Class Action

JORDEN BURT's Class Action Practice Team consists of experienced professionals with skills tailored to the unique challenges facing the Firm's clients. Our attorneys handle complex litigation at all levels of the state and federal courts, including in the Supreme Court of the United States. JORDEN BURT's class action attorneys have successfully defended hundreds of class claims, regularly involving tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars, on behalf of the largest financial services and healthcare institutions. We are frequently retained to defend such cases in high risk venues and to manage or coordinate the overall institutional response to multi-district litigation.

Since the explosion of class action litigation in the 1990s, Jorden Burt has played a leading role in defending against the trial bar's concerted efforts to focus punitive tort litigation against national financial institutions in hostile venues. Jorden Burt 's extensive success in this high-risk litigation is a reflection of the Firm's aggressive style of defense, often involving petitions for extraordinary writs and interlocutory appeals. Our lawyers have abundant experience with every conceivable procedure-based legal issue, including standing, removal, arbitration, MDL proceedings, challenges to venue, joinder of parties, jurisdiction, and of course class certification issues. The Firm also has extensive knowledge and briefing experience with all of the legal doctrines and areas of law of particular import to the insurance and securities industries, including highly-successful approaches based upon the filed-rate and form doctrines, primary jurisdiction, the McCarran-Ferguson Act, the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act ("PSLRA") and the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act ("SLUSA").

While Jorden Burt has been highly successful in defeating class litigation in numerous states, the plaintiffs' bar continues to migrate significant class action claims into new venues. Jorden Burt is currently lead counsel in class actions in many of these evolving jurisdictions. Jorden Burt directs the defense of the litigation, drafts all significant pleadings and motions, argues all significant hearings and tries the case as first or second chair depending upon the dynamics of the local venue. Over time, the Firm has developed an unparalleled network of top local trial lawyers throughout the country to assist as called upon in local hearings, discovery, and trial work.

Multi-state trial bar networking now presents one of the most serious threats in high-risk venues throughout the country. Even class actions with mid-range exposures are now brought by groups of 10 or more plaintiffs' firms, raising substantial risk of overwhelming discovery abuses. Significant litigation can no longer be managed through use of the traditional law department - local counsel arrangements, particularly in many notable venues. More sophisticated, structured and aggressive approaches must be employed to respond in those states presenting unusual substantive fraud laws, punitive damage laws, and plaintiff-oriented local procedural rules. Successful management of this type of litigation requires not only highly-skilled lawyers, but an intimate knowledge of the risks inherent in various jurisdictions, the political and personal connections between plaintiffs' counsel and elected or appointed state court judges, and a special experience and expertise in selecting and teaming with local trial counsel as appropriate. Jorden Burt has an unsurpassed record of success reflecting a truly unique understanding and extensive experience defending against high-risk litigation with a specialized national expertise in defending claims which relate to the sale, marketing, and administration of financial products and services.

The Firm's CLASS ACTION Practice Team offers a full range of services with respect to class action disputes, including:

• Sales practices class actions
• Securities fraud class actions
• Consumer class actions
• Managed care class actions
• RICO class actions
• Discrimination and other employment class actions
• ERISA and other class claims involving fiduciary duties
• Counseling on market conduct issues where class claims often arise
• Conducting exposure analyses for clients concerned with class or mass action litigation risk
• Evaluating settlement costs and structuring innovative class action resolutions

CLASS ACTION CASE HIGHLIGHTS

Significant recent representations include:

