Steve W. Berman, Managing Partner
Steve Berman co-founded Hagens Berman in 1993 and is the firm’s managing partner. He represents consumers, investors and employees in large, complex litigation held in state and federal courts. Berman’s trial experience has earned him significant recognition and led The National Law Journal to name him one of the 100 most powerful lawyers in the nation, and to repeatedly name Hagens Berman one of the top 10 plaintiffs’ firms in the country. Berman was inspired to build a firm that vociferously fought for the rights of those unable to fight for themselves. His innovative approach, tenacious conviction and impeccable track record have earned him an excellent reputation and numerous historic legal victories. He is considered one of the nation’s most successful class-action attorneys.
He served as lead counsel for the largest settlement in world history against Big Tobacco, the largest antitrust settlement, the largest ERISA settlement and, at time of settlement, the largest U.S. securities settlement and largest automotive settlement in U.S. history, and continues to make strides for consumers across the nation by standing up against Wall Street, Big Pharma and other industries. He is responsible for billions of dollars in settlements and relief to consumers, purchasers, homeowners and other groups at risk of being defrauded by large corporations.
Berman is also co-lead counsel in the high-profile ignition-switch litigation against GM, representing vehicle owners who have suffered tremendous loss of vehicle value. Additionally, Steve led the firm's aggressive fight against Hyundai and Kia on behalf of defrauded consumers who alleged the automakers had misrepresented fuel economies in vehicles, securing a groundbreaking $255 million settlement believed to be the second-largest automotive settlement in history. more »
Shana E. Scarlett, Partner
Shana E. Scarlett is a partner at Hagens Berman's San Francisco office. Her practice is devoted entirely to representing plaintiffs in complex litigation, primarily in the areas of antitrust and unfair competition. She serves as one of the team of litigators representing indirect purchaser plaintiffs in the In re Optical Disk Drive Antitrust Litigation, alleging a price-fixing conspiracy to stabilize the prices of optical disk drives throughout the United States, in violation of federal and state antitrust laws. She also represented a class of consumers in the In re Electronic Books Antitrust Litigation, in which attorneys from Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro have worked closely with numerous State Attorneys General in representing the rights of consumers. more »
Elaine T. Byszewski, Partner
Elaine Byszewski is a partner at Hagens Berman where she has worked since 2004. She has litigated a number of complex class actions on behalf of consumers, employees, and whistleblowers resulting in multi-million dollar settlements, including cases against Toyota, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals, Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Costco, Apple and KB Homes. Ms. Byszewski is involved in Hagens Berman's representation of the City of Los Angeles and other municipalities in litigation against major banks for discriminating against minority borrowers as well as deceptive advertising cases against SunRun and SeaWorld. more »
Rachel E. Fitzpatrick, Partner
Ms. Fitzpatrick is a partner at Hagens Berman's Arizona office, where her practice primarily focuses on complex civil litigation, consumer rights and mass tort cases. She has been an instrumental part of the firm's General Motors litigation team, helping the firm in its representation of vehicle owners whose cars lost significant value following the series of GM's bungled recalls and ignition switch defect. more »
Catherine Y.N. Gannon, Partner
Ms. Gannon is licensed to practice law in both the United States and Canada. Her practice focuses on nationwide consumer-protection cases involving large corporations, as well as other areas of litigation. She has extensive experience working with expert witnesses, often in economic and other highly technical areas and has been involved in the firm's case against Ford for its MyFord Touch devices In re MyFord Touch Consumer Litigation. more »
Daniel J. Kurowski, Partner
Mr. Kurowski is a partner at Hagens Berman's Chicago office and has litigated many aspects of cases throughout the country, often in consolidated multi-district litigation proceedings affecting consumers across the nation. His current work with the firm includes a variety of complex cases including contesting a prominent financial company’s deferred annuity sales practices in RICO litigation, including practices negatively impacting senior citizens. He also represents retail purchasers with consumer fraud claims against dietary supplement sellers and manufacturers and energy purchasers in RICO litigation alleging deceptive marketing practices against third-party energy provider. His successes include a $35 million settlement on behalf of consumers, involving multiple defendants In re Pre-Filled Propane Sales & Marketing Practices Litigation (W.D. Mo.) more »
Christopher R. Pitoun, Partner
Christopher R. Pitoun has focused on consumer litigation since graduating from law school and has gained broad experience representing individuals, municipalities and small businesses in all forms of complex litigation. Currently, Mr. Pitoun is involved in litigation against Bank of America and Countrywide for deceptively charging borrowers for appraisals that were indifferent to accuracy. more »
Craig R. Spiegel, Partner
Craig R. Spiegel is a partner at Hagens Berman's Seattle office where his practice primarily focuses on class actions concerning unfair pricing of pharmaceutical drugs. Recent cases include actions against AstraZeneca and Merck. In one of Mr. Spiegel's notable cases, he helped obtain a substantial settlement for the state of New York and New York City in their litigation against Merck for losses suffered from deceptive marketing of the prescription drug Vioxx. Mr. Spiegel was instrumental in obtaining a settlement for a class of Massachusetts consumers and third-party payors in their litigation in which the class claimed that AstraZeneca deceptively marketed the prescription drug Nexium as superior to Prilosec. more »
Shelby R. Smith, Of Counsel
Shelby R. Smith is of Counsel at Hagens Berman's Seattle office where she prosecutes class-action cases on behalf of consumers. She currently represents student-athletes in personal injury litigation pertaining to concussions/traumatic brain injuries suffered during sporting activities and has been an instrumental part of the firm's litigation against Volkswagen and Mercedes involving the use of emissions-cheating software in Volkswagen Emissions Defect Litigation and Mercedes BlueTEC Emissions Litigation. Ms. Smith has also played a part in additional automotive consumer-rights cases, including GM Ignition Switch Recall and In re MyFord Touch Consumer Litigation. more »