Consumer Class Actions
Leading companies trust O’Melveny with their biggest and most complex consumer cases, and our unparalleled track record shows why.
The Threat of Mass Arbitration: How Companies Can Avoid Becoming the Next Target
Leading companies trust O’Melveny with their biggest and most complex consumer cases, and our unparalleled track record shows why.
The Threat of Mass Arbitration: How Companies Can Avoid Becoming the Next Target
The world’s most prominent pharmaceutical, consumer products, consumer electronics, food and beverage, automotive, financial services, and aviation companies turn to O’Melveny when they face complex class action litigation. We handle every aspect of these matters, from case development to trials to appeals, leading multidistrict litigation, and coordinating copycat cases by competing plaintiffs’ firms. And we know how to guide clients through the challenges that often accompany these cases, including congressional inquiries and enforcement actions by attorneys general.
As one of the only firms in the country that has successfully tried multiple class actions, we field experienced teams that know how to manage discovery, how to develop helpful facts, and how to win in front of juries.
Among the highlights of our practice is our decades-long relationship with Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiaries Janssen Pharmaceuticals and Kenvue Inc. O’Melveny served as the companies’ lead litigation counsel as they faced thousands of claims seeking to hold them liable for the country’s opioid-abuse crisis. Within a span of two weeks, we secured two monumental wins in that massive litigation—with tens of billions of dollars at stake—and later secured an unprecedented global resolution of claims from 48 states and more than 3,000 cities and counties.
Our lawyers have helped the world’s most prominent companies—from technology companies to food brands to automobile manufacturers—navigate nationwide class actions involving everything from consumer-fraud to personal-injury to products-defect allegations. What’s more, our innovative strategies have made new law. Class-action defendants regularly cite our cases, including our Supreme Court victory on behalf of China Agritech, a ruling that curtailed in federal class actions cases the abusive practice of stringing together statutes of limitations based on prior cases.
Our experience is varied and unique—with proven results that speak to our best-in-class capabilities.
Negotiated a favorable settlement ending more than 40 class-action suits against subsidiary Hill’s Pet Nutrition over a recall of canned dog foods following a supplier error.
Guided Ford through one of the most difficult periods in the automaker’s 100-year history: the Bridgestone/Firestone controversy. We represented Ford in more than 200 class-action lawsuits, inquiries by both houses of Congress, an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and daily coverage in the media. We successfully blocked certification of a nationwide class in both federal and state courts and defended Ford in the only state-court class action that proceeded to trial.
Represents leading kombucha maker GT's Living Foods in California federal and state courts in two consumer class actions, a Lanham Act case brought by a competitor, and an enforcement action under California's Proposition 65.
Secured a series of victories in nationwide putative class actions over its leading consumer products, including talcum-powder, over-the-counter pain reliever, acne treatment masks, and butter substitutes, among others. Also represent in over a dozen putative class action matters arising from the headline-grabbing FDA advisory committee determination that the cold-medicine ingredient phenylephrine is ineffective.
Achieved a precedent-setting victory for Kia in first-of-its kind lawsuit over alleged defects in panoramic sunroof glass. We convinced the district court to deny the plaintiff’s motion for class certification, then successfully defended that denial before the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Represented a major California-based consumer electronics company in scores of cases involving its famous consumer products and services—from power button and storage capacity litigation to software update, air filter, and image retention litigation.
Represented a national grocery chain with hundreds of stores against a variety of consumer class actions and other cases involving alleged contamination of food products, including arsenic in wine and acrylamide in coffee, as well as various mislabeling cases involving products like alkaline water, truffle oil, and dozens of other alleged mislabeling and Proposition 65 matters. Our work has also involved advising on issues related to potential contamination, recalls, and related litigation.
Served as lead trial counsel to Sempra Energy and subsidiary Southern California Gas Company in defending personal-injury and business claims brought by 36,000 individual plaintiffs and various real estate developers after the October 2015 leak at a gas-storage facility in Los Angeles. We negotiated both a US$1.8 billion agreement to globally resolve the individual plaintiffs’ claims and a series of smaller settlements with real estate developers.
Esteban Rodriguez: Leaders of Influence: Minority Attorneys
–Los Angeles Business Journal (2024)
Client Service All-Stars
–The BTI Consulting Group (2023)
“Drawing upon substantial resources from both coasts, O’Melveny & Myers LLP is a popular choice among manufacturers of a range of consumer products to represent them in often brand reputation threatening litigation.”
–The Legal 500 US
“Robust team with considerable trial and appellate expertise.”
–Chambers USA
“More than willing to go the extra mile to ensure the optimal result.”
–Client Testimonial, The Legal 500 US
“The firm is appreciated for its ability to provide a ‘very comprehensive service’ from cradle-to-grave.”
–The Legal 500 US