Alston & Bird’s Insurance Group has worked on some of the largest and most complex class action cases in the country and has a track record of early victories achieved through the defeat of class certification, the dismissal of claims of class representatives and the negotiation of favorable settlements. The team has leveraged its proven experience, client focus and winning results to establish itself as a leading force in class action litigation across the United States.
Our team is composed of experienced litigators who have defended cases on both the state and national levels and who have extensive class action procedural knowledge as well as a thorough understanding of the insurance industry, including coverage types, claims adjustment procedures and related laws and regulations. Our experience has enabled us to serve as lead counsel in a number of MDL proceedings, to develop strategies for obtaining successful results on substantive motions, to coordinate discovery in thousands of actions and to provide full and final resolution of the litigation at hand. Our Insurance Group has the resources and experience to litigate any conceivable insurance class action, anywhere in the United States, in any court, at any stage of the proceedings.
Policyholder Class Action Defense
- Obtained dismissal of a putative class action in the Southern District of Georgia brought against one of the nation’s largest insurance companies alleging breach of contract, fraud and violation of consumer protection laws arising out of the sale of riders to life insurance policies.
- Obtained summary judgment in a putative class action in the Eastern District of Louisiana alleging that the client’s use of credit-based insurance risk scoring was racially discriminatory and seeking damages and injunctive relief on several grounds.
- Represented a Fortune 500 health and life insurer in a policyholder class action in Madison County, Illinois, alleging that pre-need life insurance policies are inferior to life insurance policies and do not maintain cash surrender values as promised. Won issue of first impression in the U.S. Supreme Court regarding whether the insurer willfully violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by failing to give the statutorily required notice of “adverse action.”
- Obtained either a court-ordered or voluntary dismissal in seven class actions and putative class actions in the Eastern District of Louisiana brought by homeowners seeking damages and monetary relief for failure to adequately reimburse plaintiffs for losses relating to Hurricane Katrina.
- Submitted amicus briefs to the Eleventh Circuit in support of an interlocutory appeal and, after the appeal was granted, on the merits of class certification in a $25 billion antitrust action involving non-original equipment manufactured automobile parts. Obtained summary judgment in a putative class action in the Eastern District of Louisiana alleging that the insurer’s use of credit-based insurance risk scoring was racially discriminatory.
- Obtained dismissal with prejudice of a putative class action in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania alleging that a Fortune 50 insurance company violated the “made whole” rule.
- Successfully defeated class certification in the Middle District of Pennsylvania in a putative class action alleging that a Fortune 50 insurance company uniformly denied out-of-state first-party medical claims.
- Obtained a favorable decision by the Third Circuit affirming the Eastern District of Pennsylvania’s dismissal of a putative class action alleging that a Fortune 50 insurance company violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by procuring a consumer report and failing to provide a firm offer of insurance.
- Obtained dismissal of a putative class action in the Southern District of Georgia alleging that a Fortune 50 insurance company had improperly steered its policyholders and claimants to certain repair shops that charged rates below reasonable market value.
- Obtained dismissal of consolidated class actions in Delaware state courts alleging that a Fortune 50 insurance company’s sale of greater-than-minimum uninsured/underinsured (UM/UIM) motorist coverage on more than one vehicle in a household was illusory coverage.
- Obtained favorable individual resolution and voluntary dismissal of class claims in hurricane litigation in the Eastern District of Texas involving a putative class action alleging that a Fortune 50 insurance company denied coverage beyond the evacuation periods following Hurricanes Ike and Rita.
- Obtained favorable individual resolution and voluntary dismissal of class claims against a Fortune 50 insurance company in the Eastern District of Texas alleging systematic underpayment of claims due to alleged unbundling of pricing on homeowners’ estimates.
- Obtained voluntary dismissal of class claims in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in a putative class action alleging that a Fortune 50 insurance company improperly applied fee schedules for certain treatments made in connection with automobile accidents.
- Obtained dismissal of all claims in the Eastern District of Arkansas in a putative class action alleging that, as a general practice, a Fortune 50 insurance company prematurely exercised its right of subrogation without having determined that its insured had obtained sufficient recovery to be “made whole.”
- Obtained dismissal with prejudice in the Middle District of Florida in a putative class action alleging that a Fortune 50 insurance company violated Florida law by obtaining subrogation for medical payments made on behalf of its insureds prior the insureds being made whole.
- Represented a provider of pre-arranged funeral captive insurance in a policyholder class action in Louisville, Kentucky, alleging that the pre-need insurance contracts the class members purchased were fraudulent and unconscionable because the plaintiffs allegedly were unaware that they would pay more money by paying their premiums over time than they would in a single, lump-sum payment.