Partner • Co-Chair, Class Actions Practice Group • Chair, Retail Industry Group | Cozen O’Connor
Meredith is a recognized authority in the national class actions defense bar. She represents businesses in a range of industries in class actions across the country. Her cases often implicate cutting-edge privacy and consumer protection issues under federal and state statutes. Meredith has been widely acknowledged for her mastery of the facts and the law and for her strategic and thoughtful defense of litigation. She routinely secures early dispositive victories on the pleadings that spare clients the costs and burdens associated with protracted litigation. She has been the architect of strategies to prompt plaintiffs to voluntarily dismiss their claims, to compel arbitration, to obtain dismissals on the pleadings and at summary judgment, to strike class allegations, to defeat class certification, and to prevail on the merits in arbitration proceedings. Meredith is also a thought leader on the issue of consumer arbitration, and drafts, revises, interposes, and enforces arbitration agreements and class action waivers in consumer contracts. Meredith’s proven record of success, combined with her practical, accessible, and business-oriented approach, have made her the go-to class actions lawyer for several of the country’s leading businesses.
Meredith is also chair of the firm’s cross-practice Retail Industry Group and counsel to many prominent retailers and consumer-facing companies. She represents retailers in consumer class actions and advises them on related compliance issues to mitigate litigation and enforcement risk. She has deep experience advising retailers and consumer companies on compliance with federal and state privacy laws, including the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), Song-Beverly Credit Card Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), Shine the Light Law, and other federal and state privacy-based laws. She also works closely with retailers to reduce litigation exposure under assorted consumer protection statutes, including California’s Unfair Competition Law (UCL), Consumers Legal Remedies Act (CLRA), and False Advertising Law (FAL). Meredith counsels retailers on issues related to COVID-19, including contracts, leases, dynamic pricing, asset protection, health and safety measures, data privacy, store operations, e-commerce, shipping delays, policies and procedures, and tort liability. Meredith is a member of the firm’s Coronavirus Task Force.
Meredith represents industry groups, including the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) and the Retail Litigation Center (RLC), in class actions and privacy proceedings, including before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and in the U.S. Supreme Court. She also represents the National Retail Federation and the Restaurant Law Center. Meredith’s work on behalf of the retail community led her to be selected as the designated consumer class actions lawyer for the RLC’s Defense Division. In 2018, Meredith received a certificate from Harvard Business School in connection with its Senior Leaders in Retail Executive Program and a certificate from ShopTalk.