Brendan Ballard, a member of Sutherland's Litigation Practice Group, focuses her practice on complex business litigation and class action defense. Brendan has represented clients in commercial litigation involving financial services, insurance, consumer finance, government contracts and tax controversy.
Prior to joining the firm, Brendan served as a law clerk to the Honorable Susan G. Braden of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. She also served as a Legal Fellow in the office of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Representative Experience
Brendan's recent representative experience includes:
· Defending financial services class action litigation and arbitrations in state and federal courts in, among other states, Arkansas, New Jersey, Missouri, California, Texas, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.
· Representing a life insurance company in a putative class action asserting state law claims challenging the use of retained asset accounts in connection with payment of life insurance benefits.
· Representing a major property insurer in class actions and other litigation arising out of property damage from Hurricane Katrina and other hurricanes.
· Successfully representing a publicly traded power producer in a constitutional challenge to the imposition of a discriminatory fee/tax by a local municipality.
· Successfully defending a company sued by a former employer for malicious prosecution in Missouri federal court.
· Advising clients on the enforceability of arbitration agreements in consumer and employment contracts.
Professional Honors and Awards
· Named one of Washington, D.C.'s "30 Under 30" by Legal Bisnow (2008)
Recent Publications
· Co-author, "Supreme Court's 2009-2010 Term Sets Up Showdown Over Class-Action Waivers in Arbitration Agreements," Westlaw Journal Class Action © 2010 Thomson Reuters (September 2010)
· Co-author, "No Class Arbitration on Parties Who Are Silent on the Issue," the ABA Section of Litigation, Professional Liability Committee (June 2010)
Industries
Financial Services
News
Sutherland Summary Judgment Affirmed by Eighth Circuit in Malicious Prosecution Case
July 25, 2011
Legal Alerts
Legal Alert: Summary Judgment Rulings in ERISA Retained Asset Account Cases
February 23, 2012
Legal Alert: Act Clarifying Jurisdiction and Venue in Federal Court Now in Effect
January 31, 2012
Legal Alert: Tax Injunction Act Does Not Bar a Levy Imposed on a Single Entity
August 9, 2011
Legal Alert: Supreme Court Holds That the Federal Arbitration Act Preempts State Law Limitations on Arbitration Agreements
April 28, 2011
Legal Alert: Supreme Court Hears Argument in Significant Consumer Arbitration Case
November 10, 2010
Legal Alert: Eighth Circuit Affirms Denial of Class Certification in Fixed Annuity Interest Crediting Case
August 30, 2010
Legal Alert: Supreme Court to Consider Whether Federal Arbitration Act Preempts State Law Limitations on Arbitration Agreements
June 1, 2010
Legal Alert: Stolt-Nielsen v. AnimalFeeds: U.S. Supreme Court Holds that Class Arbitration Cannot be Imposed on Parties Whose Agreements Are Silent on the Issue
April 28, 2010
Legal Alert: NAF Announces That It Will No Longer Arbitrate Consumer Disputes, and AAA Comes Tumbling After
July 27, 2009
Legal Alert: U.S. Supreme Court Rules Federal Arbitration Act Supersedes State Laws Vesting Jurisdiction in Administrative Forums
February 22, 2008
Legal Alert: Third Circuit Declares That Federal Arbitration Act Preempts State Law Decisions Invalidating Class Action Waivers in Arbitration Agreements
January 14, 2008
Publications
Supreme Court's 2009-2010 Term Sets Up Showdown Over Class-Action Waivers in Arbitration Agreements
September 2010 Reprinted with permission Westlaw Journal Class Action © 2010 Thomson Reuters
No Class Arbitration on Parties Who Are Silent on the Issue
June 2010 Reprinted with permission the ABA Section of Litigation, Professional Liability Committee. © 2010 by the American Bar Association