Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll LLP

AAJ ATTENDEES: Please join Douglas McNamara and Eric Kafka on July 26 & 27, as they speak on #classactions, #eDiscovery, #ESI, and data #preservation developments at the American Association for Justice Annual Convention.   July 26   + Douglas McNamara speaks on “AI and eDiscovery Privacy and Protective Order/ESI Protocol Best Practices” at 3:05 p.m. CT   July 27   + Eric Kafka moderates the day-long CLE program, “Class Action Section/Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Section,” 8:30 am - 5:00 pm CT + Eric Kafka speaks on “Big Technology Data Discovery and Preservation” at 8:35 am CT + Douglas McNamara speaks on Class Action “Rules Update” at 3:45 pm CT   View the full schedule for AAJ 2026 > https://lnkd.in/esjCWkMf

Laura Posner, in a statement to Law360, criticized SpaceX's #IPO documents, arguing that they deliberately weaken investor rights. As Posner explains, SpaceX’s IPO includes a novel and untested framework to steer shareholder disputes to Texas' Business Court and #arbitration while prohibiting investor #classactions. Posner, a #securities litigation partner at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, said that SpaceX investors are "the only #shareholders of a major public company who lack the settled protections, certainty, and legal consistency that #investors have counted on for decades to protect their hard-earned retirement assets and that regulators have required to help ensure market integrity." "The policies adopted by SpaceX decimate protections for shareholders and the market while giving near-total executive authority to Musk," Posner said. "Musk's attempt to prevent investors from ever being able to hold SpaceX management accountable for #malfeasance, either through litigation or even voting, stand out as particularly problematic." According to Posner, institutional investors may still be required to pursue claims under their fiduciary duties, but doing so through individual arbitrations is impractical and could result in hundreds or thousands of separate cases. She warned that no company would want to face a wave of investor arbitrations. Cohen Milstein is part of the American Association for Justice, which is part of the Alliance to Protect Shareholder Value. Read the article on Law360 > https://lnkd.in/eTS5kRGB #investorprotection #SEC

Christine Webber, a thought-leader on AI in the workplace and worker rights, opines on a recent lawsuit against Meta Platforms, where plaintiffs claimed that Meta relied on discriminatory #AI tools to select employees for #layoffs.   Legal experts like Christine, say the case helps illustrate why a widely predicted wave of employment lawsuits over AI use has yet to arrive. Workers often do not have evidence of which AI systems are being used in the workplace, for which decisions. Also, many have signed away their right to sue in court, agreeing instead to resolve workplace disputes through arbitration, a private and confidential forum that often favors employers and shields unfavorable evidence from coming to light, including evidence that particular AI systems are yielding biased decisions.   “Even if you were to establish that a particular AI system produces discriminatory outcomes, #arbitration agreements prevent you from sharing that information with other employees,” said Christine Webber, co-chair of the civil rights and employment practice at #plaintiffs’ firm Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll. Webber’s firm is not involved in the Meta case.   Webber and other plaintiffs’ lawyers said those two hurdles explain the lack of high-profile court cases involving employers’ use of AI even as it becomes routine, and why even the lawsuit against Meta seeking only temporary relief is unusual.   Read the article on Reuters > https://lnkd.in/gcuqXrrq #discrimination #workerrights

A year after the Ninth Circuit’s Fair Labor Standards Act ruling in the Cracker Barrel case, worker-side attorney Rebecca Ojserkis says the decision largely maintained the status quo with respect to when notice is issued. In July 2025, the court declined to adopt a stricter standard for sending out notice to #FLSA collectives, leaving intact the long-standing two-step certification process already used by district courts throughout the circuit. Ojserkis, of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll LLP, noted that many expected the differing certification standards adopted by the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Circuits to trigger a major shift in #collectiveaction litigation. Instead, she said, the practical impact has been limited. According to Ojserkis, courts across jurisdictions are not showing significant differences in how collective actions proceed. The anticipated “sea change” has not materialized, she said, reinforcing the view that disputes over notice and certification should not dominate these cases. The focus, she argued, should be on ensuring that all workers who may be affected by a case are informed and given an opportunity to participate. Read the article on Law360 Employment Authority > https://lnkd.in/ekUEGt2b #wageandhour #workerrights

A nice contribution by our colleague Christina K. McGlosson and The Anti-Fraud Coalition. Their work underscores the importance of protecting and strengthening #whistleblower programs that help uncover fraud and misconduct.

