Bryan Cave claims to be no.1 class action firm

In a bolshy move, US law firm Bryan Cave has claimed to be the biggest American outfit in relation to running class actions “day in day out”.

Bryan Cave’s Phoenix managing partner Lawrence Scarborough, at a firm seminar today (23 August), said that while there are no official figures on how many class actions take place in the US annually, the firm considers itself to be the undisputed leader of the pack.

“We have reason to believe that they is no other firm day in day out that handles class action cases as much as we do,” said Scarborough.

The firm backed up this claim by stating that, at any one time, it has at least 100 class actions on-going in the US.

In relation to class actions in the UK, Scarborough purported that Bryan Cave “was here first” before the likes of DLA Piper and Cohen Milstein Hausfeld & Toll, as the US firm came to Britain 25 years ago.

London’s managing partner Anthony Fiducia revealed at the seminar that the firm’s UK offering is anticipated to grow by 70 per cent in the last year to 50 fee-earners. Forty per cent of the local office’s capabilities sit within the litigation group, giving the firm a good base for class action work.

The US firm’s claims about being ahead of the roost in relation to class actions come as Bryan Cave today launches its Hamburg office and opened its new Italian arm, based in Milan, two months ahead of schedule.