Class Actions

Mr. McGuinness is one of the top class action practitioners in the United States.  He was formerly head of the Class Action Defense Team at a major Midwestern-based law firm, and has also served as class counsel in select consumer class actions.  His services in the class action arena include:

• Defense of class actions, before and after the class certification decision
• Prosecution of select class actions in the consumer and antitrust areas
• Extensive experience in the area of certification of indirect purchaser antitrust cases
• Development of expert testimony in support of or in opposition to class certification
• Negotiations and approval of class action settlements in appropriate cases
• Interlocutory appeal of class certification decisions under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(f)
• Class arbitrations
• Deep experience in class actions alleging claims in the following areas:
  • Antitrust
  • Contract (business and consumer)
  • Securities fraud
  • Consumer protection act
  • Breach of fiduciary duty
  • Unjust enrichment
  • Product defects

Representative clients include:  Sears, Best Buy, Abbott Laboratories, Aventis Pharmaceutical, ClubCorp, Comshare, Federal Mogul Corp., Champion Homes, Nematron, Ford Motor Company, Oakwood Hospital, ProQuest, and various individuals.

Mr. McGuinness frequently lectures and writes on class action law and developments, and serves on the planning committee for the preeminent class action seminar in the United States, the ABA National Annual Institute on Class Actions, where he has moderated panel discussions on class trials (featuring Judge Jack Weinstein), the Supreme Court’s class arbitration decisions, application of Daubert to class certification experts, and the law and policy surrounding selection of class representatives.

Mr. McGuinness teaches the ABA-sponsored course “Class Actions 101” in conjunction with the ABA National Annual Institute on Class Actions.