Practice Areas
"There's a moment in every case when plaintiffs’ counsel starts to wonder if it’s worth it. We help create that moment sooner."
— Yve Golan
Class Action Defense
Sometimes the strongest defense is knowing where the other side feels uncertain.
TGF brings a dual-perspective advantage to class action defense. Having practiced at both a top-tier plaintiffs’ class action boutique and an Am Law 10 defense firm, we’ve lived both sides of the class action lifecycle. That experience gives us insight into not just how class actions are built, but how they can be avoided. Our hard-won perspective helps us identify opportunities that other defense firms miss, creating a path for our clients to achieve an efficient and favorable outcome.
As former plaintiffs’ attorneys, we know how plaintiffs’ counsel decide whether to file a case, how they evaluate risk and value, and what pressures shape their decisions: from financing and managing the case, to recruiting and maintaining a class representative, navigating discovery, and pushing toward certification, settlement, or appeal. We don’t just “know”plaintiff counsel’s hidden challenges; we’ve handled them ourselves.
That insight allows us to spot and exploit doubts plaintiffs’ counsel have about their own case — whether it’s the manageability of a proposed class, the strength of factual proof, the financial risk, or legal uncertainty caused by competing firms’ parallel litigation — and use those doubts to shift momentum in our clients’ favor.
Similarly, we have employed, and sometimes pioneered, the effective tactics that plaintiffs’ firms deploy in prosecuting class actions. That means we can anticipate their moves, uncover their weak spots, and counter their strategy before it gains traction.
And while litigation is adversarial by nature, we know that collaboration often gets results. Our experience on both sides of the “v” has earned us the respect of colleagues across the plaintiffs’ and defense bar, creating opportunities for resolution where others find only impasse.
Big firm cases. Boutique precision.
Class action defense demands both strategic clarity and subject-matter agility. Our class action work spans a wide range of industries and legal issues. We bring deep experience in cross-disciplinary litigation, allowing us to adapt quickly, work efficiently, and help clients avoid unnecessary disruption. We don’t need a deep bench to get up to speed; we bring substantive fluency to every matter.
Data Privacy
Our team has deep expertise in data privacy claims, particularly in the evolving spaces of AI, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), and online behavioral tracking. We have extensive experience litigating federal and state privacy claims (including California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA)) alleging wrongful data collection, biometric data misuse, and breaches of contractual privacy terms.
Defending our clients in class actions, we draw on our extensive knowledge of computer science and privacy law to dissect consent flows and technological functionality, limit class action exposure, and neutralize reputational risk.
False Advertising
In 2011, we pioneered plaintiff-side class actions alleging ingredient-based deceptive advertising claims, such as "natural," "organic," and "hypoallergenic." While other plaintiffs’ attorneys simply waited for the FDA to submit a warning letter for including citric acid in a product labeled as “natural,” we took the helm and filed the first headline-grabbing class actions that identified the “spectacular array and substantial amounts” of purposefully added chemical ingredients in foods and juices advertised as “all natural” (filed against Kellogg’s Kashi line and PepsiCo’s Naked Juice line). At the same time, we advised product manufacturers on labeling and marketing strategy to avoid class action liability from the outset.
Today, we bring our hard-won experience to defend product manufacturers facing class actions. We know what plaintiffs’ firms consider in deciding whether to bring — or not bring — a class action, and we use our insider’s knowledge to help our clients achieve early dismissals and favorable resolutions, if not avoid a class action altogether.
Other Areas
Our class action expertise extends beyond data privacy and false advertising claims, and our work across multiple substantive areas of law have made us multi-subject technical experts with an unmatched ability to adapt. For example, we have successfully litigated cases against higher education institutions in matters involving tuition refunds and the COVID-19 pandemic, balancing strong litigation strategy with an understanding of institutions’ regulatory, reputational, and financial concerns. We have also successfully litigated large-scale Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) claims, coordinating actions against six upstream telecommunication providers and uncovering factual insights from billions of call detail records.
Case Studies*
Case Study 1:
The Situation:
For almost a year, a national brand had been litigating class action claims that it falsely advertised one of its popular consumer products.
It was heading toward costly discovery that threatened significant business disruption.
The Result:
Once retained, we rebuilt the case strategy from the ground up. Drawing on our experience inside plaintiff firms, we knew exactly where to apply pressure — and did. The impact was swift. Within days of deposing the named plaintiff, we negotiated a settlement that sent plaintiff and her counsel home with less than $1,000.
Case Study 2:
The Situation:
A client's website included a web beacon that captured users' interactions with the site. A pre-suit class action demand letter claimed the beacon was a trap and trace device under the California Invasion of Privacy Act.
The plaintiff's counsel sought $5,000 in statutory damages for every California resident who accessed the website.
The Result:
After a thorough analysis of the website, the client's business, and the rapidly evolving legal landscape, we convinced plaintiffs' counsel to drop all claims — with no monetary settlement. We also recommended targeted website modifications, which the client implemented, to reduce exposure to similar claims going forward.
* Every legal matter is different. The outcome of each case depends on many factors, and no attorney can guarantee a positive result in any particular case.
The information supplied on this website is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Your specific situation may be unique.