Over the past twelve years, Mr. Lesser has successfully prosecuted
cases on behalf of investors, consumers, commercial companies, mass
tort victims and employees. The National Association of Consumer
Advocates 2005 Consumer Advocate of the Year, he began his career at a
large defense firm and subsequently was a partner at two
plaintiff-oriented firms, Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann and
Locks Law Firm. He joined Klafter Olsen & Lesser in 2008 where he
has continued his representation of businesses and people in
representative, class and individual actions. He has served as co-lead
or sole lead counsel in multiple class or consolidated actions. A
regular speaker at attorney and professional conferences he has also
served in local and national bar association positions. He publishes on
legal matters, is a co-author on a treatise of class action law, has
served as the representative of the American Council on Consumer
Interests to the United Nations and was elected to the American Law
Institute.
Mr. Lesser is admitted to practice in New Jersey, New York and
the District of Columbia as well before the United States Supreme
Court, nine federal courts of appeal, and eight federal district
courts.
Mr. Lesser has been lead or co-lead counsel in numerous class action
and mass tort lawsuits that have recovered hundreds of millions of
dollars for his clients. He has been appointed by federal judges to be
lead or co-lead counsel in multiple multi-district litigation
proceedings, including MDL-1346 (In re Amazon.com) (sole lead),
MDL-1352 (In re Doubleclick Inc.) (co-lead), and MDL-1400 (In re
Pharmatrak) (co-lead). He has recently been Co-Lead Counsel in MDL-1708 (In
re Guidant heart devices) pending in the District of Minnesota; sole
lead counsel in In re: Grand Theft Auto Video Game Consumer Litigation
(No. II), MDL-1739, in the Southern District of New York; sole lead
counsel in In re Pepsico, Inc. Bottled Water Sales Practices, MDL-1903,
also in the Southern District of New York. He has also been on numerous
MDL Executive/Steering Committees, including, at the present time being
on the Executive Committee in MDL-1845 (ConAgra Peanut Butter Products
Liability Litigation) and is presently class counsel in several
litigations. He was the lead New York class counsel in the Fen/Phen
diet drug litigation and in that case obtained the first certification
under New York law for a medical monitoring class, and was the
designated New York class counsel in the nationwide billion dollar
settlement with American Home Products.
His practice is exceedingly varied. His cases have involved such matters as harmful medical devices;
defective cars, automotive products, computers, software and other
products; illegal overcharges on telephone bills; insurance
overcharges, false product advertising; privacy law; violations of
federal consumer protection and civil rights statutes and violations of state and
federal wage and hour laws. He has successfully brought cases against
such companies as, among others, General Motors, Empire Blue Cross
& Blue Shield, MCI Communications, Iomega Corp., Quaker State-Slick
50, Inc., Apple Computers, Goodyear, Exxon, Buy.com, and
GlaxoSmithKline. He was class counsel in Perez v. Rent-A-Center (New
Jersey State Court) where a $109 million settlement returned to
100,000 New Jersey consumers over 100% of their out-of-pocket damages.
He also has extensive experience in representing victims of toxic torts
in contexts ranging from victims of pharmaceutical drugs (such as
Rezulin or Fen/Phen) and medical devices to victims of groundwater
contamination (such as Navajo Indians poisoned by abandoned uranium
mines). He was the co-lead counsel in the multiple LYMErix vaccine
class actions in connection with whose settlement the producer withdrew
that product from the market - perhaps a unique and unprecedented
resolution of a pharmaceutical class action - and which also set forth
the terms pursuant to which the company could apply to the Food and
Drug Administration to seek any reintroduction of the product, Cassidy
v. SmithKline Beecham, No. 99-10423 (Ct. Common Pleas, PA state court)
(common settlement case).
Mr. Lesser has been lead or co-lead counsel for plaintiffs in
several of the most prominent “Internet privacy” cases, including
Supnick v. Amazon.com, Inc., No. C00-0221P (W.D.Wash.); In re
DoubleClick, Inc. Privacy Litigation, No. 00-CIV-0641 (NRB) (S.D.N.Y.);
and Chance v. Avenue A, Inc., No. C00-1964 C (W.D. Wash.). The
Doubleclick class of nearly every user of the Internet in the country
represented possibly the largest class in any class action settlement.
Mr. Lesser is the author of “Privacy Law in the Internet Era” published
in the September 2002 issue of Internet Law & Business. He was
featured in the September 2001 issue of the ABA Journal discussing
Internet privacy.
Mr. Lesser's securities class involvement has included, among
others, Myles v. Midcom Communications, Inc., No. C96-614L (W.D.
Wash.); and the Prudential Income Fund and Energy Fund Cases (various
courts).
Mr. Lesser is presently involved in multiple cases
representing workers who were not paid overtime wages to which they
assert they were entitled under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act or
similar laws in effect in various states. He has obtained
certifications in a number of wage and hour cases on behalf of
employees who were not paid the overtime owed them and has recovered
for many employees the monies that were due to them.
His professional appointments have included memberships on
numerous national, state and local bar association committees and other
professional organizations. In addition, he is routinely asked to speak
on legal matters. He has also published numerous articles and is a
co-author on class action law.
Mr. Lesser is a graduate of Princeton University (B.A, summa
cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa). He received a Doctor of Philosophy from
Oxford University in 1985 (Marshall Scholar) where he also coxed the Oxford
Blue Boat to two victories over Cambridge. In 1988 he received his J.D.
from Harvard Law School (magna cum laude; also Editor of the Harvard
Environmental Law Review and Editor of the Harvard International Law
Journal). He is admitted to numerous state and federal courts across
the country.
