Practice Areas

Our firm has a successful history of representing clients who have sued to break up monopolies and other anti-competitive practices. This includes lawsuits involving unlawful collusion among drug companies to suppress competition and pricing, as well as bid rigging in financial and consumer industries.;

Our experience includes serving as lead counsel and co-lead counsel in various successful antitrust lawsuits in state and federal court, including:

• Acting as counsel in Sherwood v. Microsoft Corporation>, a class action on behalf of consumers and indirect purchasers in Tennessee, in which we helped our clients reach a settlement valued at $64 million.>
• Serving as co-lead counsel in In re Prograf Antitrust Litigation on behalf of indirect purchaser plaintiffs in a class action in federal court in Massachusetts, in which we helped achieve a $13.25 million class-wide settlement of claims that the defendants utilized a sham “Citizen Petition” to suppress entry of a generic competitor into the market.
• Serving as lead counsel for end payors in In re Skelaxin (Metaxalone) Antitrust Litigation, a lawsuit challenging monopolistic practices that prevented the generic sale of a prescription muscle relaxant, in which we helped our clients achieve a class settlement of $9 million against one defendant and a separate settlement against the remaining defendant.

We also currently serve as counsel in multiple class action lawsuits brought against RealPage, Inc. concerning price fixing in setting rents.

We have successfully litigated many civil rights cases for our clients before judges and juries in state, federal, and appellate courts throughout Tennessee and across the U.S. These include advocating for the constitutional rights of immigrants, prisoners, and victims of illegal discrimination.  We also represent victims of sexual assault, sexual harassment, and other forms of prohibited conduct. In addition, we advise clients In cases involving free speech and other constitutionally protected individual rights.

In the areas of civil rights and sexual harassment, in recent years we have advocated for the rights of:

• immigration detainees in Abdullah Abriq v. Metro Nashville, No. 3:17-cv-690 (M.D. Tenn.)
• a sexual assault survivor in Arnold v. Cornerstone Church of Nashville, No. 16C1131 (Davidson County Cir. Ct.)
• female visitors to a Tennessee prison to be free from unlawful, invasive, and humiliating strip searches in Doe v. Corr. Corp. of Am. et al., No. 3:15-cv-68 (M.D .Tenn.),
• immigrants who were unlawfully arrested in their homes in Escobar v. Gaines (M.D. Tenn.)
• a local firefighter who was unlawfully disciplined for engaging in constitutionally protected free speech in Joshua Lipscomb v. Metro Nashville (Davidson Cnty. Chancery Court); and
• the plaintiff in Courtney Acreage v. Finnegan, involving racially motivated civil rights violations by the Metro Nashville Police Department.

Members of our firm also filed an amicus brief in Juana Villegas v. Metro Nashville concerning an immigrant woman forced to give birth in shackles.

Our Consumer Protection practice group seeks to provide justice for consumers who have suffered harm from dangerous pharmaceuticals, defective medical devices, false advertising, fraud, and additional unfair practices by holding companies responsible for these actions. We have successfully advocated in both state and federal courts for numerous notable cases across the country, resulting in multi-million-dollar recoveries for consumers. This includes successful litigation against the New England Compounding Pharmacy, Inc., in which more than $230 million in settlements were obtained on behalf of the victims, as well as the Volkswagen “Clean Diesel” lawsuits resulting in combined settlements worth over $11 billion for consumers and other victims.

Attorneys at our firm have also achieved multi-million dollar settlements in Telephone Consumer Protection Act cases and victims of defective products.

We also recently filed a national class action on behalf of purchasers of the Chevy Volt vehicle in Miller v. General Motors in the Eastern District of Michigan, alleging claims for breach of warranty, fraud, and unfair and deceptive practices.

Attorneys in our ERISA and Pension Law practice group advise clients and litigating matters under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), both through individual claims and in class action lawsuits resulting in millions of dollars recovered for our clients. For decades, our attorneys have represented Taft-Hartley health and welfare funds, JATC apprenticeship funds, and both defined contribution and defined benefit pension funds. In addition, our law firm brings claims on behalf of individuals for wrongful denial of benefits or other participation issues.

Our clients include individual fiduciaries, plan participants, plan sponsors and administrators, custodians and trustees. Our attorneys’ experience in other practice areas, such as Labor and Employment and Securities, enables them to craft more comprehensive and effective solutions for our clients.

