Antitrust Law Litigation - Antitrust Litigation - Securities Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Plaintiffs Product Liability Litigation - Plaintiffs
Steve W. Berman
Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2023 Awarded Practice Areas
Biography
Steve Berman is a nationally renowned class-action lawyer who has dedicated his career to fighting for consumers, investors, employees and other plaintiffs harmed by corporate misconduct. As co-founder and managing partner of Hagens Berman, Steve has led some of the most influential and complex litigation in state and federal courts, securing settlements valued at hundreds of billions of dollars and obtaining historic reforms across a wide range of industries.
Steve's trial experience has earned him significant recognition and led The National Law Journal to name him one of the 100 most powerful lawyers in the nation, and to repeatedly name Hagens Berman one of the top 10 plaintiffs’ firms in the country.
Since founding the firm in 1993, Steve has consistently undertaken high-stakes cases others wouldn’t. He launched Hagens Berman after his former firm refused to represent several children who became seriously ill after eating fast food tainted with E. coli. Steve fought against Jack in the Box, alleging its negligence and cost-cutting were to blame — a case that helped define his mission to represent those most in need.
Known for securing industry-changing results and some of the largest settlements in world and U.S. history, Steve has built a reputation as one of the nation’s most effective and innovative plaintiffs’ attorneys.
Overview
- University of Chicago, J.D., graduated 1982
- Illinois, Illinois State Bar Association
- Washington, Washington State Bar Association
- United Kingdom, Foreign Registered Attorney in England and Wales
- Supreme Court of the United States
- First Circuit Court of Appeals
- Second Circuit Court of Appeals
- Third Circuit Court of Appeals
- Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
- Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals
- Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals
- Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals
- Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
- Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals
- Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals
- D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals
- Federal Circuit Court of Appeals
- U.S. Court of Federal Claims
- U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
- U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
- Supreme Court of Illinois
- Supreme Court of Washington
- Illinois, Illinois State Bar Association
- Washington, Washington State Bar Association
- United Kingdom, Foreign Registered Attorney in England and Wales
- University of Chicago, J.D., graduated 1982
- Supreme Court of the United States
- First Circuit Court of Appeals
- Second Circuit Court of Appeals
- Third Circuit Court of Appeals
- Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
- Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals
- Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals
- Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals
- Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
- Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals
- Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals
- D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals
- Federal Circuit Court of Appeals
- U.S. Court of Federal Claims
- U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
- U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
- Supreme Court of Illinois
- Supreme Court of Washington
Client Testimonials
Awards & Focus
Named "Lawyer of the Year" by Best Lawyers® for:
- Product Liability Litigation - Plaintiffs, Seattle (2025)
- Litigation - Securities, Seattle (2024)
Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® 2026 for work in:
- Antitrust Law
- Litigation - Antitrust
- Litigation - Securities
- Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Plaintiffs
- Product Liability Litigation - Plaintiffs
Additional Areas of Practice:
- Consumer Protection Law
- Litigation - Environmental
- Litigation - Intellectual Property
- Litigation - Patent
- Qui Tam Law
- Sports Law
- Technology Law
Awards:
Titan of the Plaintiffs Bar, Law360, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2025
Honoree for Outstanding Antitrust Litigation Achievement in Private Law Practice, American Antitrust Institute, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2024
500 Global Plaintiff Lawyers, Lawdragon, 2024, 2025
500 Leading Lawyers in America, Plaintiff Financial Lawyers, Lawdragon, 2019-2025
500 Leading Lawyers in America, Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers, Lawdragon, 2019-2025
Legal Lion of the Week as part of the litigation team that achieved class certification in NCAA Student-Athlete Name, Image and Likeness, Law360, 2023
Washington Super Lawyers, 1999-2023
Leading Commercial Litigators, The Daily Journal, 2022
Hall of Fame, Lawdragon, 2022
Plaintiffs' Attorneys Trailblazer, The National Law Journal, 2017, 2022
Sports & Entertainment Law Trailblazer, The National Law Journal, 2021
Class Action MVP of the Year, Law360, 2016-2020
Elite Trial Lawyers, The National Law Journal, 2014-2016, 2018-2019
500 Leading Lawyers in America, Lawdragon, 2014-2019
State Executive Committee member, The National Trial Lawyers, 2018
Class Actions (Plaintiff) Law Firm of the Year in California, Global Law Experts, 2017
Finalist for Trial Lawyer of the Year, Public Justice, 2014
One of the 100 Most Influential Attorneys in America, The National Law Journal, 2013
Most powerful lawyer in the state of Washington, The National Law Journal, 2000
One of the Top 10 Plaintiffs’ Firms in the Country, The National Law Journal
News & Media
Additional Information
Case History
Cases
- State Tobacco Litigation
$260 billion Largest civil settlement in history The multistate agreement required tobacco companies to pay the states $260 billion and submit to broad advertising and marketing restrictions, leaving a lasting and widespread impact.
- NCAA Student Athlete Name, Image and Likeness
$22.78 billion+ Largest antitrust settlement in history Class action against the NCAA and Power Five conferences alleging violations of federal antitrust law regarding payment to college athletes for the use of their names, images and likenesses. After two decades of fighting on behalf of athletes regarding this issue, the firm secured a monumental settlement for a class of more than 400,000 NCAA players. In addition to $2.78 billion in past damages, the total value of new payments and benefits to college athletes under the new revenue-sharing model is expected to exceed $20 billion over the next 10 years, making it the largest antitrust class-action settlement in history.
- Visa Check/MasterMoney Antitrust Litigation
$25 billion Largest antitrust settlement in U.S. history at the time Agreements with Visa and Mastercard secured relief valued at as much as $25-87 billion, and injunctive relief reducing interchange rates, among other benefits.
