Craig E. Bertschi

Craig E. Bertschi

Mr. Bertschi's practice focuses on the defense of consumer class actions and claims arising out of complex business transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, earn-out agreements, business valuations, factoring arrangements, partnership dissolutions and corporate governance disputes. He is a member of the Firm's eDiscovery and Complex Business Litigation Teams. Mr. Bertschi has extensive experience as lead counsel in federal courts in the 5th, 9th and 11th Circuits, the state courts of Georgia, proceedings before AAA arbitration panels and in private arbitrations.

Selected Experience

Class Action Litigation

Mr. Bertschi represents a wide range of clients, including Equifax and Harley-Davidson in consumer class action lawsuits across the United States:

· Robbie Hillis, et al. v. Equifax Consumer Services, Inc., et al. USDC, N.D. Ga., Atlanta Division, Civil Action No. 1:04-CV-3400-BBM. In this case, the plaintiff brought a nationwide class action alleging violations of the Credit Repair Organizations Act. After nearly two years of litigation, the district court denied plaintiff's motion for class certification, and the case subsequently settled.

· White v. Experian Information Solutions, Inc., et al., 05-CV-1070 (C.D. Ca.), consolidated with Hernandez v. Equifax Information Services LLC (C.D. Ca.): In this putative class action, Plaintiffs allege that the Firm's client, Equifax, and the other two national credit reporting agencies (Experian and TransUnion) violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by, inter alia, failing to accurately report debts that were discharged in Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings. Plaintiffs, who are represented by several counsel, sought the certification of a nationwide class consisting of consumers who received a Chapter 7 discharge and who had one or more of their pre-petition debts reported in a manner that was inconsistent with a Chapter 7 discharge. The case was actively litigated for nearly three years. In January 2009, the district court issued a tentative decision denying Plaintiffs' motion for class certification. The case settled shortly thereafter. The settlement has received preliminary approval and a final approval hearing is scheduled for November 2009.

· Harris v. Equifax Information Services LLC, 06-CV-1810 (D.S.C.): In this case, the Plaintiff alleges that Equifax violated the FCRA by failing to report credit limit information regarding Plaintiff's Capital One credit card account. Similar lawsuits are pending against Experian and TransUnion. The matter has been actively litigated for over two years. In May 2008, the Court granted Plaintiff's request for certification of a regional class, but denied Plaintiff's request for certification of a nationwide class action. In addition, the Court later clarified its class certification ruling in a manner that we believe made it much more difficult for Plaintiff to establish liability. Equifax's Motion for Summary Judgment on all of Plaintiff's claims was granted in June 2009.

· Griffin v. Eaglemark Savings Bank and Harley Davidson Credit Corp., 08-CV-466 (D.S.C): In this putative class action, Plaintiff purchased a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and obtained financing from Eaglemark Savings Bank ("ESB"). ESB assigned the loan to Harley-Davidson Credit Corp. ("HDCC"). Plaintiff defaulted on the loan and was assessed late fees and repossession expenses by HDCC. Plaintiff contends that those late fees and repossession expenses violate the South Carolina Consumer Protection Code and seeks certification of a class consisting of consumers residing in South Carolina who were charged such fees. The district court granted summary judgment on all claims against ESB, and Plaintiff voluntarily dismissed the majority of his claims against HDCC. The parties are now engaged in class certification discovery on Plaintiff's remaining claim against HDCC.

· Premium Mortgage Corp. v. Equifax Information Services, et al.; United States District Court for the Western District of New York; Civil Action No.: 07-cv-6349. In this putative class action, the plaintiff, a mortgage broker, alleges that a subsidiary of Equifax Inc. misappropriated trade secrets belonging to it and other mortgage brokers around the country. The Plaintiff seeks certification of a nationwide class. The Court granted Equifax's Motion to Dismiss on preemption grounds. The case is currently on appeal to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

Commercial Litigation

· CSC Credit Services, Inc. v. Equifax Inc., No. 03-21090, 2004 WL 2980777 (5th Cir. Dec. 27, 2004). Mr. Bertschi served as lead counsel for Equifax Inc. (NYSE: EFX) in a suit brought by Equifax's largest affiliate, CSC Credit Services, Inc. Mr. Bertschi obtained summary judgment in favor of Equifax and the holding was affirmed on appeal. The Fifth Circuit held that Equifax was entitled to charge CSC platform fees and modeling royalties on credit decisioning products and credit scoring models.

· Hyde v. Schlotzsky's, Inc., 254 Ga. App. 192, 561 S.E.2d 876 (2002) and Schlotzsky's, Inc. v. Hyde, 245 Ga. App. 888, 538 S.E.2d 561 (2000). Mr. Bertschi served as lead counsel for Schlotzsky's, Inc. (OTC: BUNZQ.PK) a franchisor of fast food restaurants. In three consolidated cases, Mr. Bertschi obtained a ruling from the Georgia Court of Appeals that Schlotzsky's, Inc. was not liable for injuries sustained by consumers who allegedly contracted Hepatitis A as a result of eating contaminated food at a franchised Schlotzsky's restaurant.

· Looney v. M-Squared, Inc., 262 Ga. App. 449, 586 S.E.2d 44 (2003). Mr. Bertschi served as lead counsel for former officers and employees of a national electronics distributor. Mr. Bertschi was retained to file a motion for JNOV and to pursue appeals after prior counsel had lost a $1 million jury verdict. Mr. Bertschi had a portion of the judgment thrown out on a JNOV motion and the balance of the judgment was reversed by the Georgia Court of Appeals, which held that the former officer and employees did not misappropriate corporate opportunities, commit fraud, tortiously interfere with business relations or violate Georgia's Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

· Charles Hope v. AMN Acquisition Corp. and Ameron International Corporation (American Arbitration Association Case No. 301810089602 2003). Mr. Bertschi served as lead counsel for Ameron International Corp. (NYSE: AMN), a leading manufacturer of large diameter piping for the petrochemical industry. The claimant was the former owner of a company acquired by Ameron who alleged that he was due additional monies under the parties' earn-out agreement. Mr. Bertschi successfully defended the claim, with the arbitrator finding that the accounting policies followed by the former owner failed to comply with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. That ruling resulted in lower revenue totals and the former owners' failure to meet the revenue goals established in the parties' earn-out agreement.

Background

· Attended the University of Georgia School of Law on a Woodruff scholarship.

· Served as a Law Clerk for the Honorable George T. Smith, Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia.

· Member of the Order of the Coif and served on the Editorial Board of the Georgia Law Review.

· Alben W. Barkley Merit Scholar and was twice named Emory's Outstanding Debater.

Documents by this lawyer on Martindale.com