At the discussion included an overview of aggregate litigation types and how these legal mechanisms solve problems for both plaintiffs and defendants alike to create a “global peace.”

The most generally well-known of these options is Class Action litigation – in which a group of individuals comes together to address an injustice against a powerful defendant – generally a corporation or a government.

“Class actions are a common sense way to solve a shared problem between those harmed and those in power,” said Mark Chalos, managing partner of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein’s Nashville office. “Class action litigation can change the way bad acting companies do business and get compensation for those harmed by wrongful conduct. For companies that believe they have acted properly, class actions can efficiently bring vindication in one fell swoop.”

Another legal mechanism for resolving complex civil cases is by way of multi-district litigation, often referred to as an MDL, which is a system of organizing multiple cases and types of cases against a common defendant (or defendants) in one federal court district for pre-trial proceedings – managed by one judge. Created by Congress in 1968, MDLs benefit plaintiffs, defendants, and American taxpayers by controlling costs, avoiding duplication, and preventing inconsistent pre-trial rulings.

The Southeast Complex Litigation Conference included leading voices from the plaintiffs’ bar, defense bar, government, and the bench, and was presented the Tennessee Bar Association.

About Mark P. Chalos

The Managing Partner of Lieff Cabraser’s Nashville office, Mark P. Chalos (twitter/X: @mpchalos) represents individuals who have suffered catastrophic personal injuries and families whose loved ones died due to the negligence or misconduct of others. Mark has tried cases before juries and judges across the country and serves in the leadership of numerous class actions and multidistrict litigations, including the national opioids litigation. He is Immediate Past-President of the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association, an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt University Law School teaching The Practice of Aggregate Litigation, a frequent speaker at legal seminars nationwide on a variety of civil litigation topics, and is regularly cited by top-tier media outlets.

Betsy co-led the panel discussion “Redesigning, Recruiting, and Mentoring” alongside Angela Ferrante of Kroll and Dana Rager of Western Alliance Bank.

For more information, visit the Class of Our Own conference website.

Ms. Cabraser co-led a panel discussion entitled “Steel Magnolias: Boss Moves & Bold Truths” alongside Sharon McGowan, the CEO of Public Justice, Julie Kane of Colson Hicks Eidson, and Elizabeth Pritzker of Pritzker Levine LLP.

For more information, visit the Class of Our Own conference website.

About Elizabeth J. Cabraser

Elizabeth Cabraser is one of the nation’s leading class action litigators, possessing unparalleled expertise in complex civil litigation. She has served as court-appointed lead, co-lead, or class counsel in scores of federal multi-district and state coordinated proceedings, and currently serves in leadership positions in several of the nation’s highest profile civil cases, including a solo leadership role in the VW “Clean Diesel” Emissions case, and co-lead positions in the GM ignition switch defect and Takata defective airbag cases, the Fiat Chrysler Jeep Dodge diesel emissions fraud litigation, the Generic Drugs Pricing antitrust litigation, and the National Prescription Opiates litigation.

The conference brings together leading practitioners, policymakers, and thought leaders for an in-depth exploration of today’s most urgent and complex issues in water, environmental, energy, and resource law.

Mr. Dunlavey will speak on the panel “Safe Water for All: The Key Challenges and Successes in Addressing Water Justice Issues in North America,” at 3:45 p.m. on Friday, May 16.

His fellow panelists include:

• Robert L. Gibbs, Gibbs Travis PLLC
• Serena McIlwain (Moderator), Secretary, Maryland Department of the Environment
• Susan Smith, Professor Emeritus, Willamette University College of Law

For more information and to register, visit the ABA’s website.

About Wilson M. Dunlavey

Wilson M. Dunlavey is a partner in Lieff Cabraser’s New York office. He represents government entities, consumers, small businesses, workers, fishers, and residents in complex litigation against fossil fuel companies, automobile manufacturers, and other polluters. In just ten years of practice, Wilson has helped recover over $16 billion for his clients and has been a driving force in shaping legal protections for victims of environmental disasters. He currently represents the State of California in its landmark climate deception case against major oil companies and the American Petroleum Institute. Wilson’s work has earned him recognition in the “Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers in America” (2023–2025), “Lawdragon 500 X – The Next Generation” (2023, 2024), and as a “Rising Star for Northern California” by Super Lawyers (2019–2024). He was named a “California Lawyer of the Year” by the Daily Journal in 2018 and was a finalist for “Consumer Attorney of the Year” by Consumer Attorneys of California in 2017. He also received the American Antitrust Institute’s award for “Outstanding Private Practice Antitrust Achievement” in 2017.

“We are proud to represent whistleblowers—people who take their ethical obligations very seriously and who are often in the best position to observe fraud on taxpayers,” noted Lieff Cabraser partner Rachel Geman, who represents plaintiffs in the case. “We are especially appreciative of our relator’s efforts to maintain cybersecurity and courageous willingness to step forward when problems arose.”

Read more about Lieff Cabraser’s False Claims Act settlement with Raytheon on the DOJ’s website.

About Rachel Geman

Rachel Geman is a partner in Lieff Cabraser’s New York office and the Chair of the firm’s False Claims/Qui Tam practice group. Her practice is dedicated to complex class action and False Claims Act matters, with present and recent leadership appointments in a variety of matters from copyright to medical monitoring to forced labor. Rachel is a community mediator and a mom to two teenagers.

