Brent R. Austin

• Lead defense counsel in industry defeat of nationwide and statewide class certifications of breach of warranty, conspiracy, and unjust enrichment claims involving wood building products, Ardoin v. Stine Lumber Co.
• Lead defense counsel in defeating certification of nationwide false marketing, consumer fraud, nuisance, and product liability class action involving industry-wide challenge to CCA pressure treated wood, Jacobs v. Osmose
• One of lead counsel in successful appeal from nationwide RICO conspiracy class certification in an action involving industry-wide challenge to workers’ compensation rate-making practice, Sandwich Chef of Texas, Inc. v. Reliance National Indemnity Insurance Co.
• Lead defense counsel in a successful argument that exceptional equitable circumstances arising from plaintiffs’ forum-shopping to defeat jurisdiction warranted removal of nationwide breach of warranty and product liability class action even after statutory deadline, Ardoin v. Stine Lumber Co.
• Successful defense of purported Fair Credit Reporting Act class action alleging improper use of credit information, Bonner v. Globe Life
• Lead defense counsel in defeating consolidation of putative nationwide class actions as multidistrict litigation, In re Chromated Copper Arsenate (CCA) Treated Wood Prod. Liab. Litig.
• Successful defeat of remand of nationwide toxic tort putative class action, Miller v. Home Depot U.S.A., Inc.
• Defeated certification of nationwide conspiracy and breach of contract class action, Foodarama Supermarkets, Inc. v. American Insurance Co.
• Defeated certification of nationwide employment discrimination class action, Reap v. Continental Cas. Co.
• Successful defeat of breach of trademark licensing agreement action, Sunbeam v. American Medical Association
• Successful defense of claim of conspiracy to monopolize health care market, Hanson, et al. v. Hamot Medical Center, et al.
• Successful defense of securities class action, In re Care Corporation Securities Litigation

Publications And Presentations:

• Co-Author, “BPA Update: Beyond Baby Bottles,” BNA Class Action Litigation Report, April 10, 2009.
• Co-Presenter, “Deceptive Advertising Cases: Do They Survive McLaughlin?,” Andrews Publications E-Seminar, October 16, 2008.
• Co-Author, "An Old Whine in New Bottles? What's New – And What Isn't – About the Current Wave of BPA Litigation," BNA's Class Action Litigation, Vol. 9, No. 15, August 8, 2008.
• Co-Author, “Strategies for Defeating Class Certification in Mass Tort Cases,” Exploring Toxic Tort and Environmental Liability Claims, 2007
• Speaker, “Antitrust, RICO, and Conspiracy,” ACI, National In-House Counsel Conference, March 2006.
• Speaker, “Defending RICO and Conspiracy Class Actions,” 5th Annual Class Action Litigation Summit sponsored by Northstar Conferences LLC, June 2006.
• Speaker, “Discovery In Class Actions,” Strafford Publications Conference, August 2005.
• Speaker, “Trends in Consumer Class Actions,” Class Action Litigation Summit, June 2005.
• Speaker, In-House Counsel Forum on Defending & Managing Class Actions and Other Complex Litigation, March 2005.
• Author, “The ‘Economic Loss Only’ Product Liability Class Action: Claim-Splitting as a Strategy for Obtaining Class Certification,” ABA Class Actions and Derivative Suits, Spring 2004.
• Author, “Enough is Enough: Alleged Forum Manipulation and Class Certification Denial,” BNA Class Action Litigation Report, September 10, 2004.
• Speaker, “Products Liability Class Actions: What You Need to Know,” Class Action Litigation Summit, sponsored by Northstar Conferences LLC, June 2004.
• Moderator, “Class Action,” CLE Symposium for In-House Counsel, sponsored by ACCA, Delaware Chapter and DuPont Legal, April 2004.
• Co-Author, “Recent Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices: What St. Jude and Several State Court Cases Do and Don’t Tell Us,” Findlaw.com, April 2004.
• Interview, “The Present and Future State of Class Action Litigation,” Forbes Channel (for American and Delta Airlines), January 2004.
• Author, “Mass Torts Disguised as Commercial Class Actions,” Andrews Toxic Chemicals Litigation Reporter, September 4, 2003.
• Quoted in “Class Denied in Tort Branded the Next Asbestos,” Corporate Legal Times, June 2003.
• Co-Author, “Using The Due Process Clause to Defend Claims for Class-Wide Punitive Damages,” Findlaw.com, May 2003.
• Quoted in “The Poisoned Wood Mystery: Is It Unsafe? Is It ‘The Next Asbestos?’,” National Law Journal, March 17, 2003.
• Co-Author, “The Litigation Epidemic That Hasn’t Come—Treated Wood and the Denial of Class Certification in Jacobs v. Osmose,” Mealey’s Litigation Report, March 2003.
• Co-Author, “ADR in Securities Class Actions,” 3 Security News 7, 1994.