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  Life Sciences, Technology, Consumer Products, Entertainment, Media, and Gaming, Financial Services, Food and Beverage, Sports, and others.

Recent Notable Successes

• Interest Rate Swaps Antitrust Litigation.  We defeated class certification in a multi-billion case involving the market for interest rate swaps. In the litigation, several leading plaintiff firms accused 12 of the world’s largest banks, including our client JPMorgan, of conspiring to boycott new entrant trading platforms in the interest rate swap markets, allegedly inflicting over $10 billion in treble damages. Covington drafted and argued a motion to dismiss on behalf of all defendants that successfully eliminated more than half of plaintiffs’ claims. Covington then led defendants’ efforts to oppose plaintiffs’ motion for class certification. In December 2023, the court denied class certification in its entirety.

• 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.

• 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 medical monitoring 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. Years later, 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.

• Procter & Gamble False Advertising Class Action.  Represented The Procter & Gamble Company in a putative class action alleging that the presence of added sugar in certain Metamucil fiber supplements rendered the labeling of those products false and misleading. Covington prevailed on a motion to dismiss, with the court agreeing that plaintiffs’ claims were preempted by federal law. This decision, which was recognized by the Daily Journal as a top verdict for 2023, was the first time in a case of this type that a district court found preemption on a motion-to-dismiss posture.

• 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.

Life Sciences

• Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Class Actions.  Represented McKesson in defeating class certification of medical monitoring 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.

• False Advertising Class Action.  Leading the defense of one of the nation’s leading consumer products companies in multidistrict class-action litigation challenging the company’s marketing and advertising of over-the-counter medicine containing allegedly ineffective ingredients.

• Procter & Gamble Recall Multi-District Litigation.  Led the defense of one of the nation’s leading consumer products companies in multidistrict litigation involving claims for economic and personal injuries following the company’s recall of products that allegedly contain benzene.

• RICO-Class Action.  Representing multinational pharmaceutical company from multi-billion dollar RICO class-action claims brought by third-party payors accusing the company of providing inadequate warnings about the risks of pioglitazone.

• 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.

• RICO Class Action for Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc.  Secured dismissal with prejudice of a federal RICO class action relating to alleged Anti-Kickback Statute violations and off-label marketing.

• Genentech Product Safety Class Action.  Defeated at the pleading stage a putative class action filed against one of the nation’s leading pharmaceutical companies from claims seeking economic damages and medical monitoring arising out of an alleged failure to warn about risks associated with mefloquine.

• Recall Class Action.  Helped one of the country’s leading manufacturers of COVID-19 tests defeat class-action claims challenging the company’s administration of a product recall.

• LEO Pharma False Advertising Class Action.  Defeated claims against LEO Pharma from class-action claims seeking economic damages arising out of an alleged failure to warn about certain risks associated with Picato medicine by invoking the learned intermediary doctrine. 

Technology

• High-Profile Generative AI Class Action.  Won dismissal at the pleadings stage on behalf of Microsoft in a putative class action alleging privacy claims related to the data used to train OpenAI's large language models.

• 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.

• Wiretapping Privacy Class Actions.  Representing Papa Johns and Bloomingdale’s in putative class actions filed against the country asserting claims under the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) and other states’ wiretapping laws related to session replay technology deployed on the Papa Johns’ and Bloomingdale’s website. Won dismissal at the motion to dismiss stage in seven of these cases to date on the ground of lack of Article III standing, lack of personal jurisdiction, or failure to state a claim.

• 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.

• 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.

• Video Privacy Protection Act Class Actions.  Defending multiple actions alleging disclosure of personally identifying information in violation of the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), including a national sports league; television broadcasters; an online content provider; a video streaming service; an equipment manufacturer; and others.

Consumer Products

• Procter & Gamble False Advertising Class Actions.  Secured a victory in the Second Circuit on behalf of one of the nation’s leading consumer products companies in class-action litigation challenging how the company marketed its charcoal toothpaste products.

• Class Action Following Product Recall.  Successfully defeated class-action claims against one of the nation’s largest fitness companies arising out of the company’s recall of an allegedly defective product.

• 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.

• Procter & Gamble False Labeling Class Action.  Defeated a putative class action alleging that there is sugar and lead in the company’s Metamucil products.

• Clorox Deceptive Advertising Class Action.  Defeated nationwide putative class action alleging deceptive marketing and false advertising claims relating to Clorox’s Splash-less bleach.

• Bayer Product Safety Class Actions.  Represented Bayer in class actions alleging that Alka-Seltzer branded cold remedies as “non-drowsy” are false and misleading.

• Product Recall Class Action for Bayer.  Defeated class-action claims against one of the nation’s largest consumer products companies arising out of a product recall by persuading the court that the plaintiffs lacked standing to sue.

• 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’s Unfair Competition Law (UCL) violations related to a discount battery program.

Financial Services

• Secured Denial of Class Certification for $10 Billion Claim.  Defeated class certification and a related motion in an antitrust class action accusing JPMorgan and eleven other defendants of conspiring to boycott new entrant trading platforms in the interest rate swap markets.

• 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.

• 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.  Successfully defended several of the nation’s leading fintech companies from claims that the companies failed to disclose the risk of third-party fees associated with the use of their products.

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 California’s Unfair Competition Law (UCL), False Advertising Law (FAL), and Consumers Legal Remedies Act (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.  Defeated thirteen class-action lawsuits against numerous food companies, alleging that various vanilla-flavored dairy products are falsely labeled and deceptive to consumers.

• 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.”

Entertainment, Media, and Gaming

• No-Poach 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.

• 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.

• Social 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.

• Victory on Preemptive Motion.  Representing Product Madness, Inc. and Big Fish Games, Inc. in putative class action originally filed in California state court relating to alleged violation of California consumer advertising laws. Successfully removed to federal court, transferred to Washington federal court, and secured a rare victory on a preemptive motion to deny class certification.

• 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.

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.

• San Francisco 49ers Antitrust Ticketing Class Actions.  Won dismissal of two putative class actions challenging a sports franchise’s ticketing policies.

• 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.

Other

• Trial Win in ERISA Class Action.  Obtained a trial victory on behalf of Northrop Grumman and its ERISA plan fiduciaries in a complex challenge to the calculation of benefits and allegations of misrepresentations in plan communications.

• Hino Motors Manufacturing Product Safety Class Action.  Representing one of the nation's largest commercial truck manufacturers in class-action litigation accusing the company of falsifying emissions and fuel economy certification.

• 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.

• 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.

• Fair Housing Act Class Action.  Representing one of the largest tenant screening companies in a putative class action alleging that the company’s proprietary screening model violates fair housing laws.

• 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.