BREAKING: Greystar Worldwide, LLC, the largest apartment manager and owner in the United States, has been accused of systematically refusing to rent to prospective tenants holding Housing Choice Vouchers (#Section8) in violation of state fair housing laws across six states and Washington, D.C. Housing Rights Initiative (HRI), a national housing watchdog group, filed complaints with #civilrights, #fairhousing, or state attorneys general offices in California, Hawaii, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., alleging more than 100 violations of state fair housing laws by Greystar properties.   According to Housing Rights Initiative, “testers” trained by its organization have been calling Greystar offices around the country since October to inquire about available apartments. The testers posed as prospective tenants and asked if they could use housing vouchers to pay the rent. Time and again, they said, Greystar employees told them that vouchers would not be accepted or imposed illegal requirements on using them.   “Greystar has been committing mass civil rights violations at a scale unlike anything our organization has ever seen,” said Aaron Carr, executive director of Housing Rights Initiative.   Brian Corman, a partner at Cohen Milstein, who represents the Housing Rights Initiative, said that Greystar is not a small landlord unfamiliar with the law — the company manages more than a million units, according to the National Multifamily Housing Council, making it a powerful gatekeeper for the country’s housing stock.   “This is not a paperwork issue,” Mr. Corman said. “Denying housing because the family intends to use a voucher has real consequences on where families can live, where children can go to school, and whether people can achieve housing stability.”   Read The New York Times exclusive about this multi-state enforcement action against Greystar, the largest landlord in America > https://lnkd.in/eYPatbwm

This week, we hosted Exploring Legal Careers that Advance Workers’ Rights, a summer social bringing together law students participating in fellowships with unions and union-side law firms.   Co-hosted with our partners at the Peggy Browning Fund, the event featured an engaging discussion on the many ways attorneys work to advance union values, protect workers’ rights, and advocate for working people across a range of legal disciplines.   We were honored to hear from an outstanding panel of speakers:   🔹 Devki Virk, Commissioner of Labor & Industry, State of Maryland, formerly of Bredhoff & Kaiser, P.L.L.C. 🔹 Richard Trumka Jr., former Commissioner of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, now Of Counsel in Cohen Milstein’s Public Client practice 🔹 Ateş Serifsoy, Norm Gleichman Law Fellow, SEIU 🔹 Sabrina Merold, Associate in Cohen Milstein’s Antitrust practice   The conversation highlighted the diverse legal challenges facing labor organizations today and the many opportunities for attorneys to make an impact.   At Cohen Milstein, we are proud to represent #workers in class action employment litigation and beyond – we represent labor #unions and Taft-Hartley Funds in litigation, including Antitrust, Consumer Protection, and Securities Litigation & Investor Protection matters.   #solidaritysocial 

#AI can help make U.S. markets fairer, more transparent, and more accountable, and the Securities and Exchange Commission already has the tools to get started. In an op-ed for The Hill, Benjamin F. Jackson argues that advances in AI give the #SEC an unprecedented ability to detect fraud, uncover market manipulation, and strengthen oversight across U.S. markets. Ben also argues that AI can strengthen both the SEC's #enforcement and #disclosure functions, helping regulators detect misconduct more effectively while giving investors the information they need to make better decisions.   Read his op-ed, The SEC Can and Should Use AI to Create a Fairer Market, in The Hill: https://lnkd.in/e23Fxnzv #FinancialMarkets #MarketTransparency #InvestorProtection

Law360 asks Rebecca Ojserkis to weigh in on a wage and hour wish list for the remainder of 2026. As AI tools become widespread, employers are looking to #AI to track workers. However, a lack of regulation could expose employers to liability. States and local governments could be at the forefront of providing necessary AI-related guidance about tracking workers’ hours and movements, said worker-side attorney Rebecca Ojserkis of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll. “Given their nimbleness compared to the federal level, state and local governments should survey private employers’ use of AI to track workers' hours and movements to preempt #wageandhour abuses,” Ojserkis said. She added, "It would be important for there to be a government actor involved at the outset of the implementation of these workplace tools” to avoid wage and hour abuses. Read the article on Law360 Employment Authority > https://lnkd.in/eU3BVjHg #workerrights

REGISTER TODAY: Madelyn Petersen, a member of our Consumer Protection practice, will co-present a live webinar hosted by myLawCLE on July 9, 2026, at 1 pm EST. Maddy’s course, “CLE: Class Actions and Mass Arbitration in 2026: The Plaintiff and Defense Playbooks Every Litigator Needs,” will address recent developments in #classaction and #massarbitration law and how attorneys can effectively develop a sound litigation strategy and playbook. Co-presented with a member of the Defense Bar, the program will look at #plaintiff and defense playbooks side by side: the plaintiff record-building toolkit and the defense attack sequence. Participants will learn about structuring a Comcast-compliant #damagesmodel, drafting #classdefinition that holds in specific circuits, calibrating a #Rule23(f) petition before the 14-day clock runs out, and drafting arbitration agreements that survive unconscionability review, while managing mass-arbitration fee exposure under current rules. This #CLE course is eligible for 2 to 2.5 credits depending on the respective state. Register for the accredited course on myLawCLE > https://lnkd.in/ebvr4P-Z