Matthew D. Berkowitz

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About Matthew D. Berkowitz

Matthew D. Berkowitz is an experienced civil litigator with significant class action experience who represents businesses and professionals in complex disputes. At the trial and appellate levels, he has successfully defended clients in shareholder derivative suits, trademark infringement claims, and breach of contract and negligence suits. He also has successfully defended clients accused of violating Federal & State Consumer Protection Acts, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Mr. Berkowitz regularly authors articles and lectures about emerging and significant class action topics. Most recently Mr. Berkowitz has taken part of AM Best’s podcast discussing the future of class action. In 2018, he authored an article in the NAPBS Journal discussing “How to Protect Yourself From A Cyber Attack.” He also spoke on the topic at NAPBS’ Annual Conference. In 2016 and 2017, he co-authored two ethics articles for the Defense Research Institute (“DRI”): Defense Ethical Issues in Class Action Litigation (2016) and Navigating Ethical Issues in Class Actions: A Defense Perspective. He also served as faculty for DRI’s 2017 Class Action Conference where he gave the ethics presentation. He possesses substantial knowledge and practical experience concerning the ethics rules that are unique to class actions and applicable to both the plaintiff and defense bars.

Mr. Berkowitz co-authored Avoid Significant Exposure, and Attorneys’ Fees: Using Rule 68 Offers of Judgment to End Class Actions Early and Quickly, 11 No. 3 In-House Def. Q. 38 (2016). He also presented at the Perrin Class Action Conference in 2017 and lectured about recent Supreme Court decisions and how these decisions will affect class action litigation and plaintiffs and defendants moving forward.

Mr. Berkowitz’s clients include construction companies, auto dealerships, and national restaurant and retail chains in complex tort actions. He also defends attorneys, architects, accountants, and other professionals accused of malpractice. In addition, he has defended insurance companies in complex coverage disputes involving toxic tort and environmental cases, and has represented clients in disputes involving medical malpractice, contracts, defamation, employment law, and real property. Furthermore, he maintains a Higher Education Law practice and regularly represents accrediting agencies & educational institutions.

Partner, Carr Maloney PC

Supreme Court to Consider Waiver of Right to Arbitration in Employee Wage and Hour Case

On November 15, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court announced it would hear a case by a former Taco Bell employee, Robyn Morgan, regarding her former employer’s right to compel arbitration in her wage and hour case.  Morgan’s claims stem from her allegation that her former employer and Taco Bell franchisee, Sundance, Inc., failed to pay her time-and-a-half for overtime.  Specifically, Morgan alleges that Sundance recorded her worktime across multiple weeks to keep her time under forty hours per week.  Sundance answered Morgan’s Complaint and litigated the case for eight months.  It then moved to compel arbitration […]

By |2021-11-30T15:57:22-05:00November 18th, 2021|Practice Areas: Class Action, Labor & Employment|Topics: , , , |
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Supreme Court to Determine Viability of Cause of Action for HIV-Positive Plaintiffs Alleging Disability Discrimination Against CVS Pharmacy Inc. Under Affordable Care Act

The U.S. Supreme Court recently granted certiorari in CVS, et al., v. Doe, at al., Docket No. 20-1374, to determine whether 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) provides a disparate-impact cause of action for plaintiffs alleging disability discrimination.

In CVS, the plaintiffs/respondents, five individuals living with HIV, allege that CVS Pharmacy’s new requirement that they must obtain their specialty medication through specialty pharmacists by mail or through drop shipments at a CVS Pharmacy, and not at their local pharmacy, is discriminatory. Several respondents requested to opt-out of the program. However, […]

By |2021-09-20T10:18:36-04:00September 20th, 2021|Practice Areas: Class Action, General|Topics: , , , , , |
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Supreme Court Rules that Courts Should Determine the Materiality of Alleged Misrepresentations at the Class Certification Stage in Private Securities Litigation

On June 21, 2021, the Supreme Court in Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., et al. v. Arkansas Teachers Retirement System, ruled in favor of Goldman Sachs in a securities-fraud class action lawsuit brought by investors. The plaintiffs alleged that Goldman Sachs maintained an artificially inflated stock price by making generic false statements in connection with their sales of securities, until the truth about Goldman Sachs’ practices were made public and the market reacted, resulting in losses to the plaintiffs.

The plaintiffs sought to certify a class of Goldman Sachs shareholders that relied on such misrepresentations when investing in its […]

By |2021-07-20T17:15:42-04:00July 20th, 2021|Practice Areas: Class Action|Topics: , , , |
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Supreme Court Rules that Absent Class Members Must Suffer Actual Harm to Be Part of a Class

On June 25, 2021, the Supreme Court in TransUnion v. Ramirez, held that, in order to be part of a class action and recover damages, class members must have suffered “concrete harm” to have standing under Article III of the Constitution.

This was the first time that the Supreme Court examined standing issues in the class action context since 2016, when it ruled in Spokeo v. Robbins, that mere statutory violations alone to the plaintiff, or class representative, are insufficient to establish Article III standing.

In Ramirez, a class of 8,185 individuals sued TransUnion, a credit reporting agency, […]

By |2021-06-25T16:58:20-04:00June 25th, 2021|Practice Areas: Class Action|Topics: , , |
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We’re Open: Enter At Your Own Risk

Since releasing our most recent podcast episode, athletic events and concert venues have been slowly reopening at different capacities depending on the state, but what kinds of claims are arising out of these reopenings?

