SEAN A. COMMONS has deep experience litigating complex matters including class actions and qui tam claims. He assists clients faced with class actions, mass actions and coordinated proceedings brought under state and federal consumer protection, unfair business practices and usury statutes, including the UCL, CLRA, EFTA, FCRA, FDCPA, the “Holder Rule,” RICO and TCPA. Sean handles class actions and qui tam complaints in state and federal courts, including through appeal, on behalf of clients in the automotive, banking, consumer electronics, insurance, food supplement, food product, pharmaceutical, software and defense industries. Those representations have included:
- Dismissing qui tam and putative class actions at the motion to dismiss stage;
- Enforcing arbitration, forum selection and choice-of law provisions to defeat or narrow the scope of class actions; and
- Defeating class actions at certification, summary judgment and trial.
In addition, Sean assists clients in implementing individual arbitration, forum selection and choice-of-law provisions in consumer contracts. He also has advised clients regarding document retention policies.
The Daily Journal recognized Sean and the trial team that successfully represented Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. in a rare jury trial class action by naming the case to its Top Verdicts report, highlighting the largest and most significant verdicts in California in 2018.
Sean was recognized by Variety in its 2022 “Legal Impact Report,” and was named Rising Star in Class Action litigation by Law360 in 2015. California Lawyer magazine awarded him with a 2014 California Lawyer “Attorneys of the Year” (CLAY) Award. His distinguished pro bono work earned him the ACLU 2016 Humanitarian Award and ACLU 2017 and 2012 Access to Justice Award. Sean has also been recommended in The Legal 500 US 2015 and 2016 for Product Liability and Mass Tort Defense.