Our depth of experience in a wide range of ERISA matters allows us to efficiently represent plan fiduciaries and participants in cases related to:

• Advice to ERISA plan fiduciaries on a variety of administration and compliance issues
• Creation of employee benefit trusts and plans
• Collection of delinquent employer contributions
• Claims for breach of fiduciary duties, retaliation and interference with protected rights
• Administrative claims and appeals for LTD, STD, and other benefits
• Department of Labor (DOL) audits, interpretations, investigations and enforcement
• Imprudent investment claims in employer stock
• Unpaid employee contributions related to 401k and other retirement plan contribution issues
• Participant direction of investment issues
• Pension and welfare benefit claims
• Plan design and amendments
• Subrogation claims
• Beneficiary claims for benefits, including interpleader claims
• Severance, vacation pay, and other welfare benefit issues

The following cases provide examples of the types of success that our ERISA and Pension Law practice group has had:

• Hitchcock v. Cumberland University 403(b) DC Plan, 851 F.3d 522 (6th Cir. 2017). As a result of this case, the university returned hundreds of thousands of dollars to employees’ retirement accounts that it had wrongfully withheld. The firm succeeded in setting the precedent that plan participants can take legal claims, such as breach of fiduciary duty, straight to the courts, without having to exhaust administrative remedies through the plan, an issue of first impression in the Sixth Circuit.
• In re Nortel Networks Corp. “ERISA” Litigation (M.D. Tenn.).  In this case, a member of our firm represented clients in a class action lawsuit on behalf of pension plan participants against fiduciaries of Nortel Network, resulting in a settlement that provided a minimum recovery of $21.5 million plus access to additional monies held by others.

In Xcel Energy, Inc. ERISA Litig., Civ. 02-2677 (D. Minn.)  A member of our firm represented a pension plan against fiduciaries of Providian Financial Corp., for violation of duties of owed under ERISA.  A settlement was reached providing $8.6 million in cash to the Plan for participants, lifted stock restrictions in the Plan with a value between $38 million and $93 million, and allowed the Plan to recover in a parallel securities action.

• Commercial disputes between companies;
• A successful lawsuit against the State of Kentucky to obtain a public record that the former Governor sought to suppress concerning the long-term solvency of Kentucky pension funds (Com. of Ky. v. Ellen Suetholz, No. 18-CI-229 (Kentucky Circuit Court);
• A successful settlement involving a Black family unlawfully discriminated against at a hotel in Knoxville, Tennessee (Jackson v. White Avenue Hotel, 3:18-cv-00319 (E.D. Tn.), and
• Multiple confidential settlements for survivors of harassment and violence, such as Arnold v. Cornerstone Church (Davidson County, Tenn. Cir. Ct.).
• Serving as court-appointed guardian at litem for an unaccompanied minor is a sealed case in the Middle District of Tennessee.

• Horton v. Molina Healthcarein federal court in Oklahoma, where we served as co-lead counsel in a national class action and achieved a $3.5 million class settlement;
• Davis Neurology v. DoctorDirectory.com (E.D. Ark.), in which we obtained a $1.6 million class settlement for recipients of junk faxes; and
• Skeete v. RePublic Schools in federal court in Nashville, where we obtained class certification and a $2.2 million settlement for claimants who received unsolicited spam texts.

HGSLaW proudly represents labor unions in all legal matters pertaining to employer-employee relations. We represent industrial, construction and public sector unions, district and joint councils, state, federal, and CLC’s. Our attorneys have litigated labor law issues at every level, from NLRB trials and state and federal district courts all the way to the United States Supreme Court. It is not uncommon to find our attorneys and staff reinforcing picket lines with lunch or coffee or answering questions at organizing meetings.

We provide trustworthy representation for our union clients. This includes the arbitration of grievances, collective bargaining, contract negotiation and enforcement of labor-related claims through litigation at the NLRB, in federal courts and issues concerning restrictive covenants, severance agreements and many other union-related matters.

Our firm helped expand Title VII retaliation protection in Thompson v. North American Stainless LP, a case that reached the United States Supreme Court, and similarly expanded what is considered a complaint in a whistleblower case before the Kentucky Supreme Court in Workforce Development Cabinet v. Gaines. 

