Practice Expertise

  • Class Actions
  • Banking and Financial Services
  • Broker-Dealer and Investment Adviser
  •  

Areas of Practice

  • Banking and Financial Services
  • Broker-Dealer and Investment Adviser
  • Class Actions
  • Complex Business Litigation
  • Credit Card Services
  • Cybersecurity and Privacy
  • Financial Services Litigation
  • Financial Services Litigaton
  • Insurance
  • Life, Health and Disability Litigation
  • Litigation
  • Managed Care Litigation
  • Payment Systems
  • Payments
  • Policyholder Insurance Coverage
  • Regulatory/Corporate/Government Relations
  • View More

Profile

At the age of 19, Mike Pennington had already completed college. He then graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School the same month he turned 23. Since then, he has established himself as a thought leader on the cutting edge of class action defense, and a go-to lawyer for complex litigation.

Since Alabama’s “tort hell” days in the late 1980s and 1990’s, Mike has litigated in some of the country’s toughest venues. His hard work has earned him a broad national reputation defending class actions and mass actions of every type from California and Nevada to Florida and New York, and dozens of states in between. He also regularly defends high stakes bad faith and sales and servicing practices litigation against insurers, environmental class actions, products liability class actions, the panoply of class actions often faced by financial institutions. 

Mike is the founder and still one of the co-leaders of Bradley's Class Action and Complex Litigation team, and has consistently been listed in The Best Lawyers in America® for his work in defending class actions, mass torts, and bet-the-company litigation. He has also been recognized in the Chambers USA, Benchmark Litigation, and Super Lawyers listings of top U.S. lawyers. The reason is simple. He regularly finds unique, creative, and cost-effective solutions to complex litigation.

Mike’s past and present clients know this about him.  Those clients have included Tyson Foods, Monsanto, Nissan, Smile Direct Club, Ditech, Ocwen, Iron Mountain, Ally, GMAC, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Torchmark, Liberty National Life, Globe Life And Accident, Infinity Property & Casualty, Kemper, Rite-Aid, CVS, Bank of America, Great American Insurance Group, United Investors, MAPCO,  CheckSmart, 21st Century Mortgage, GO Financial, GFC Lending, Deutsche Bank, and KB Homes, among many others. Mike also served as counsel to Alabama’s former Gov. Bob Riley, and has been retained by two of Alabama’s recent attorneys general to advise the state of Alabama and the Attorney General’s Office in important civil matters.

Mike’s peers also know this about him. Mike has spoken on class action litigation and other litigation topics at numerous seminars across the country. He currently chairs both DRI’s Class Action Task Force, dedicated to class action reform, and DRI’s Class Action Specialized Litigation Group, dedicated to honing the skills of class action defense practitioners across the country.  On behalf of DRI, Mike frequently authors amicus briefs on important class action issues in the U.S. Supreme Court, recently spearheaded the drafting of DRI’s comprehensive written comment to the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules on the recent Rule 23 amendments, and also provided testimony to the Committee regarding the amendments. He also served as a principal drafter of the DRI’s letter to the House Judiciary Committee supporting five major class action reform efforts contained in proposed legislation known as H.R. 985, the Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act of 2017.

Mike’s other present and past professional memberships include being an attorney-member of the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI), a member of the Association of Life Insurance Counsel (ALIC), a member of the Claims and Litigation Management Alliance (CLM), and a longtime member of both the ABA and DRI.

One more thing. Mike has been a contributor to Bradley’s class and complex litigation blog, “Declassified:  News from the Class and Complex Litigation Battlefront.” He frequently posts his thoughts on important class action cases and circuit splits there. We invite you to subscribe to that blog. It’s free.

Bar Admissions

  • Alabama, 1985

Court Admissions
  • Supreme Court of the United States
  • United States Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit
  • United States District Court, Northern District of Alabama
  • United States District Court, Middle District of Alabama
  • United States District Court, Southern District of Alabama

Education

  • Harvard Law School, J.D., 1984, magna cum laude
  • University of Alabama at Birmingham, B.A., 1981

Areas of Practice

  • Banking and Financial Services
  • Broker-Dealer and Investment Adviser
  • Class Actions
  • Complex Business Litigation
  • Credit Card Services
  • Cybersecurity and Privacy
  • Financial Services Litigation
  • Financial Services Litigaton
  • Insurance
  • Life, Health and Disability Litigation
  • Litigation
  • Managed Care Litigation
  • Payment Systems
  • Payments
  • Policyholder Insurance Coverage
  • Regulatory/Corporate/Government Relations

Blogs

Declassified

The Declassified blog offers commentary and insights on the latest class action suits, significant class action opinions, relevant changes to laws and rules, and important class action trends. Declassified covers topics ranging from significant Supreme Court and appellate court decisions regarding class certification requirements to proposed or enacted legislation, rules and regulations that impact class action litigation to key industry developments that may indirectly impact class action litig

Declassified

The Declassified blog offers commentary and insights on the latest class action suits, significant class action opinions, relevant changes to laws and rules, and important class action trends. Declassified covers topics ranging from significant Supreme Court and appellate court decisions regarding class certification requirements to proposed or enacted legislation, rules and regulations that impact class action litigation to key industry developments that may indirectly impact class action...

It Pays to Be Covered

Bradley's It Pays to Be Covered Blog discusses insurance law developments and industry trends in property and casualty insurance, including the growing cyber insurance market, coverage for drones, and blockchain exposures. We also address practical risk management strategies of interest to risk managers, legal staff, and corporate officers and directors responsible for property and casualty insurance policy portfolios, claims management, and resolution. Our attorneys provide insights based on...

Patent 213

Patent law, like most things in life, is subject to change. Changes to patent laws not only impact investment in your existing IP, but directly shape strategies to protect your freedom to operate. The Patent 213 blog provides up-to-date, insightful analysis of the evolution in the written description and enablement requirements of 35 USC 112 and the subject matter eligibility requirements of 35 USC 101. The Patent 213 blog analyzes key decisions from the district courts and the Federal Circuit,...

The Law of Order

Bradley’s The Law of Order blog serves as a general parliamentary procedure resource, providing information about creation and revision of governing documents (constitutions, bylaws, or rules), application of Robert’s Rules of Order and other procedural authorities in a variety of contexts (such as nonprofits, political parties, homeowners associations, unions, churches, trade associations), and leadership of any type of organizational meeting. In an effort to make all things parliamentary more...

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