Building RSHC: Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila LLP 2017 Annual Report - Report - Page 6
Our appellate work is equally effective. In just 22 months, we have argued five
times before three federal circuit courts of appeal and twice in state appellate
courts. In one Seventh Circuit case, we shut down a new theory of liability in
asbestos claims. In another, we successfully argued that a cancer causation
opinion was junk science, and the Court of Appeals affirmed a defense verdict
for our client. In the Eighth Circuit, we obtained reversal of an order certifying a
statewide class involving tens of thousands of individuals who alleged a breach
of contract by our client. The trial court in that case was ordered to dismiss the
plaintiff’s complaint on remand.
Our mass torts group (led by Bob Riley, Ed Casmere, Matt Fischer, and Josh
Lee) litigated high-stakes cases across the country. In Missouri, a jury returned
a defense verdict for our client after a two-week trial over claims that an alleged
exposure to benzene had caused the plaintiff’s cancer. In Wisconsin, we won a
federal bench trial for injuries alleged to have resulted from a manufacturer’s use
of asbestos decades ago.
In the 22 months since our founding, our class actions team (led by Joe Cancila,
Greg Curtner, Heidi Dalenberg, Sondra Hemeryck, Jim Gaughan, Nick Kahlon,
Jake Kahn, Merili Seale, and Rod Perry) has litigated over three dozen cases, in
approximately two dozen different jurisdictions, including six different federal
appellate courts. Those cases have involved a broad range of issues, including
federal and state antitrust claims, RICO claims, insurance breach of contract,
consumer fraud, common law fraud, false advertising, breach of warranty,
alleged violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), and federal
and state securities law claims. We have addressed cutting-edge class action
issues, including the application of Rule 23 class certification prerequisites to
“issues” classes, how Article III standing requirements apply for members of a
certified class in federal court, and how to best protect a class action defendant
from oppressive class-wide discovery through scheduling orders and phased
proceedings. And we have achieved favorable results for our clients, including
the Eighth Circuit’s class certification reversal, dismissal with prejudice of
consumer claims against United Airlines challenging its baggage handling
practices and ticket cancellation fees, summary judgments in favor of a leading
insurance company in cases asserting bad faith claim practices, and dismissals
or advantageous settlements of numerous other cases.
Our commercial litigation practice (led by Tom Quinn, Jeff Williams, Steve
Hankins, Kate Stimeling, and including many others, among them, Leslie
Davis, Alison Maddeford, and Rod Perry) also scored important victories for
clients defending their intellectual property in patent actions and upholding
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