Michael D. Leffel is a partner with Foley & Lardner LLP and is the chair of the firm’s Class Action Working Group. He is a member of the firm’s Consumer Financial Services, Appellate, and Business Litigation & Dispute Resolution Practices.
Mr. Leffel’s practice focuses on complex commercial litigation matters, including class actions. He has represented clients, including many Fortune 100 companies, in more than 100 class actions, in state and federal courts at all levels. The cases involved the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, various state uniform and deceptive trade practice statutes, the federal securities acts, the Truth-In-Lending Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Real Estate Settlement Practices Act, and product liability claims, among other issues.
Mr. Leffel has served as counsel for clients in fourteen cases before the United States Supreme Court, and has represented parties in numerous cases before courts of appeals at both the state and federal level. He has also represented clients before various regulatory agencies and in congressional investigations.
Prior to joining Foley & Lardner, Mr. Leffel worked for Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering in Washington, D.C., where his practice focused on commercial litigation and where he was awarded the John H. Pickering award for his commitment to pro bono representation.
Mr. Leffel is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School (J.D., cum laude, 1997). He served as the managing editor of the Michigan Law Review and authored, "A More Sensible Approach to Regulating Independent Expenditures: Defending the Constitutionality of the FEC’s New Express Advocacy Standard." After graduation from law school, Mr. Leffel served as a law clerk for the Honorable Karen Nelson Moore, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He has lectured on class actions, the enforceability of arbitration clauses, the constitutional implications of academic freedom, and the constitutionality of student fees.
Mr. Leffel is admitted to practice in Wisconsin, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second, Third, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth and Eleventh Circuits, and the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Wisconsin and the District of Columbia, the Northern District of Ohio and the Eastern District of Michigan.
Recent Publications and Presentations
- Quoted, “Small Pharmacies Seek Class Cert. In Caremark Antitrust Row,” Law360, November 2012
- "Mooting Plaintiff's Case Might Not End Class Action," Law360, October 2012
- “Debunking Class Certification Myths,” Law360, January 2012
- “Trends in ‘All Natural’ Class Actions,” Law360, November 2011
- “Using Offers Of Judgment in Class Actions,” Law360, September 2011
- “Concepcion Steers Potential Class Actions Toward Arbitration,” Wisconsin State Bar News, July 2011
- "Foreclosure Actions Could Result in FDCPA Violations," LexisNexis® Research Solutions, July 2010
- "New Rulings from the Fourth and Eleventh Circuit Shed New Light on RESPA Liability and the Filed Rate Doctrine," LexisNexis® Emerging Issues Analysis, July 2009
- "Current Developments in Lender Liability Law – Consumer Context Part II," Foley & Lardner LLP Web conference, April 2009