The Rise of Class Action Lawsuits: Daniel Chammas

Over the years we have seen a rise in class action lawsuits. Why the
sudden increase? In part, it's because consumer-fraud class actions
are relatively easy to file. There is a great deal of information available
to the public from which one can generate ideas for cases. The
Internet provides many opportunities for consumers to complain and
to join communities of those with similar complaints. As soon as the
Federal Trade Commission releases a new complaint or consent
decree, plaintiffs' lawyers pick it up and quickly file class actions
mimicking the allegations.
So what is a class action lawsuit? A class action is a particular type of
lawsuit in which the claims of many people are decided in a single
case. The leading lawyers pick specific plaintiffs who are named in the
class action lawsuit to assert the claims of the entire class, so that
separate complaints or injuries dont have to be filed separately. A
typical class action complaint usually involves a situation where a
large group of people is injured by the same conduct.

Class Actions are broken up into three areas: employment class

action lawsuits, consumer products and securities class actions.
Employment class actions usually deal with employees of a large
company who form claims ranging from workplace discrimination to
wage discrepancies. Consumer class actions usually deal with
products sold or offered to the public. A securities class action is
typically brought on behalf of a group of investors who have lost
money as a result of a company's improper conduct, such as
concealing or misrepresenting risks, misstating earnings, or otherwise
engaging in fraudulent activity.

Daniel Chammas

is a highly-skilled litigator with extensive

experience defending companies against class actions, particularly
wage and hour and consumer class actions. He is a partner at
Venable's Labor and Employment Practice Group, and has litigated
and resolved various types of employment disputes, including unpaid
wages, claims for wrongful termination, racial discrimination, sexual
harassment, and representing management to solve union
grievances. Daniel Chammas focuses his practice on high
stakes litigation, defeating class certification in "off-theclock
violations," missed breaks, discrimination, employee misclassification,
and consumer class actions. He has headed up and prevailed in just
under a dozen multi-million dollar class action lawsuits.
Besides being a talented litigator, Daniel Chammas advises
clients on an array of employment issues, including leave and
disability rules, terminating employees, drafting employee handbooks,
and complying with California and federal wage and hour laws.