With two major decisions last spring, the U.S. Supreme Court reset the law of class actions. Now Bay Area plaintiff firms are resetting their business plans.
Lower courts are still parsing AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion and Dukes v. Walmart, but firms that represent consumers and employees in class litigation are already retooling their practices in a variety of ways. Some are ratcheting back consumer class actions in favor of direct litigation on behalf of individuals or smaller groups. Others are gearing up for more business-to-business litigation on behalf of companies or government entities who believe they’ve been ripped off by big corporations. Some are exploring ways to make arbitration clauses — which were bolstered by Concepcion — work in their favor. And one of San Francisco’s most prominent and successful plaintiff attorneys has let go the other two lawyers in his shop and decided to go it alone.
