Sean R. Crain

Class Action Litigation Matters

• Obtained summary judgment in federal court for the world’s leading beverage company—mooting the plaintiff’s pending motion for class certification—in a putative nationwide class action challenging the labeling of various 100% juice products.
• Achieved a favorable ruling on demurrer, including on preemption grounds, to a putative class action complaint challenging the labeling of a significant coconut water brand’s 100% coconut water product.
• Defended the world’s leading beverage company (and its subsidiary) in a putative class action alleging violations of state consumer protection statutes premised on FDA regulations concerning the labeling of various juice and smoothie products.
• Obtained dismissal of a putative class action in federal court, which was upheld on appeal by the Ninth Circuit, on the grounds that an excess insurance layer was not triggered in a coverage dispute arising from the alleged breach of fiduciary duty class claims brought against a bankrupt subprime mortgage company’s officers and directors.
• Defended a prominent ice cream brand against a putative class action involving “natural” labeling claims.
• Represented the individual directors and officers of an oil and gas company in a securities class action alleging Section 11 and Section 15 claims.

Complex Commercial Litigation Matters

• Second chair in a three-day bench trial of shareholder derivative claims in Los Angeles Superior Court, obtaining a multimillion-dollar award (including attorneys’ fees and treble damages) for the minority shareholder in a closely held medical practice.
• Represented a leading California-based investment fund as a corporate plaintiff in multiple litigations, ultimately obtaining separate judgments in excess of $30 million against the architect of a Ponzi scheme and his shell entities.
• Achieved a favorable settlement on behalf of a prominent medical practice and its minority shareholder in both derivative and direct lawsuits pending in Los Angeles Superior Court.
• Represented the world’s leading beverage company as a non-party in numerous lawsuits alleging product liability claims from ingestion of energy drinks.
• Member of the litigation team securing a federal jury verdict for the world’s leading beverage company in a landmark advertising dispute over juice labeling and FDA regulations (after the case was remanded for trial to the Central District of California by the U.S. Supreme Court).

Sean Crain is counsel in Alston & Bird’s Litigation & Trial Practice Group. He is a practical, detail-oriented litigator with experience litigating complex commercial matters in state and federal courts. He represents clients from myriad industries, with an emphasis in the food and beverage, media and sports, and industrial and manufacturing sectors. Sean has defended single plaintiff and putative class action matters, including those implicating state consumer protection statutes and federal regulatory issues. Sean is recognized by The Best Lawyers of America® “Ones to Watch” for Commercial Litigation, and has been repeatedly awarded JD Supra’s “Readers’ Choice Awards” for his insights and commentary on legal issues.

Sean has also litigated cases involving federal securities laws, misappropriation of trade secrets, employment discrimination, and California’s Proposition 65. Sean assists clients throughout all phases of litigation, including pre-trial discovery, dispositive motion practice, class certification, trial preparation, trial, post-judgment proceedings, and writs and appeals. He is similarly well-versed in alternative dispute resolution, litigation prevention, and risk management.

During law school, Sean was the senior business editor for the Tulane Journal of International and Comparative Law and earned the Dean’s Medal for achieving the highest grade point average in his third-year class. He also externed for the late Hon. Stephen J. Hillman, chief magistrate judge emeritus for the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Bar Admissions

• California
• Texas

Education

• Tulane University (J.D., 2013)
• University of California, Los Angeles (B.A., 2010)

Memberships