The 7th Annual Western Alliance Bank Class Action Law Forum™, in collaboration with University of San Diego School of Law

2025 Steering Committee

Our prestigious steering committee members are legal industry experts committed to providing the legal community with insightful perspectives from leading attorneys and members of the judiciary of a variety of topics related to Class Actions and Mass Torts.

David S. Casey, Jr. '74 (JD)
Managing Partner, CaseyGerry

A third-generation attorney, he joined his late father David S. Casey Sr.’s firm in 1976 after working as a prosecutor for the San Diego City Attorney’s office. With dozens of high-profile verdicts and settlements achieved over a 43-year legal career, he is well on his way to attaining his father’s – who tried more than 700 jury trials – legendary status.

David leads the firm in obtaining multi-million dollar results each year in a complex range of cases such as the Volkswagen Emissions scandal in which David was appointed to the national Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee overseeing litigation. The case was resolved for $14.7 billion, one of the biggest corporate settlements in history.

In the Chrysler Dodge-Jeep Ecodiesel® Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation, David was appointed by the federal court to serve on the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee. The case was resolved for $300 million. Read more

Gayle M. Blatt
Partner and Head of Complex Litigation, CaseyGerry

Heading the firm’s complex litigation practice group, Gayle concentrates her practice on consumer class action, data breach cases, and serious personal injury cases. She joined CaseyGerry more than 30 years ago and has become well known for representing injured clients in a wide range of high profile, multi-million- dollar cases.

In addition to her extensive experience in personal injury cases and successful mass torts, Gayle has held leadership positions in several data breach Class Actions such as the Sony Gaming Networks, and YAHOO! Data Breach class action litigations, where she was the only California attorney to serve on the committee. Her recent leadership appointments include lead counsel in In re: Waste Management Data Breach Litigation, interim co-lead counsel in In re: Netgain Technology, LLC, Consumer Data Breach Litigation, interim co-lead counsel in DeSue v. 20/20 Eye Care Network, Inc. et al., interim co-lead counsel in In re: Warner Music Group Data Breach Litigation, and more. She is currently part of the team litigating the data breach incident involving Citrix Systems.  Gayle has also been involved in the Apple Inc. litigation, the Intel Corp. CPU Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation (“Intel”), the Hydroxycut Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation, and the Incretin Mimetics Product Liability Litigation. Read More

Erin M. Bosman '99 (JD)
Partner, Morrison Foerster

Erin Bosman is co-chair of MoFo’s Class Actions and Mass Torts Practice Group and is a founder and co-head of the Artificial Intelligence Group. Clients value her business strategy, seeking her comprehensive counsel throughout the product life cycle, especially in high-stakes litigation and product recalls.

Erin’s clients value her litigation acumen, retaining her as national coordinating and trial counsel in class action cases and multijurisdictional and multidistrict proceedings. A skilled negotiator, Erin has a long track record of securing dismissals and favorable settlements for her clients. Her courtroom skills have delivered successful jury verdicts and won appeals before the Second Circuit and California Court of Appeal. Read More

Erin Copeland
Partner, Fibich Leebron Copeland & Briggs

Erin Copeland currently serves as the court-appointed Co-Lead of the Paragard (birth control) MDL pending in the Northern District of Georgia. She was also recently appointed to the leadership committee of the Hair Relaxer MDL pending in the Northern District of Illinois.

Previously, from 2017 to 2022, Erin served on the Executive Committee for the Essure consolidated state litigation in California, where she and her team oversaw the claims of thousands of women who suffered severe and permanent injuries as a result of the Essure permanent sterilization birth control device. In August 2020, she helped to negotiate a $1.6 billion settlement with Bayer to resolve the Essure litigation. Erin also served on the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee for the various female pelvic mesh MDLs pending in the Southern District of West Virginia as well as the Pradaxa litigation pending in the Southern District. In the Pradaxa litigation, Erin served as State-Federal Liaison Counsel to the cases pending in St. Clair County, Illinois.

Erin is often invited to speak on a variety of legal issues and serves as a steering committee member for the Baylor MDL Judicial College.

Erin is a native Houstonian and practices with the Houston-based law firm of Fibich Leebron Copeland & Briggs. Erin and her family split time between Houston and their home in Colorado where her son has been a competitive snowboarder.

Ellen Gusikoff Stewart  
Partner, Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd

Ellen Stewart is a partner in Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP’s San Diego office, and is a member of the Firm’s Summer Associate Hiring Committee. She currently practices in the Firm’s settlement department, negotiating and documenting complex securities, merger, ERISA, and derivative action settlements.

Notable settlements include: In re Facebook Biometric Info. Privacy Litig. (N.D. Cal. 2021) ($650 million); KBC Asset Management v. 3D Systems Corp. (D.S.C. 2018) ($50 million); Luna v. Marvell Tech. Grp. (N.D. Cal. 2018) ($72.5 million); Garden City Emps.’ Ret. Sys. v. Psychiatric Solutions, Inc. (M.D. Tenn. 2015) ($65 million); and City of Sterling Heights Gen. Emps.’ Ret. Sys v. Hospira, Inc. (N.D. Ill. 2014) ($60 million).

