New York Partners Bill Carmody and Shawn Rabin, Los Angeles Partner Bryan Caforio, and Los Angeles Associate Jesse-Justin Cuevas have been recognized as Plaintiffs Lawyers Trailblazers in the 2022 special feature by National Law Journal. Recognized for being “agents of change,” each of these lawyers has secured major wins for their plaintiff clients in the past 12 months.
Bill Carmody and Shawn Rabin have tried some of the largest plaintiff-side cases in America, including representing WeWork founder, Adam Neumann, against SoftBank after SoftBank withdrew its offer to buy $3B in WeWork stock from Neumann. Days before trial, the case settled as reported by media outlets throughout the world. Carmody and Rabin also worked together to win a federal jury trial for GE in a breach of contract dispute with the Nebraska Investment Finance Authority. They also recently secured an $80 million settlement for a putative class of dentists and dental laboratories against the major dental supply distributors.
In 2021 Bryan Caforio was lead counsel for whistleblowers in a California false claims case where he secured what is believed to be the largest CFCA recovery for non-intervening CA public entities stemming from allegations a contractor didn’t appropriately train apprentices on public works projects. Caforio continues to represent plaintiffs across the country, including serving as lead counsel for Ratel Investments against ReadyCap Commercial in a multi-million-dollar contract dispute, representing a putative class of consumer purchasers of Poland Spring Water against Nestle Waters, and assisting multiple technology companies with their litigation needs.
In 2021 Jesse-Justin Cuevas represented a whistleblower and the largest political subdivisions in California in a ground-breaking CFCA lawsuit against the “Big 4” wireless carriers over allegations of fraudulently overbilling by failing to provide contractually required “lowest cost available” service. Cuevas and her team secured record settlements valued at $175 million. Cuevas is now spearheading several major class actions across the nation, including one on behalf of business-interruption insurance policyholders that were forced to close their doors due to COVID-19-related stay-at-home orders and one against Peloton for allegedly charging unlawful sales taxes on digital monthly memberships. She is also trying the Poland Spring class action alongside Caforio.
Click here to read profiles on each of the Susman Godfrey honorees.