action.  Representing Aramark Correctional Services in a putative class action alleging wage and overtime claims under the California Labor Code.
• UCLA “Varsity Blues” Admissions Class Action.  Defeated a series of class actions against UCLA related to the "Varsity Blues" scandal brought by college applicants alleging that they would not have paid application fees if they had known that the admissions process was tainted by fraud.
• Oil and Gas Foreclosures Class Action.  Defended a multi-national integrated oil and gas company in a class action involving impact of mortgage foreclosures on oil and gas lease rights.
• ERISA plan class action litigation.  Representing Shoe Show in a putative class action alleging employee defined contribution plan paid excessive fees for recordkeeping and other administrative services.
• ADA Class Action.  Defended Shoe Show against claims alleging violations of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act.