Carr Maloney attorneys Matthew D. Berkowitz, Brian O’Shea, and Samantha Lewis sit down to discuss possible causations of these class action claims and how to form an argument around the defense.

Listen along to Carr Maloney’s most recent COVID-cast episode below:

By |2021-02-23T15:11:53-05:00February 23rd, 2021|Practice Areas: Podcast|Topics: , |
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The Supreme Court to Determine Whether Class Members Must Suffer Actual Harm

On December 16, 2020, the Supreme Court granted cert. to hear TransUnion v. Ramirez, a Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) class action suit that presents the question as to “whether either Article III (of the Constitution) or Rule 23 (of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure) permits a damages class action where the vast majority of the class suffered no actual injury, let alone an injury anything like what the class representative suffered.”

In Ramirez, Ramirez was refused the purchase of a car by a dealership when his credit report incorrectly indicated that his name appeared on […]

By |2020-12-17T16:03:35-05:00December 17th, 2020|Practice Areas: Class Action|Topics: , , , |
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Collegiate Sports Are Not Immune to COVID-19

College sports have not been immune to the repercussions of COVID-19 and therefore we are seeing a rise of class action lawsuits across the country that many universities will have to address in these coming months. Many claims have been from players themselves with lack of PPE equipment and exposure to the virus, but is there a way to safely play a contact sport with proper precautions to prevent a viral outbreak, and by playing are you assuming the risk of injury?

Listen along as attorneys Matthew D. Berkowitz, Samantha Lewis, and Brian O’Shea tackle potential class […]

By |2020-10-16T11:06:09-04:00October 15th, 2020|Practice Areas: Class Action, Podcast|
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Universities and Colleges Face Class Action Lawsuits Amid Reopening

With students returning back to school, there has been a large number of reported outbreaks of COVID-19. Many students and parents are filing suits for breach of contracts as it relates to remote learning and the impact that social distancing and campus closures have on students and their learning experience. University staff has also been filing suits saying that schools have not been taking the appropriate measures to protect staff from exposure to the virus.

Attorneys, Matthew D. Berkowitz, Brian O’Shea, and Samantha Lewis dive deep into possible causations and significant hurdles for class certification.

By |2020-10-15T10:45:10-04:00September 17th, 2020|Practice Areas: Class Action, General, Podcast|Topics: , , |
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The Telephone Consumer Protection Act Lives On: SCOTUS Severs the Government Debt Collection Exemption from the TCPA

In July 2020, the Supreme Court in Barr v. American Ass’n of Political Consultants, No. 19-631, upheld the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s (“TCPA”) ban on telephone solicitation through the use of automatic telephone dialing systems, but in applying a strict scrutiny analysis, the Supreme Court found that the government debt collection exemption was an unconstitutional infringement of free speech under the First Amendment.

Barr v. American Ass’n of Political Consultants was an appeal from the Fourth Circuit. Specifically, the American Association of Political Consultants (“AAPC”) sought to challenge the government debt collection exemption of the TCPA, which […]

By |2020-09-09T09:47:35-04:00September 9th, 2020|Practice Areas: Class Action|Topics: , |
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Students Seek Tuition and Fee Reimbursement in Light of COVID-19

There are several class actions being filed against major universities across the country in light of COVID-19. Attorneys Matthew Berkowitz, Brian O’Shea, and Samantha Lewis discuss the major types of claims students are filing. For example, students are claiming they are not receiving the same college experience that they are paying for while the universities are trying to follow state guidelines in response to coronavirus. They also dive into class certifications issues that might come up like different expectations of what a college experience is, different majors, and financial aid status with their education.

By |2020-06-18T14:08:47-04:00June 16th, 2020|Practice Areas: Class Action, Podcast|Topics: , |
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Insurance Carriers Face COVID-19 Class Action Claims

The government-enforced lockdowns around the country have led to a wave of COVID-19 related business interruption claims. Insurance carriers that denied these claims now face class action suits from their insureds. While it is generally the case that an insured can bring breach of contract actions against carriers that deny claims, insureds seeking to sue their carriers in class action suits face additional obstacles.

Case in point, in the pending federal Western District of Washington case Germack DDS v. The Dentists Ins. Co.,  the insurer, The Dentists Insurance Company (TDIC)  filed a Motion to Strike and Dismiss […]

By |2020-06-05T10:27:44-04:00June 5th, 2020|Practice Areas: Class Action, General|Topics: , |
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Long-Term Care Facilities Being Hit With Class Action Lawsuits

Americans over the age of 65 have become more at risk with the spread of COVID-19 than any other age group. As a result, COVID-19 has been going through nursing homes in many states that have been the hotbed to this disease like New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

Many of them will be facing class actions in the upcoming months for not following CDC guidelines and supplying employees with proper equipment to protect them from COVID-19. Listen to this episode as attorneys Matthew Berkowitz, Brian O’Shea, and Samantha Lewis discuss this trending class action topic and […]

By |2020-06-02T18:50:20-04:00June 2nd, 2020|Practice Areas: Podcast|Topics: , |
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