Ellen has served on the Federal Bar Association Ad Hoc Committee for the revisions to the Settlement Guidelines for the Northern District of California and was a contributor to the Guidelines and Best Practices – Implementing 2018 Amendments to Rule 23 Class Action Settlement Provisions manual of the Bolch Judicial Institute at the Duke University School of Law. 

Ellen has received the Distinguished certification by Martindale-Hubbell. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Muhlenberg College and a Juris Doctor degree from Case Western Reserve University. 

Shawn Miller
Professor of Practice, USD School of Law

Prior to joining the University of San Diego in August 2019, Miller managed Stanford’s Law, Science and Technology LLM program for international lawyers from 2014 to 2017.  In this role he served as the academic advisor for all students in the program and taught the Law, Science and Technology Colloquium.  He then continued at Stanford Law School for two years as the IP Research Fellow.  While at Stanford, Miller created the Stanford NPE Litigation Database, which categorizes the owners of every patent litigated since 2000 as practicing or as one of several types of non-practicing entities. Miller also taught the Patent Troll Policy Practicum, which enabled students to present original research to the U.S. Patent Office and Federal Trade Commission while assisting in developing the NPE Litigation Database.  He continues his work on the NPE Litigation Database and related empirical projects as a non-resident CodeX Fellow in the Stanford Center for Legal Informatics.

Miller’s research interests span the law and economics of litigation, innovation and intellectual property rights. His recent scholarly work has focused on patent venue reform, judicial behavior and the economics of software patent and non-practicing entity litigation. His work has appeared in the Texas Law Review, the University of Colorado Law Review, the Stanford Technology Law Review, the Virginia Journal of Law and Technology and the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies.

Miller has been an adjunct professor at the University of San Diego, where he taught undergraduate Law and Economics, the UC Hastings College of the Law and the Santa Clara University School of Law.  Following law school, Miller practiced intellectual property litigation and patent prosecution in the Chicago office of Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon, LLP.  Miller was also a Contract Associate at Coughlin, Stoia, Geller, Rudman & Robbins LLP, an Associate at Marks Golia & Finch LLP, and a Judicial Intern in the Michigan Court of Appeals. Learn more

Ticket Prices & Registration Site

$795 General Admission for anyone registering themselves as, or on behalf of, a single attendee. 

Now-Dec 31: $645 | Jan 1- Mar 3: $795 | Mar 4 - Mar 19: $1,195

$6,360 Firm Price for up to 10 registrants

Offers two complimentary registrations after registering eight attendees from the same firm; max of 10 per group and may not be combined with any other discount codes.

$995 Legal Service Provider (Non-sponsor)

2025 Agenda & Speakers

Robert A. Schapiro, Dean and C. Hugh Friedman Professor of Law at USD School of Law is looking forward to sharing this academic and experiential program in collaboration with Western Alliance Bank, which specializes in banking for attorneys and law firms and settlement distribution agencies and claims administrators.

This year’s Class Action Law Forum registration and sponsorship proceeds directly benefit the Western Alliance Bank Scholarship Fund, supporting a law student at University of San Diego School of Law, who is in financial need and also participates in CALF. The scholarship fund provides law students at USD the financial support they need to focus on their studies and other necessities while on their journey to becoming a practicing attorney. It is a distinct privilege to support the law students at USD.

For more information about scholarship opportunities at USD School of Law, please contact Debbie Rider, Assistant Dean, Law School Development & Alumni Relations at (619) 260-5955 or djrider@sandiego.edu.

For 2025 Class Action Forum sponsorship inquiries, please contact calf@westernalliancebank.com

Continuing Education Credit Information

Navis Events will be managing the Continuing Legal Education credit for this year's event.  CLE credit for the 7th Annual Class Action Law Forum will be applied for in a number of states including, but not limited to, California.  The number of CLE credit hours you earn will depend on your state’s accreditation requirements and the specific sessions you attend.

 At the conclusion of the conference, both in-person & remote attendees will be able to indicate their attendance at specific sessions as well as the states in which they would like to receive credit.

About Western Alliance Bank Settlement Services

Western Alliance Settlement Services, a national banking group within Western Alliance Bank, Member FDIC, specializes in banking for law firms, claims administrators and related businesses managing class action, mass tort and bankruptcy settlements nationwide. Relationship bankers bring clients years of experience and offer outstanding service to support all phases of the settlement process, from escrow to distribution, with a single point of contact. Settlement Services is part of Western Alliance Bancorporation, which has more than $70 billion in assets. Major accolades include being ranked as a top U.S. bank in 2023 by American Banker and Bank Director. With significant national capabilities, the Settlement Services Group delivers the reach, resources and deep industry knowledge that make a difference for customers. For more information, visit Western Alliance Settlement Services.