Silver Golub & Teitell LLP represents individuals, businesses, institutional investors, family offices, high net worth individuals, and governmental entities in all types of class action litigation at the trial and appellate levels. SGT’s Class Action Group has experience litigating complex antitrust, consumer protection, data privacy, ERISA, environmental, RICO, insurance, and securities & digital asset matters, among others and has recovered billions of dollars in class action verdicts and settlements for clients.
Antitrust Competition
SGT's attorneys have extensive experience litigating on behalf of plaintiffs harmed by anticompetitive behavior to enforce federal and state antitrust laws.
Consumer Protection
SGT advises consumers, businesses, and governmental entities harmed by unfair and deceptive businesses practices against the world’s largest companies.
Data Breach & Privacy
SGT represents individuals whose sensitive personal information and data have been illegally collected, stored, misused, or stolen.
Environmental & Public Health
SGT’s class action attorneys represent individuals whose health and property have been impacted by environmental contamination.
Insurance & Financial Services
SGT represents consumers against insurers and financial services providers who violate the terms of their policies and agreements or otherwise engage in unlawful, unfair, or deceptive conduct.
Labor, Employment & ERISA
SGT represents employees victimized by employer misconduct, including wage and hour law violations, illegal discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, or disability, and misuse of employees’ retirement benefits.
Securities & Digital Assets
SGT represents investors in stocks, bonds, digital assets and other alternative investments victimized by misconduct in violation of the federal and securities laws and state common law.
SGT's class action clients do not pay for services or litigation expenses out-of-pocket. SGT covers all costs and fees associated with the class action litigation and operates on a contingency basis. That is, SGT is only compensated (if at all) after a successful outcome for our clients. In the event of a class-wide settlement or verdict at trial, we apply to the court to be paid a fee out of the recovery. These fees as well as any costs we seek reimbursement for must be approved by a judge.
A class action a type of litigation where a single or small group of individuals represent a larger group (the "class") harmed by the same conduct and/or seeking a similar form of relief in a single proceeding. Proceeding in this way is appropriate where the alleged group harmed, or "putative class" is made up of "similarly situated" individuals. This means that they have suffered similar injuries as a result of the same type of conduct. Class action lawsuits are often used when it would be impractical or impossible for individual plaintiffs to bring their claims individually.
Silver Golub & Teitell LLP often represents similarly situated individuals or investors in cases involving consumer fraud, securities fraud, defective products, data privacy, and environmental contamination. In these cases, the class action provides a mechanism for bringing together a large number of similarly situated individuals in order to hold the wrongdoer accountable and obtain relief for the class as a whole.
In a class action lawsuit, the lead or representative plaintiff is an individual who is chosen to represent the interests of all class members. Selection of a lead plaintiff is usually based on a number of factors, including the strength of their claim and their willingness to be actively involved in the litigation. The lead plaintiff is generally not afforded any special legal status but their role is essential to the success of the class action.
To qualify as a lead or representative plaintiff an individual or investor must generally meet the following criteria: (1) the plaintiff has suffered some injury as a result of the defendant's actions that is typical of the injury suffered by other class members; (2) the plaintiff must be able to represent the interests of the class fairly and adequately; and (3) the plaintiff must not have any interests that are antagonistic to those of the class.
In the case of a securities fraud or investment-related class action, this typically means that an investor must have invested in and held the investment through a certain time period. In a consumer case, it typically means an individual must have purchased or used the product or service at issue during the relevant period.
This is a question only you can answer. People choose to serve as lead plaintiffs for a variety of reasons. Most often, it is because people care about what has happened to them and recognize that if they don't act, there is no guarantee someone else will.
Most successful class actions end in settlement, rather than a verdict at trial. When a settlement is reached (or a verdict decided), all class members are entitled to a proportionate share of the recovery. Often, differences in the amount of recovery between class members will depend on the type of securities, bonds, goods, and/or services an investor or consumer purchased. Most of the time, a claims administrator is hired (and overseen by SGT) to administer the process of getting class members their share of a recovery.
Settlements often provide relief to class members regardless of whether they still have a proof of purchase. In the case of securities actions, selling your shares after the class period ends does not affect your status as a class member. Situations vary, it is worth it to speak to us about your individual circumstances.
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