• Thorn v. Jefferson-Pilot Life Insurance Co. , 445 F.3d 311 (4^th Cir.) (affirmed district court's denial of motion for certification of class of owners of 1.4 million industrial life policies and remanded for further proceedings on appellants' individual claims).
• London v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., et al., 340 F.3d 1246 (11^th Cir.) (decertification of class advancing claims relating to insurance code violations allegedly voiding thousands of policies for illegality).
• Baymiller v. Guarantee Mut. Life Ins. Co., 2000 WL 1026565 (C.D. Cal.); 2000 WL 33774562 (C.D. Cal.) (dismissal of nationwide class action alleging improper interest crediting and cost of insurance expenses under life insurance contracts).
• Bernardinelli v. General American Life Insurance Co., 357 F.3d 800 (8^th Cir.) (affirming district court's enjoinment of plaintiff's putative class action suit in state court where plaintiff was a member of the class in a previous class action settlement).
• Tropp v. Western-Southern Life Ins. Co., 381 F.3d 591 (7^th Cir.) (affirming dismissal of putative class action where claims were barred and released by a prior, comprehensive class settlement).
• In re: Life USA Holding, Inc., 242 F.3d 136 (3d Cir.) (decertification of nationwide class of insureds asserting claims of fraud in connection with the sale and administration of bonus annuities).
• Jones v. GE Life & Annuity Assurance Co., 2004 WL 691749 (M.D.N.C.) (judgment on the pleadings granted in nationwide class action alleging improper increase in cost of insurance expense assessed life insurance policies).
• Hernandez v. GE Capital Consumer Card Co., Case Nos. 00-4828-CIV-SEITZ and 01-23566 (S.D. Fla. and Fla. Cir. Ct.) (defense and settlement of national payment posting class action with 155 million class members against credit card banks).
• Bradberry v. John Hancock Life Ins. Co., 222 F.R.D. 568 (W.D. Tenn.) (decertification of a class of long term care insurance policy owners).
• Bowers v. Jefferson Pilot Financial Ins. Co., 219 F.R.D. 578 (E.D. Mich.) (decertification of national class action challenging interpretation of policy provisions relating to insurance premiums).
• Hammett v. American Bankers Insurance Company of Florida, 203 F.R.D. 690 (S.D. Fla.) (class certification denied in action by insureds asserting improper claim handling practices).
• Frelin v. Oakwood Homes Corp., et al., No. Civ-2001-53-3, 2002 WL 31863487 (Ark. Cir. Ct.) (class certification denied in action by insureds asserting point of sale licensing and fraud claims).
• Voyager Insurance Companies v. Whitson, 867 So.2d 1065 (Ala.) (decertification of class advancing statutory and common law claims relating to premium rating).
• American Bankers Insurance Company of Florida v. Booth, 830 So.2d 1205 (Miss.) (barring all class actions in Mississippi state courts).
• Zarrella v. Minnesota Mut. Life Ins. Co., 824 A.2d 1249 (R.I.) (affirming denial of certification of class of insureds asserting dividend crediting claims under life insurance policies).
• Freeman v. Pacific Life Insurance Company, 577 S.E. 2d 184 (N.C.) (affirming judgment against class member challenging Notice Plan and claim preclusion of class settlement).
• Gras v. First Associates Capital Corp., 786 A. 2d 886 (N.J. Sup. Ct. App. Div.) (defeating state-wide class action by compelling arbitration of named plaintiffs' claims).
• Mentis v. Delaware American (AIG) Life, 2000 WL 973299 (Del. Super.) (nationwide class certification denied to class of insureds asserting claims of wrongdoing in connection with the crediting of interest and charging of expenses under universal life policies).
• Humphrey v. Allstate Life Insurance Company, Civil Action No. 99 CH 8383 (Ill. Cir. Ct., Cook County) (class certification denied to class alleging fraudulent sales practices, including improper replacement or "churning").
• Cheatwood v. Barry University, 2001 WL 1769914 (Fla. Cir. Ct.) (class certification denied in action by law students against university on accreditation issues).
• Bettan v. American Bankers Insurance Group, Inc., Case No. CV00-1924 (E.D.N.Y. Sept. 21, 2000) ( obtained dismissal of complaint against American Bankers and Fortis U.S. holding companies alleging national RICO class action and deceptive marketing in connection with sale of credit card insurance).