Eric has successfully prosecuted hundreds of class, mass, and other complex matters in 30 years of practice and has recovered more than a billion dollars for his clients. And after having grown and managed two firms, including his current firm for over twelve years, he has now put his focus on building the future of the plaintiffs’ bar. He has expanded the pipeline to leadership opportunities at his firm and beyond, including launching a premier fellowship program for law students with a coalition of leading plaintiff-side firms, the Mason Gibbs Plaintiffs’ Pathway Fellowship.
Leadership in Litigation and the Plaintiffs’ Bar
Eric has been appointed by the courts to leadership positions in a diverse array of cases involving consumer, investor, and employee rights, data breach and privacy, and automobile defects. He has negotiated groundbreaking settlements that have reformed business practices and favorably impacted plaintiffs’ legal rights. His leadership positions have included In re Equifax, Inc. Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, In re Anthem, Inc. Data Breach Litigation, In re Adobe Systems Inc. Privacy Litigation, In re Chase Bank U.S.A., N.A. “Check Loan” Contract Litigation, In re Wells Fargo Auto Insurance Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation, and In re Hyundai and Kia Horsepower Litigation.
Eric has served in many leadership positions in American Association for Justice, the national trial lawyer association committed to strengthening the civil justice system. In 2025, Eric was honored with AAJ’s David S. Shrager President’s Award in recognition of his dedicated advocacy and leadership. Eric has served on AAJ’s Board of Governors, helped form its 300+ member Class Action Section, co-founded its Consumer Privacy and Data Breach Litigation Group, and served as an active member of its Law School Committee. Eric was also an early signed of the AAJ Member Firm’s Pledge to Act, a commitment to fostering racial equity.
Eric has been committed to mentorship and fostering relationships both within the plaintiffs bar as well as between litigators and other advocates for social justice. He is a board member of Equal Justice Society, a national civil rights legal association dedicated to civil justice, and on the Partners Council of the National Consumer Law Center. He is also an advisory board member of the law student-run National Plaintiffs’ Law Association (NPLA), which has transformed the conversation on public interest careers at law school campuses around the country.
Building the Future
As part of his work expanding the pipeline for young public interest lawyers, he helped launch the Mason Gibbs Plaintiffs’ Pathway Fellowship, a highly selective, paid fellowship that exposes outstanding law students with a broad range of backgrounds and experiences to litigation at leading plaintiff-side firms. Co-led by Danielle Ward Mason of Singleton Schreiber, the fellowship mentors students in working with consumers, workers, investors and survivors on a variety of high impact matters.
Reputation and Recognition by the Courts
Eric has been widely recognized for his professional achievements. He has been ranked by Chambers USA for Product Liability: Plaintiffs for the past three years. In 2026, Eric was selected to Best Lawyers for his work in mass tort litigation and class actions, and he was selected by Lawdragon to their 500 Leading Plaintiff Lawyers lists for both consumer protection and financial fraud. He has previously received Lawyer of the Year Award from Best Lawyers in 2022, “Titans of the Plaintiffs Bar” from Law360 in 2019, as well as a California Lawyer Attorney of the Year (CLAY) Award for his work in the Anthem Data Breach Litigation in 2019.
Eric has a distinguished reputation with his peers and the judiciary for his ability to work efficiently and cooperatively with co-counsel, and professionally with opposing counsel in class action litigation.
Litigation Highlights
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In re Anthem, Inc. Data Breach Privacy Litigation
Served as a court-appointed member of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee representing the interests of plaintiffs and putative class members following a massive data breach of approximately 80 million personal records. The lawsuit settled in August 2018 for $115 million, the largest data breach settlement in history at the time.
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In re Chase Bank U.S.A., N.A. “Check Loan” Contract Litigation
Multidistrict litigation that alleged Chase Bank wronged consumers by offering long-term fixed-rate loans, only to later more than double the required loan payments. Eric helped lead negotiations in the case, which resulted in a $100 million settlement with Chase eight weeks prior to trial.
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In re Adobe Systems Inc. Privacy Litigation
As court-appointed lead counsel, Eric and his team reversed a long line of decisions adverse to consumers whose personal information was stolen in data breaches. Judge Koh issued a 41-page decision in plaintiffs’ favor and Eric negotiated a comprehensive reform of Adobe’s data security practices. The court’s landmark decision on Article III standing in this case marked a sea change and has been cited favorably in over twenty cases in the year since it was issued.
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In re Hyundai & Kia Fuel Econ. Litigation
As court-appointed liaison counsel, Eric reconciled the plaintiffs’ interests and coordinated discovery and settlement negotiations. He helped finalize a settlement with an estimated value of up to $210 million.
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Skold v. Intel Corp.
After more than a decade of litigation, Eric as lead counsel achieved a nationwide class action settlement on behalf of approximately 5 million consumers of Intel Pentium 4 processors. The lawsuit changed Intel’s benchmarking practices and Intel agreed to a cash settlement for the class, along with $4 million in charitable donations.
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Parkinson v. Hyundai Motor America
Eric served as class counsel in this lawsuit alleging that the flywheel and clutch system in certain Hyundai vehicles was defective. After achieving nationwide class certification, Hyundai agreed to a settlement that provided for 50-100% reimbursements to class members for their repairs and full reimbursement for rental vehicle expenses.
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De La Cruz v. Masco Retail Cabinet Group
Eric served as lead attorney litigating the collective claims of dozens of misclassified account representatives for overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Successfully certified a class of current and former Masco account representatives and personally arbitrated the case to judgment obtaining full recovery for the class.
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In re Providian Credit Card Cases
Eric played a prominent role in this nationwide class action suit brought on behalf of Providian credit card holders alleging that Providian engaged in unlawful and fraudulent business practices in connection with the marketing and fee assessments for its credit cards. The Honorable Stuart Pollack approved a $105 million settlement, plus injunctive relief—one of the largest class action recoveries in the United States arising out of consumer credit card litigation.