By Jennifer A. Riley, Greg Tsonis, George J. Schaller, and Ryan T. Garippo
Duane Morris Takeaways: Jennifer A. Riley, Greg Tsonis, George J. Schaller, and Ryan T. Garippo, members of the Duane Morris Class Action Defense Group, recently attended the Beard Group’s Class Action Money & Ethics Conference organized in New York City. The conference, held on May 21, 2026, hosted hundreds of attendees, covered key trends in class action litigation, and honored several attorneys for their accomplishments in the class action industry. Jennifer A. Riley of Duane Morris gave the keynote address, and George J. Schaller and Ryan T. Garippo of Duane Morris received awards for their accomplishments as two of 12 Premier Class Action Lawyers Of Tommorow in the United States.
The Conference
At the Class Action Money & Ethics Conference, the Beard Group, Inc. hosts a gathering of the top class action professionals to discuss the hottest topics in class action and multi-plaintiff litigation, including new filings, pre-trial proceedings, settlements, verdicts, and the latest trends in this area of the law. The Conference featured panelists and attendees who are attorneys on both sides of the bar, judges, as well as other professionals who focus their work on class action litigation.
The Conference features panels that speak on a wide range of topics. These topics included the use of data analytics and artificial intelligence in class action litigation, mass arbitrations, the trends in data breach and consumer protection litigation, environmental class actions, and more.
The State Of The Industry
Jen Riley, Vice Chair of Duane Morris’s Class Action Defense Team, opened the Conference by presenting the ten latest trends in class action and multi-plaintiff litigation in her keynote speech. The presentation is based on the findings from the Duane Morris Class Action Review, which is a “one-of-a-kind” publication, that summarizes class action trends and decisions across substantive areas of law.
As Jen Riley explained, in 2025, class action litigation exploded which led to record-breaking settlement figures by a wide margin. In 2025, the ten largest class action settlements can be aggregated to a total of over $79 billion dollars which were paid from corporate defendants to individuals across the nation. This trend was driven by high class certification rates, high quantities of class action filings, shifts within the substantive claims that plaintiffs are pursuing and several other variables. The net effect of these trends was that the class action mechanism served as an effective tool for the plaintiffs’ bar to redistribute wealth at an unprecedented level.
Jen Riley also discussed the shifting landscape with respect to some of the most cutting-edge defenses to defeating class actions. She discussed the success of corporate defendants in defeating class actions via motions to compel arbitration, and some of the latest case law on arbitrations that is currently being litigated before the U.S. Supreme Court. In addition, she reviewed the ongoing federal appellate circuit split concerning the standards for when to grant conditional certification (if at all) under the Fair Labor Standards Act and the applicability of the personal jurisdiction defense to the claims of individual class and collective action members. Jen Riley, providing the keynote address, is pictured below:
Panels On Class Actions And Related Issues
Following Jen Riley’s keynote address, numerous panels followed on the state of class action litigation across various areas of substantive law. The panels in the morning focused on a wide range of topics. The first panel discussed the use of data analytics in class action litigation, particularly by plaintiffs’ attorneys, to identify potential defendants to sue and then effectively prosecute their clients’ claims after. There were also panelists on securities class actions, which helped explain the role that private plaintiffs’ firms have to play during the Trump administration’s control of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The morning ended with a discussion of the future of litigation financing and the impact of various state laws on the continued viability of the practice.
The panels in the afternoon focused largely on consumer class actions and again covered many areas of substantive law. The afternoon opened with a lively panel on the current state of mass arbitrations, including a conversation regarding the plaintiffs’ bar’s use of arbitration agreements in their engagement letters, and how it impacts their ability to challenge the viability of arbitration agreements in federal and state courts across the country. There were panels on how the plaintiffs’ bar evaluates claims in data breach cases, as well as the shifting trends in data privacy class actions as a result. These panels were followed by additional discussions on the impact of multi-district litigation, environmental class actions, and a comparative analysis of global class actions which explained the various ways that plaintiffs are seeking to monetize mass torts and other alleged harms outside of Rule 23’s class action mechanism. The afternoon concluded with a panel on the scope of consumer protection class actions, including the cutting-edge theories that plaintiffs are pursuing to advance the law in this space, as well as the challenges in identifying plaintiffs to pursue such claims in light of the Eleventh Circuit’s decision that service payments are per se impermissible in class action settlements.
Premier Class Action Lawyers Of Tommorow Award Ceremony
After the panels concluded, there was a reception which was emceed by the Honorable Kathy King, who is a Justice on the Supreme Court in New York County state court. Justice King gave her concluding remarks on the event and also awarded this year’s Premier Class Action Lawyers Of Tommorow with awards for accomplishments in the class action industry. The award was provided to twelve attorneys, under the age of 40, who are redefining the frontiers of class action litigation through innovative strategies, landmark victories, and unwavering commitment to justice on both sides of the bar.
This year’s award winners included Ryan Garippo and George Schaller, both of Duane Morris, who were honored to accept their awards from Judge King and the Beard Group. George and Ryan are pictured below:
