Class Actions

For twenty-five plus years, Mr. Gignac has been actively involved in the representation of plaintiffs in class actions in the fields of consumer fraud, consumer privacy/ data breaches, product defects, telecommunications, employment, insurance, banking, securities, death care, and unfair competition.   Mr. Gignac has served as court-appointed Lead Counsel, Liaison Counsel and/or Class Counsel in numerous cases in state courts throughout California, select state courts outside of California, and federal district courts throughout the country.

A representative sample of the class actions in which Mr. Gignac has been personally involved is accessible Class Action Settlements.

Mr. Gignac’s experience representing plaintiffs includes the successful representation of: (1) customers overcharged for telecommunications services in cases such as  Stern  v. AT&T Mobility Corporation, et al., U.S.D.C., Central District of California, Case No. CV 05-8842 CAS (CTx), Rolnik, et al. v. AT&T Wireless Services, Inc., et al., Case No. L-180-04 (New Jersey Superior Court: Essex Div.) and  Roark, et al. v. GTE California Inc., et al., Case No. 01035862 (Santa Barbara Superior Court); (2) consumers victimized by anti-competitive practices in cases such as O’Connor, et al. v. Blue Cross of California, et al., Case No. BC 118896 (Los Angeles Superior Court) and Smith v. Eastern Pacific Energy, Inc., et al., Case No. BC 193285 (Los Angeles Superior Court); (3) family members of decedents’ whose grave sites were desecrated in cases such as In re Paradise Memorial Park Litigation, Lead Case No. BC 130375 (Los Angeles Superior Court) and In re Lincoln Memorial Park Litigation, Case No. BC133643 (Los Angeles Superior Court); and (4) shareholders victimized by securities fraud in cases such as Scott, et al. v. Snell, et al., Case No. 01AS07849 (Sacramento Superior Court), In re American Medical International Shareholder Litigation, Consolidated Case No. C 718957 (Los Angeles Superior Court), and Bair and Booth v. Immunex Corporation et al., CV No. C 91-0050D (W.D. Wash.).

Mr. Gignac has authored various articles on consumer class action litigation, including: The Supreme Court’s Decision in Bell Atlantic Corporation v. Twombly: Why Bell Is Not the Death Knell for Class Actions in the United States (Juriste  – 2007-4); Class Dismissed (California Law Business – March 23, 1998); Successful Prosecution of the Class Action Lawsuit (Trial Diplomacy Journal – September/October 1997);  Avoiding Pre-Trial Pitfalls in Consumer Class Actions (Trial – May 1995); and Consumers Are Fighting Mad (The National Law Journal – August 29, 1994).

Mr. Gignac has argued and prevailed in two cases before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that resulted in published opinions establishing new legal precedent on issues related to class actions: Lozano v. AT&T Wireless Services, Inc., 504 F.3d 718 (9th Cir. 2007) (pursuant to petition under Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(e)) and Douglas v. Talk America Inc., 495 F.3d 1062 (9th Cir. 2007) (pursuant to petition for writ of mandate).