Over the course of three decades, Michael J. Stortz has established a reputation as a thought leader within the California class action defense bar. He has been successful in:
- Devising creative exit strategies
- Enforcing arbitration agreements with class action waivers
- Disposing of cases at the motion to dismiss or summary judgment stages
- Opposing class certification
- Negotiating favorable resolutions on an individual or class-wide basis.
Michael’s clients include some of the country’s most prominent companies in the communications, retail, technology, pharmaceutical, insurance and automotive industries. He assists these businesses in their most sophisticated, high-exposure litigation matters, including cases brought in federal and state courts under California’s Unfair Competition Law (UCL), Consumers Legal Remedies Act (CLRA) and/or False Advertising Law (FAL).
He is at the forefront of addressing privacy-based issues under assorted statutes, including the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and the California Shine the Light Law (STLL).Michael is a trusted advisor helping companies navigate significant changes to the law, including under the California Privacy Act and the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). He focuses on anticipating future class action litigation against businesses in the California courts in order to proactively advise clients on ways to mitigate risk.Michael is one of the leading defenders of consumer class actions under the TCPA.
He has deep knowledge of the statute and has been called upon not only to defend some of the most significant TCPA litigation matters in courts across the country, but to advocate for important changes to the law before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). He has been invited to speak and publish on key issues relating to defending TCPA claims and addressing related compliance challenges, including in Practical Law Journal, Law360 and the National Law Review.He is a recognized authority on consumer arbitration issues and the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). Michael has crafted arbitration provisions for numerous businesses seeking to include them as part of their consumer contracts.
He has successfully defended the enforceability of such arbitration provisions and has prevailed in multiple individual consumer arbitrations as well as trials under Section 4 of the FAA. Michael has also assisted businesses across industries in drafting and revising their consumer-facing terms, and conditions and privacy policies.In addition to his class action experience, Michael also represents clients in a range of commercial disputes, including antitrust and intellectual property matters.
Experience:
- One of the country’s leaders in defending consumer class actions under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).
- Represents businesses against claims of unfair competition, false and deceptive advertising, labeling and marketing, consumer fraud, breach of warranty and product defect.
Representative Work:
- Successfully opposed certification of proposed product defect class action arising under California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act and Unfair Competition Law.
- Obtained summary judgment in favor of defendant in putative TCPA class action.
- Obtained appellate reversal of order denying motion to compel arbitration in putative class action asserting deceptive trade practices claims.
- Secured voluntarily dismissal without payment of putative class action under California’s Shine-the-Light Law.
Affiliations:
- Member, Antitrust, UCL and Privacy Section of the California Lawyers Association.
- Member, American Bar Association, Section of Litigation.
- Member, Bar Association of San Francisco.
Education:
- J.D., Harvard Law School, cum laude, 1988
- B.A., Dartmouth College, summa cum laude, 1985
Bar Admissions:
- California
Cost
Rate : $$$