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Course Details

Course Information
  • smart_display Format

    On-Demand

  • signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level

    Intermediate

  • work Practice Area

    Class Action and Other Litigation

Date & Time
  • event Date

    Tuesday, September 3, 2024

  • schedule Time

    1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT

  • timer Program Length

    90 minutes

Credit Information

  • This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.

  • An excellent opportunity to earn Ethics CLE credits. Note: BARBRI cannot guarantee that this course will be approved for ethics credits in all states. To confirm, please contact our CLE department at pdservice@barbri.com.

$297.00
CLE
ALL

This CLE course will provide class action attorneys with guidance on dealing with the legal ethics hurdles and malpractice threats inherent in class action litigation. The program will address intra-class conflicts, communication with class members, and attorney fees.

Faculty

Phong-Chau G. Nguyen
Partner
Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP

Mr. Nguyen is a partner in Lieff Cabraser’s San Francisco office specializing in consumer and defective product cases, as well as personal injury/mass tort matters. He is part of the leadership team in the Volkswagen Diesel Emissions multidistrict litigation, which secured an unprecedented $14+ billion in settlements on behalf of U.S. owners and lessees of Volkswagen diesel vehicles, won the California Daily Journal’s “California Lawyer of the Year” award, and secured a finalist position for the 2017 Consumer Attorneys of California “Consumer Attorneys of the Year” award. Mr. Nguyen is also involved in similar work on Lieff Cabraser’s leadership team in the Fiat Chrysler diesel emissions case.

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Kevin R. Budner
Partner
Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP

Mr. Budner is a partner in Lieff Cabraser’s San Francisco specializing in complex, high-impact litigation. He has been recognized as a “Top 40 Under 40 Lawyer” (Daily Journal), one of the 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers in America (Lawdragon), a “Rising Star for Class Action law (Law360), a “Rising Star of the Plaintiff’s Bar” (National Law Journal), a “Rising Star for Northern California” (Super Lawyers), and “One to Watch” (Best Lawyers). Mr. Budner has also received awards for “Trial Lawyer of the Year” (Public Justice), “Trial Lawyer Excellence” (Law Bulletin), “California Lawyer of the Year” (California Daily Journal), and “Consumer Attorney of the Year Finalist” (Consumer Attorneys of California).

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Description

Class action litigation presents unique ethical challenges and malpractice vulnerabilities due to increased potential for conflicts of interest, rules regarding no contact, solicitation issues, and attorneys' fees. However, the applicable ethics rules do not specifically address how to resolve these dilemmas.

Courts generally adapt applicable ethics rules to the ethical concerns in class action lawsuits. However, unsettled and divergent viewpoints among class action plaintiff and defense counsel make applying the standard rules vastly more complicated.

Listen as our panel of plaintiff and defense class action attorneys discusses best practices for dealing with the ethical hurdles and malpractice threats inherent when there are large classes of plaintiffs in a single lawsuit. The panel will address intra-class conflicts, communication with class members, and attorney fees.

Outline

  1. Conflicts of interest within the class
  2. Communication with class members
    1. Solicitation
    2. Ex parte communications
  3. Discovery and disclosure obligations/e-discovery preservation issues
  4. Ethical issues in settlements

Benefits

The panel will review these and other key issues:

  • Guidance from Model Rules, Amended Federal Rule of Civil Procedure Rule 23, and case law to resolve legal ethics issues that arise in complex and class litigation
  • When plaintiff and defense attorneys may contact potential class members
  • When and how a precertification settlement by a named plaintiff creates a conflict of interest as it relates to other potential class members