Case Studies

A company was facing consumer class actions in which it was defending five separate lawsuits pending in two states. Risk Settlements initially assisted the company in its efforts to settle the case precertification.

In 2013, a class action lawsuit was filed against a manufacturer. Class plaintiffs alleged that design and manufacturing defects in certain of the company’s branded products caused two distinct safety risks.

After months of heated negotiations over every detail in a stock purchase, a PE-owned HR company was finalizing the closing documents when it was served with a lawsuit alleging that it failed to comply with California’s wage-and-hour laws. Suddenly the company was facing the prospect of years of litigation, uncapped legal expenses, statutory penalties, private attorney general fines, all of which represented $11 million in exposure.

Unfortunately, class action settlements tend to be another step down the road of financial uncertainty and unpredictability. In the class action context, when resolving a case using a claims made settlement, the financial payout varies significantly, which can adversely impact liquidity, enterprise value, cash flow and assets.

In 2016, a class action lawsuit was filed in state court against a consumer products manufacturer. The class plaintiff was alleging that the defendant had deceptively labeled, advertised, marketed, and sold its products by including certain representations that were neither accurate nor truthful.