Complex Litigation Lawyers

Complex Litigation Attorneys in New York

Complex litigation includes specific types of complicated civil actions that often involve multiple parties, attorneys, expert witnesses, and jurisdictions, large finances, complex subject matter and legal statutes, and class certifications. Complex litigation services may include working on class-action lawsuits and/or consumer fraud, defective drug, defective medical device, toxic tort, whistleblower, labor law, and business litigation. These types of cases can be particularly difficult to prosecute and take extensive resources and experience, which is why they should be trusted to only the most skilled attorneys. At Parker Waichman LLP, a New York-based personal injury law firm, we have plenty of experience taking on some of the biggest companies and the most complicated litigation and getting results for our clients. If you need help with a situation that could require complex civil litigation, call 1-800-YOUR-LAWYER today to get a free case evaluation.

What Is Complex Civil Litigation?

Complex litigation law deals with cases that involve multiple parties in different jurisdictions, have large amounts of money at stake, and/or deal with complex legal issues that are time-consuming to litigate. Often, complex litigation requires a lot of time and money, and these cases may also draw media attention. Examples of complex legal issues include mass torts and class-action lawsuits.

Class Actions

When an individual seeks justice, it might not seem worthwhile to file a lawsuit, especially if the person’s losses were relatively small or the costs of litigation are likely to be high. But if the person’s issue is shared by many others, a class-action lawsuit might be a better option. A class action is a type of complex case lawsuit in which a large group of plaintiffs is represented collectively by one member of the group. Class actions are most common when the allegations involve a large number of people who have been injured or financially harmed by the same product or action in the same way. Instead of each injured person bringing their own individual lawsuit, a class action allows all of the class members’ claims to be resolved in a single proceeding; each individual’s claim is essentially the same, and all of them proceed as a group action against the defendant(s).

Class actions are commonly brought for reasons that may impact a large number of individuals. These types of claims may include discrimination, wage and/or hour law disputes, unfair or fraudulent business practices associated with services or defective or dangerous products, including consumer products and vehicles.

Specific certification requirements must be met and the court must certify the class. How a case is handled depends on federal or state law and the subject matter; federal procedure differs slightly from various states’ rules and many states follow what has been set forth in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP), which provide that:

• There must be a sufficient number of potential claimants that it would be unreasonable to bring them all into court at once as named plaintiffs.
• Common questions of law or fact must be shared among all of the claims, meaning that they are based on the same alleged error or wrongdoing.
• The claims made by the class representatives must be substantially the same or similar as those of the rest of the parties to the class action.
• Class representatives must provide fair and adequate protection for the class. At this point, the lawyers representing the class will be scrutinized as well.

Once the class action has been certified, all potential class members are notified of the class-action lawsuit. Class members may choose to opt out of the class, which means that they will no longer be part of the class action, will not receive any agreed-upon settlement, and will not be bound by any resolution of the involved claims, including if the case was dismissed. These individuals may still file their own lawsuits against the defendant(s).

Should class action lawsuit settlements be discussed, the court must approve any agreed-upon settlement between the class representatives and counsel and the defendant(s). Class members must be notified that a settlement has been reached and given details about the settlement and class members’ right to object.

Other names for legal actions taken by numerous people who allege similar losses or harm include “mass tort litigations,” “multidistrict litigations” (MDLs), and “multi-county litigations.” All of these involve slightly different legal actions and processes. Mass tort allegations typically involve drug recalls or alleged defects, medical device recalls or alleged defects, and significant catastrophes. Cases are handled in the federal justice system and are organized together in an MDL in front of one federal judge, or cases are handled as a multicounty litigation in front of one state judge. MDLs and multicounty litigations are types of mass tort actions. Consolidation enables complex litigation to be handled more efficiently.

At Parker Waichman, our New York class-action lawyers have decades of experience with mass tort litigations of all types, and we’d be glad to answer your questions about filing a class action lawsuit.

Whistleblowers

Qui tam lawsuits are a powerful type of civil lawsuit that whistleblowers bring under the False Claims Act. Whistleblower lawsuits help in detecting and stopping fraud and assist the government in ceasing various fraudulent actions, including Medicare and Medicaid fraud and adverse financial actions against the government.

When an individual possesses evidence of fraud allegedly perpetrated against the government and chooses to enter into a whistleblower lawsuit, the whistleblower will need to consult with a lawyer. New York whistleblower lawyers at Parker Waichman have long supported whistleblower efforts to uncover and stop wrongdoing, and we’re proud to handle whistleblower cases for these brave individuals.