The firm has also been named a finalist in five practice categories:

Class Action
Consumer Protection
Mass Torts
Privacy/Data Breach, and
Products Liability.

The NLJ’s 2025 individual lawyer award winners were also announced. We are delighted to share the news that partner Elizabeth Cabraser has been named to the “Elite Women of the Plaintiffs Bar” list, and partner Phong-Chau Nguyen has been named a “Rising Star of the Plaintiffs Bar.”

The final firm award selections will be announced at the 2025 Elite Trial Lawyers awards ceremony taking place July 10, 2025, at the JW Marriott Essex House in New York City.

Congratulations to all selected lawyers and finalist law firms!

About Lieff Cabraser

Described by The American Lawyer as “one of the nation’s premier plaintiffs’ firms,” Lieff Cabraser enjoys a national reputation for professional integrity and the successful prosecution of our clients’ claims. We possess sophisticated legal skills and the financial resources necessary for the handling of large, complex cases, and for litigating against some of the nation’s largest corporations.

So far in 2025, Lawdragon recognized 7 Lieff Cabraser lawyers as “Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers,” 33 firm lawyers as “Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers,” 22 firm lawyers as “Leading Litigators,” and 13 firm lawyers as “Global Antitrust & Competition Lawyers.”

In 2024 alone, Lawdragon recognized 9 Lieff Cabraser lawyers as “Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers,” 24 as “Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers,” 28 as “Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers,” 14 as “Global Plaintiff Lawyers,” and 10 as “Leading Plaintiff Employment & Civil Rights Lawyers.” We saw 13 lawyers named to Lawdragon’s 2024 “500X: The Next Generation” list, and The National Law Journal honored us with their 2024 “Elite Trial Lawyers” awards for Employee Rights and Anti-Discrimination. Our firm was named “Class Action Department of the Year” by the New York Law Journal, and our JUUL injuries case team shared the Daily Journal’s 2024 “California Lawyer of the Year” award. Two of our lawyers were also recognized as the Daily Journal’s “Leading Commercial Litigators,” and Law360 named Lieff Cabraser its 2024 “Practice Group of the Year” for Class Action, Privacy, and Product Liability.

We’re proud to share that The Recorder has named Lieff Cabraser partner Richard M. Heimann as one of four recipients of its 2025 California Legal Awards “Lifetime Achievement” honor, recognizing his extraordinary contributions to the legal profession. A “lawyer’s lawyer” and a consummate professional, Richard has been securing historic settlements and court victories for plaintiffs in securities, tort, antitrust, and other critical matters nationwide since 1972.

In addition, Lieff Cabraser attorneys Annie Wanless and Sarah Zandi have been named finalists for The Recorder’s “Most Promising Newcomer” award.

All of the 2025 award winners will be announced at the California Legal Awards dinner on the evening of June 25th at the Sheraton Grand in Los Angeles.

Congratulations to Richard, Annie, and Sarah on this remarkable recognition!

View the full list of 2025 California Legal Awards finalists on The Recorder’s (American Legal Media/Law.com) website.

Congratulations to Steve on this outstanding accomplishment!

View the full list on Lawdragon’s website.

About Steven E. Fineman

Lieff Cabraser managing partner Steven E. Fineman  is a prominent plaintiffs’ litigator specializing in securities and financial fraud cases, mass tort litigation, and the representation of whistleblowers in False Claims Act matters. He also writes, teaches, and speaks frequently on complex litigation. He has been consistently recognized as a top lawyer in his fields by Best Lawyers in America, Super Lawyers, Benchmark Plaintiff, and the National Law Journal. In 2025, Lawdragon identified Mr. Fineman as one of the nation’s “500 Leading Lawyers in America,” as well as one of the “500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers” in America.

Panelists will also be discussing various topics on securities litigation as well as artificial intelligence and ethics. NASCAT is a volunteer membership organization founded in 1988 which advocates for strict legal protections for investors and consumers. NASCAT is dedicated to representing victims of fraud, educating the public, and ensuring corporate accountability in order to improve access to justice for those who have been harmed.

For more information, visit the NASCAT website.

About Douglas Cuthbertson

A partner in Lieff Cabraser’s New York office, Douglas Cuthbertson has a practice focused on domestic and international consumer fraud cases, digital privacy, and securities fraud.

His past and present work includes securities litigation against the Brazilian petroleum corporation Petrobras, a financial fraud action against Morgan Stanley, consumer litigation against Volkswagen, as well as an airline overcharging case against British Airways where he was designated as Class Counsel (Dover v. British Airways).  Doug has also litigated numerous class action consumer protection cases under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act against large banks, satellite service providers, and utilities, helping result in the largest monetary settlements in the history of the TCPA to end harassing robocalls to millions of consumers.

Doug has acted in digital privacy litigation against Google, Disney, Viacom, and others, including as co-counsel for the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office and as Class Counsel in McDonald v. Kiloo A/S (and two related actions) on behalf of parents concerning the unlawful collection and use of their children’s personal information from mobile games to track and monetize kids. Leading nonprofit advocates described these settlements as “the biggest change to the children’s app market,” impacting Defendants’ “business models” to prevent children from being “targeted with the most insidious and manipulative forms of marketing.”