Class Actions

For 25 years, McGarvey Law has successfully pursued many consumer class actions against insurance companies, employers, corporations, product manufacturers, and others.  We have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars in the process. We pride ourselves on standing up for Montanans who have been harmed, especially when individual litigation would be too expensive for one client. Our firm is uniquely qualified to pursue class action lawsuits in a wide variety of cases. We are proud to work with individuals as well as other attorneys from across Montana and the nation to pursue elegantly designed and strategized class action lawsuits that efficiently achieve justice. If you or your client has suffered a wrong that affects many others, give us a call to discuss how the case can achieve justice through the powerful tool of a class action suit.

We litigate:

• Programmatic insurance abuse cases 
• Toxic torts and defective products – e.g. Zonolite Attic Insulation ($83 million settlement)
• Unfair Consumer practices
• Corporate governance/shareholder cases – e.g. Montana Power (over $100 million recovered)
• Employee salary and benefit – e.g CFAC profit sharing ($100 million settlement)
• Corporate reorganization/fraudulent transfers e.g. W.R. Grace – Sealed Air; Northwest Energy
• Efficient results through declaratory relief

“The theme of our class action practice is to protect common folks against systematic abuses. We do this work because that’s where our heart is.” – Allan McGarvey.

Case Examples:

Blasdel v. Montana Power

Montana Power was a business with 90 years of history in Montana. It was a great utility investment, with six to nine dividends each year. They had the energy market cornered – dams/coal plants and distribution. Goldman Sachs approached the Montana Power’s CEO, asking him to liquidate assets and turn his company into a telecom. After selling the business to NW Energy, the former CEP started to acquire interest in telecom businesses. The “whole thing went belly up.” The firm’s theory was that the CEO was acting far outside the “ordinary business” but rather fundamentally transforming the company, and must get shareholder approval – which he did not do. The new telecom business, Touch America, went into bankruptcy, but was able to achieve a large settlement for shareholders