Overtime Law, Wage

The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) was put in place to protect citizens who are not paid overtime or other rightfully earned wages. Under this law, most employees have a right to be paid for all hours “suffered or permitted to work.” The law also mandates that employees be paid at least minimum wage.

Many companies look for ways to avoid these requirements, violating the FLSA. Individuals whose employers neglect to pay minimum wage, overtime or all hours worked may be able to take legal action with the help of our New York overtime and wage law attorneys. To learn more about filing an FLSA lawsuit, contact us today for a free consultation.

Consumer Fraud

Consumer fraud lawsuits involve unfair and deceptive tactics used by businesses and other entities to gain financially at the expense of consumers, including bait-and-switch tactics, charging for services that were not provided, false or misleading advertising, and unfair pricing.

Automobile, insurance, contract, and sales fraud are just some examples of situations in which consumers may be unfairly overcharged or sold defective products. And consumers aren’t the only victims: Consumer fraud also impacts the marketplace by enabling deceitful businesses to gain an unfair advantage over ethical competitors.

Federal agencies that work to prevent and address consumer fraud include the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), and the Consumer Financial Protection Agency. State and federal laws provide consumers with broad protection from unfair and illegal business practices through regulation of the advertising, marketing, and sale of consumer products and services. Parker Waichman’s New York consumer fraud lawyers have a wealth of experience with this type of litigation, and we stand ready to help you if you’ve been a victim of fraud. We’ll fight to hold those responsible accountable and get compensation for your losses.

Defective Drugs

A defective drug is either a prescription or over-the-counter (OTC) medication that may cause injury. A drug defect may involve a flaw in how it was made or a lack of proper warnings on the product label.

Drug manufacturers are responsible for ensuring that appropriate clinical testing is conducted prior to submitting the drug for approval to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Drug makers are also required to indicate any potential side effects and warnings on the drug label to ensure that patients, their caretakers, and physicians are fully aware of any risks tied to the drug.

Pharmacists are responsible for dispensing the correct dosages and physicians must ensure that they are prescribing the most appropriate medication, taking into account the risk-to-benefit ratio of a drug, especially given that some medications have significant and/or long-term side effects.

Should a drug be found to be potentially dangerous, the FDA will investigate to determine if the drug’s benefits outweigh its risks. In some cases, a drug may be recalled. In other cases, the agency may mandate that additional warnings be added to a drug’s labeling. But these actions can do nothing to help the people who were already harmed by the defective drug, which is where our New York defective drug lawyers step in. If a drug allegedly causes injury or death, a legal claim may be pursued for financial compensation, including medical expenses, pain and suffering, loss of economic support, and loss of past and future wages.

Defective Medical Devices

Medical devices are meant to improve a patient’s quality of life, but if one is  defective, it can do just the opposite, causing injury and long-term health issues. Some medical devices may cause more harm than the original injury: Patients implanted with a device may have to undergo additional surgeries and some patients may never recover from the damage caused by a defective device.

When a patient receives or is implanted with a defective medical device and suffers injury or death, patients or their survivors may be able to recover compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, lost future earnings, and pain and suffering. Our New York defective medical device lawyers can help you to determine if the medical device was properly designed and manufactured, if proper warnings and instructions were supplied to physicians and patients, if the device was sufficiently tested prior to its release, and if the device maker made false claims about the device’s safety, efficacy, and benefits. Any or all of these factors can form the basis for a defective product lawsuit.

Environmental Cases (Toxic Exposure)

Environmental law consists of regulations governing the handling and use of hazardous materials by individuals, businesses, and government entities. Environmental laws also prohibit dumping toxic waste and other hazardous chemical materials on public lands and in waterways. The New York toxic tort lawyers at Parker Waichman have long fought for residents and the environment, litigating cases involving chemical spills, destruction of wetlands, hydraulic fracturing (fracking), land development, Native American rights, pollution, toxic waste dumping, solid waste dumping, use of natural resources, and wildlife and aquatic protection. If you’ve been a victim of environmental contamination, an attorney at our law firm can help you seek justice.

Business Litigation

Parker Waichman also has decades of experience helping businesses and individuals in variety of business law and litigation matters. Our attorneys can handle situations involving breach of contract, commercial collections, unfair competition, fraudulent business practices, wrongful interference with business relationships, franchisor or franchisee disputes, and shareholder actions. Feel free to call our New York business litigation lawyers anytime for a free consultation to see what we can do for you.