- Volkswagen/Porsche/Audi Emissions Scandal
$14.7 billion Largest automotive settlement in U.S. history Hagens Berman’s automotive legal team was the first to file in this historic lawsuit against Volkswagen for its emissions cheating and masking of harmful pollutants, culminating in a historic settlement.
- Volkswagen Franchise Dealerships
$1.67 billion The firm achieved a monumental settlement on behalf of Volkswagen dealerships across the U.S. blindsided by the automaker’s emissions cheating, returning an average payment to each Dealer Settlement Class Member of approximately $1.85 million.
- Toyota Sudden, Unintended Acceleration
$1.6 billion Largest automotive settlement in history at the time The firm did not initially seek to lead this litigation but was sought out by the judge for its wealth of experience in managing very complex class-action MDLs.
- Hyundai / Kia Theta II GDI Engine Fire Hazard Settlement
$1.3 billion The firm achieved a settlement in response to a defect in 4.1 million Hyundai and Kia vehicles equipped with Theta II GDI engines putting owners at risk for spontaneous, non-collision engine fires or premature engine failure.
- Mercedes BlueTEC
$700 million Spurred by the firm’s success in the Volkswagen Dieselgate case, Steve independently tested diesel vehicles across manufacturers, uncovering additional instances of emissions-cheating, masked via illegal defeat devices.
- Apple E-Books Antitrust
$568 million This antitrust lawsuit alleged Apple and five of the nation’s top publishers colluded to raise the price of e-books for U.S. consumers. Steve’s litigation resulted in an unheard of recovery equal to twice consumers' actual damages. Apple took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, where it denied Apple’s request to review the case.
- McKesson Drug Class Litigation
$350 million Steve was named co-lead counsel in this action that led to a rollback of benchmark prices of hundreds of brand name drugs, and relief for third-party payers and insurers. His discovery of the McKesson scheme led to follow up lawsuits by governmental entities and recovery in total of over $600 million.
- Average Wholesale Price Litigation
$338 million Drug prices charged to consumers and payers across the nation are significantly more than the cost to produce them. In many cases, Big Pharma conspires with other companies to create these false profits. Hagens Berman has helped several classes of plaintiffs obtain multimillion-dollar judgments.
- Enron Pension Protection Litigation
$250 million Attorneys represented 24,000 Enron employees claiming the company recklessly endangered retirement funds, causing some employees to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars almost overnight, in a major economic milestone in U.S. history.
- Bank of America Homeloans
$250 million Following the historic market crash in 2008, Hagens Berman filed this class action against Bank of America, Countrywide and LandSafe, alleging their collusion was in direct violation of the RICO Act and other laws.
- JPMorgan Madoff Lawsuit
$218 million This historic settlement against JPMorgan involved three simultaneous, separately negotiated settlements totaling more than $2.2 billion, in which Hagens Berman returned hundreds of millions of dollars on behalf of Bernard L. Madoff investors.
- NCAA Athletic Grant-in-Aid Cap Antitrust
$208 million Steve pioneered this historic case which forever changed NCAA sports and the lives of 53,748 class members. The case culminated in a $208 million settlement regarding damages and injunctive relief secured through a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court decision in favor of plaintiffs. According to the Court, the NCAA “permanently restrained and enjoined from agreeing to fix or limit compensation or benefits related to education” that conferences or schools may make available. Schools are now allowed to provide benefits tethered to education up to $6,000 annually.
- Apple iOS App Developers
$100 million Hagens Berman represented developers of iOS apps sold via Apple’s App Store or featuring in-app sales, alleging the tech giant engaged in anticompetitive practices that harmed developers. The settlement brings important changes to App Store policies and practices. U.S. iOS app developers with less than $1 million per year in proceeds from App Store sales through all associated developer accounts across the nation can receive hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars from the fund.
- Google Play Store App Developers
$90 million This antitrust class action accused Google of monopolizing its Play Store through anticompetitive policies, affecting small businesses across the nation. Attorneys for the class of roughly 43,000 Android app developers say some class members will likely see payments in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
- McKesson Governmental Entity Class Litigation
$82 million Steve was lead counsel for a nationwide class of local governments that resulted in a settlement for drug price-fixing claims.
- Zuora Investor Fraud
$75.5 million In a showcase of Steve’s securities litigation expertise, this settlement achieved in 2023 provides significant relief to purchasers of the securities of Zuora across the U.S.
- NCAA Concussions
$75 million Hagens Berman served as lead counsel in this multidistrict litigation against the NCAA, achieving medical monitoring and injunctive relief in the form of changes to concussion management and return-to-play guidelines. The lawsuit alleged the institutions neglected to protect college athletes from concussions and their aftermath at schools across the country.
- NCAA/Electronic Arts Name and Likeness Co-Lead Counsel
$60 million This first-of-its-kind lawsuit ushered in the first time that hardworking college athletes saw some of the profits from the use of their likeness in video games. More than 24,000 individuals were eligible to receive payment, and checks were issued for up to $7,600, with a median around $1,100.
- Harvey Weinstein Sexual Harassment
$17.1 million As the #MeToo movement hit a fever pitch moment, Hagens Berman’s Steve Berman represented a class of those harmed by Harvey Weinstein, a kingpin of sexual harassment in Hollywood. The firm litigated the case through to bankruptcy proceedings in 2020.
- Youth Soccer Concussions
Steve pioneered this first-of-its-kind lawsuit that ended heading for US Soccer’s youngest players to diminish risk of concussions and traumatic brain injuries, changing the game for youth players across the U.S.
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