This survey was prepared by attorneys in the various states, under the auspices of the American Bar Association's Litigation Section Class Actions and Derivative Suits Subcommittee on State Laws, cochaired by Fabrice Vincent and Dennis Egan. Elizabeth J. Cabraser, Executive Editor, is a founding partner of the national plaintiffs' firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP. She represents plaintiffs in complex civil litigation primarily in the areas of class actions, mass torts, products liability, securities and investment fraud, and consumer fraud, as well as through pro bono representation of plaintiffs in civil rights and human rights litigation. Ms. Cabraser is regarded as a national authority in complex civil litigation, including class certification, class notice, settlement, the structuring of class trials, and appellate issues. Under Ms. Cabraser's leadership, Lieff Cabraser has developed into one of the country's largest and most successful plaintiffs' law firms. Ms. Cabraser is Editor-in-Chief of California Class Actions Practice and Procedures (Lexis-Nexis). She has served as court-appointed lead, co-lead, or class counsel in scores of federal multi-district and state coordinated proceedings, and has participated in the design, structure and conduct of eight nationwide class action trials. Ms. Cabraser has held leadership roles in cases that resulted in landmark settlements, verdicts, and precedent-setting rulings, including multi-state tobacco, Fen-Phen (diet drugs), and Holocaust cases. She currently serves in key leadership roles in two of the most high-profile civil cases in the nation: the Toyota sudden acceleration and BP Gulf Oil spill law. Fabrice N. Vincent, Executive Editor, is a partner at Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP. A graduate from Cornell Law School (J.D., cum laude, 1992), Mr. Vincent's practice focuses on class actions, personal injury/torts, defective products, wrongful deaths, medical malpractice, and environmental and toxic torts. He has been recognized by Law & Politics as a "Northern California Super Lawyer" for many years and has written extensively on current issues in litigation including in California Class Actions Practice and Procedures. Nikki Belushko Barrows, Coordinating Editor, is a research assistant at Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP. She holds degrees from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where she earned B.A.s in English and Comparative Literature (cum laude, 2000), and the University of San Francisco-- School of Law, where she earned her J.D. (2004). During law school, she worked as an administrative editor, on the board of editors, for the Journal of Law & Social Challenges. She is a member of the California bar. Fred B. Burnside, Coordinating Editor, is a partner in the Seattle office of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, co-chairs the firm's Class Action Defense Group, and is Deputy Chair of the firm's Litigation Department. Mr. Burnside's practice focuses on class action defense, with an emphasis on consumer class actions in state and federal courts. Daniela Gonzáles Aldape, Coordinating Editor, is a partner with Prichard, Hawkins, McFarland & Young, LLP, in San Antonio. She concentrates her practice in the areas of product liability and commercial litigation. Daniela is licensed in New Mexico, Colorado, and Texas and has tried cases in state and federal courts across those states, including her hometown of Las Vegas, New Mexico. Jahan C. Sagafi, Coordinating Editor, is a partner with Outten & Golden LLP and manager of its San Francisco office, where he represents employees and consumers in class actions in federal and state trial and appellate courts. Howard S. Suskin, Coordinating Editor, is a partner in Jenner & Block, LLC's Chicago office, and serves as Chair of the firm's Class Action Litigation Practice Group. Mr. Suskin practices primarily in the areas of class action litigation, professional liability litigation, and securities litigation. Dennis K. Egan, Editor Emeritus, is an attorney at the law firm Kotz, Sangster, Wysocki and Berg, PC located in Detroit, Michigan. His practice is concentrated in the representation of national and regional securities broker/dealers in defending customer lawsuits and arbitrations as well as regulatory enforcement actions. Mr. Egan serves as co-chair of the State Laws Subcommittee of the Litigation Section's Class Actions and Derivative Suits Committee and is also an active member of the Broker/Dealer Litigation Subcommittee of the Litigation Section's Federal Regulation of Securities Committee. He has been recognized by Law & Politics as a "Michigan Super Lawyer" in the field of Securities Litigation. Thomas R. Grande, Editor Emeritus, is the principal of Grande Law Offices in Honolulu, Hawaii, where he represents consumers in group and class actions in state and federal court and plaintiffs in cases brought under the state and federal false claims acts. He is a past officer and director of the Consumer Lawyers of Hawaii and was awarded the Outstanding Delivery of Legal Services Award by Hawaii Lawyers Care.
