Jason S. Rathod

Jason S. Rathod is a founding partner of Migliaccio & Rathod LLP and an accomplished plaintiff-side class action lawyer, particularly in the areas of consumer protection, defective products, and data privacy. Mr. Rathod has been appointed to leadership teams in some of the most high-profile cases in the country. In In Re: Philips Recalled CPAP, Bi-Level Pap, and Mechanical Ventilator Products Litigation, he was among a small group of lawyers appointed to the Plaintiffs' Steering Committee and served as the co-chair of the Science and Experts Committee. The case resulted in class action settlements for economic loss (settlement approved) and medical monitoring (approval pending), as well as personal injury claims totaling approximately $1.7 billion. He was also appointed to serve on a three-person experts committee in the In Re: Kia Hyundai Vehicle Theft MDL in which a classwide settlement valued at approximately $200 million has been reached (final approval pending). Mr. Rathod has been quoted in the national press, including in The Wall Street Journal and Washington Post. In addition to his consumer protection work, Mr. Rathod also prosecutes wage theft, civil rights, and environmental protection cases.

Mr. Rathod has been recognized as a leader in his field beyond the courtroom. He is the author of several published works, including a law review article on aggregate litigation in poor countries. Another recent law review article that he co-authored, comparing public and private enforcement in the United State and Europe, was cited by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in its proposed rule prohibiting class action waivers in the fine print of consumer contracts.

Mr. Rathod graduated from Grinnell College in 2006 (B.A. with honors in Political Science and Religious Studies). After college, he traveled to Fiji, Mauritius, South Africa, Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana, and Suriname on a Watson Fellowship, studying the Indian Diaspora. He graduated law school from the Duke University School of Law in 2010, where he was an Articles Editor of the Duke Law Journal. In law school, he also worked for one of the largest labor unions in India - the Self-Employed Women’s Association - in public interest litigation on behalf of street vendors seeking an injunction against the city of Ahmedabad for unlawful harassment and evictions.

Notable Cases Include:

• Representing consumers as a member of the court-appointed Plaintiff Steering Committee and serving as the co-chair of the Science and Experts Committee in multidistrict litigation concerning a Fortune 500 corporation's use of a dangerous foam in millions of medical devices, which resulted in settlements for consumers totaling approximately $1.7 billion (final approval pending on medical monitoring component);
• Representing consumers as a member of the court-appointed Experts Committee in multidistrict litigation concerning the failure to install engine immobilizers in vehicles, resulting in grave risk of vehicle theft. Class settlement has been reached and valued at $200 million (final approval pending);
• Representing consumer classes in insurance overcharge cases, including by drafting appellate briefs about the propriety of class certification. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed order for the classes 3-0, leading to several multi-million-dollar settlements;
• Representing consumer in consumer fraud trial for economic losses that resulted in verdict for the Plaintiff on all counts and a multimillion dollar punitive damages award (later reduced on remittitur, but still totaling in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and representing a 25:1 ratio of punitive to economic damages);
• Representing class of migrant detainees in settlement that secured an agreement to overhaul business practices and payment of a substantial cash fund following allegations of civil rights violations and deceptive practices;
• Representing consumers in multidistrict litigation arising from the marketing and sale of e-cigarettes, including to minors;
• Representing consumer class of laptop purchasers against a multinational corporation in nationwide class action settlement arising from defective components, valued at over $16 million;
• Representing consumers as a member of the court-appointed Plaintiff Steering Committee in putative class action lawsuit alleging failure to timely disclose and remedy dangerously defective lithium-ion batteries in vehicle line by a major automaker;
• Representing consumer class of vehicle purchasers and lessees in nationwide class action settlement, following allegations of engine defect;
• Representing consumer class of vehicle purchasers and lessees in nationwide class action settlement, alleging oil dilution defect;
• Representing settlement consumer class of air purifier purchasers who alleged false advertising;
• Representing as a class action litigation lawyer consumer classes in two cases in D.C. Superior Court arising from the alleged unlawful repossession of vehicles, resulting in class wide settlements with significant pro rata payments and injunctive relief, including debt relief;
• Representing consumer class at trial in product defect class action;
• Representing worker class in wage theft assistant manager misclassification case against national restaurant chain that culminated in a $16.5 million settlement;
• Representing worker class and collective against multinational startup company for independent contractor misclassification claims, resulting in $8.75 million settlement;
• Representing worker class in wage theft rate miscalculation case against multinational fracking company, resulting in $6 million settlement;
• Representing as a class action litigation lawyer over 1,500 servers in multistate collective action, resulting in $1.72 million settlement;
• Representing consumer class in defective laptop case against multinational computer manufacturer; and
• Representing consumer class in defective construction case against multinational home builder, drafting key briefs leading to class certification and maintenance of suit in court, rather than arbitration.

Education:

• Duke University School of Law, J.D. 2010
• Grinnell College, B.A., 2006

Admissions:

• Illinois
• Washington, D.C.
• United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
• United States District Court for the District of Columbia
• United States District Court for the District of Maryland
• United States District Court for the District of Nebraska
• United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
• United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
• United States District Court for the District of Colorado
• United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
• United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan

Publications and Speaking Engagements:

• Mass Arbitration at the O.K. Corral (Nov. 2020) (CLE panel), American Bar Association National Institute on Class Actions
• Be Careful What You Wish For: The Rise of Mass Arbitration (May 2022) (CLE Panel), American Bar Association
• Arbitration Tactics and Strategy (July 2020) (CLE presentation), American Association for Justice (“AAJ”)
• Fighting for Food Policy Progress Across Legal Arenas (panelist), Food Systems Virtual Summit with CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute (April 2020)
• Human Capital and Fragmentation (Nov. 15, 2019) (panelist), ClassCrits Conference
• Plaintiffs, Procedure & Power (Nov. 3, 2018) (panelist), ClassCrits Conference
• DNA Barcoding analysis of seafood accuracy in Washington, D.C. restaurants, PeerJ (April 25, 2017) (co-authored)
• The Arc and Architecture of Private Enforcement Regimes in the United States and Europe: A View Across the Atlantic, 14 U.N.H. L. Rev. 303 (2016) (co-authored)
• Trying the Class Action: Practical Tips from the Pros (AAJ) (June 4, 2015) (panelist)
• Emerging Markets, Vanishing Accountability: How Populations in Poor Countries Can Use Aggregate Litigation to Vindicate Their Rights, 24 Transnat’l L. & Contemp. Probs. 69 (2014)
• Note: Not Peace, But a Sword: Navy v. Egan and the Case Against Judicial Abdication in Foreign Affairs, 59 Duke L.J. 595 (2009)

Awards

• Jason S Rathod is known as SuperLawyers Rising Stars in the year of , 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023