We also recently represented a railroad executive in Tracy Miller v. Canadian National Railroad & Illinois Central R.R., et al., Case No., 2:19-cv-02152 (W.D. Tenn.), involving claims of race discrimination and breach of a non-compete agreement.

With offices in Cincinnati, Louisville, and Nashville, we represent unions throughout the Midwest and South, including in the states of Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia and Tennessee.

Our firm is proud to protect the rights of people who have been injured by the misconduct or carelessness of third parties. The mission of the attorneys in our Personal Injury practice group is to obtain maximum compensation for our clients’ injuries through litigation, mediation, and arbitration.

Attorneys at our firm have successfully advocated for full and fair compensation for the injuries and losses clients sustained as the result of motor vehicle accidents, faulty medical devices, dangerous medications, dangerous property conditions, medical negligence, and other types of negligence or recklessness leading to catastrophic injuries or wrongful death.

For example,  HSGLaW currently represents a security guard suing Rite Aid and a security firm in Garion Bogard v. Rite Aid, et al., in Davidson County Circuit Court, concerning injuries sustained during an armed robbery, and an estate of the decedent in Estate of Loren Shoemake v. Maxim Crane Works, et al. in Kentucky Circuit Court concerning a worker who died in a crane accident.

Our firm has a successful history of representing clients against people or companies engaged in insider selling or violation of federal securities laws, including cases involving bad faith actions by boards of directors and corporate officers.

Securities class action cases and shareholder derivative actions typically involve the following types of misconduct:

• Breach of fiduciary duty
• Excessive margins
• Failure of brokerages to supervise brokers
• Failure to conduct due diligence
• Failure to disclose material facts and investment risks
• Failure to diversify
• False reverse-merger investments
• Hedge fund fraud
• High-pressure sales tactics
• Junk bond funds
• Recommendation of unsuitable investments
• Securities fraud
• Stock churning
• Structured finance or products
  Unauthorized trades

Our cases include In re: King Pharmaceuticals Inc. Derivative Litigation, in which our firm served as lead counsel in a shareholder derivative action against the board of directors and certain officers of the company, In re Caremark RX, Inc. Stock Option Litigation, in which we served as co-lead counsel in litigation against the board of directors. Members of our firm have also represented clients in the following derivative cases:

• In Direct General Corp. Derivative Litigation (M.D. Tenn.), involving alleged breaches of fiduciary duty resulting from financial manipulations, insider selling, and misconduct in connection with a proposed private-equity sale of the company.
• In re: HCA Inc. Shareholder Litig. (M.D. Tenn.), involving alleged breach of fiduciary duties by a board of directors in a private-equity buyout.
• In re Wellbutrin XL Antitrust Litig. (E.D. Penn.), an antitrust class action against pharmaceutical companies GlaxoSmithKline and Biovail on behalf of third-payors concerning collusion to suppress a generic form of the drug Wellbutrin from reaching the market.
• In re Skelaxin (Metaxalone) Antitrust Litig., No. 1:12-cv-194 (E.D. Tenn.), an antitrust class action on behalf of end-payors regarding monopolistic practices that prevented the sale of general Skelaxin, a muscle-relaxant prescription drug.
• In re: Loestrin 24 FE Antitrust Litig., (D.R.I.), involving litigation over anticompetitive deals pertaining to Loestrin.
• In re: Lipitor Antitrust Litig. (D.N.J.), representing end-payors in multidistrict litigation involving anticompetitive practices with respect to Lipitor and its generic equivalents.

Our firm represents water, sewer, and natural gas utilities across the state.  Utilities come in many varieties, including utility districts, municipal utility boards, water and wastewater treatment authorities and private utilities, and the firm has clients in all of these categories. The firm advises utilities on their legal powers and responsibilities, and also has extensive experience negotiating and drafting contracts between utilities and other public entities, property owners and vendors. We understand how utilities fit into the development process, from land use planning to easement acquisition, and often appear before state agencies that regulate utilities, specifically the Utility Management Review Board and the Tennessee Public Utility Commission. When required, attorneys at our firm have successfully litigated for utilities in federal and state courts, including in jurisdictional and contract disputes, as well as condemnations.