Seamus C. Duffy concentrates his practice on class action and other complex business litigation. The Chair of our Communications Litigation Practice Group, he has extensive experience with litigation involving the telecommunications industry.
Class Action Litigation. A nationally recognized speaker on issues relevant to the defense of class actions, Seamus regularly serves as national counsel defending consumer class actions for Fortune 100 companies, both in federal multidistrict litigation proceedings and their state court equivalents. He has been an architect of strategies to defeat class certification and has obtained favorable results across the country on a host of claims, including unfair competition, consumer protection and breach of contract/warranty claims, as well as issues ranging from sales practices, service quality, rate structure, and securities. He is also a leading appellate advocate on issues related to class certification, having successfully argued appeals of class certification orders in the Third and Ninth Circuits, among others.
Telecommunications. Seamus represents telecommunications carriers in a variety of complex business disputes. He has particular depth of experience in representing wireless telephone and cable television enterprises. He counsels clients on issues such as state regulatory incursions into the federal domain or assertion of federal preemption of state law claims in asserted class actions. He has represented carriers in state and federal court cases across the continental United States, in federal multidistrict litigation proceedings, and in proceedings before the FCC.
Government Litigation. Seamus assists telecommunications providers in resisting the improper assertion of state authority over federally regulated aspects of the industry, both by bringing actions for declaratory and injunctive relief and by defending against preempted claims. He has managed industry efforts to overturn preempted state legislation and regulations. He has also defended carriers against claims of failure to comply with preempted state laws brought by public utilities commissions and state attorneys general.
In General. Seamus regularly lectures on trial advocacy at programs sponsored by the National Institute for Trial Advocacy. He has also lectured at the Pennsylvania Bar Institute on litigation, trial practice and ethical issues arising from the representation of corporate clients. He joined Drinker Biddle in 1988 following a one-year federal district court clerkship in the United States District Court in Philadelphia.