T. Todd Pittenger

Todd’s notable work includes:

• Class Action Defense:
• Todd led the defense of Florida public universities in the defense of federal and state class action lawsuits concerning student tuition/fee controversies at trial and appellate levels.
• Todd successfully defended a statewide company in the defense of a bet-the-company Labor Pool Act class action by winning a reverse bifurcation merits bench trial on a statutory construction declaratory judgment counterclaim, and then Todd achieved favorable outcomes at the Fourth DCA and Florida Supreme Court on appeal.
• Todd won a week-long class certification state court trial defeating class action status against a homebuilder in which the plaintiff had sought subdivision-wide rescission and $52 million in damages under the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act.
• In both the construction defect and medical malpractice context, Todd won dispositive dismissals of class actions by obtaining rulings that pre-suit notice requirements had to be complied with on a classwide basis. Both cases ended as class actions as a result. In one of them, a significant fee shifting judgment was imposed on Class Counsel once the dismissal was affirmed on appeal.
• Todd led the defense of managing partners sued in class actions attacking a merger transaction, achieved dispositive dismissals of the claims of 42,000 limited partners based on lack of standing grounds. § Todd led the defense of a national company in federal and state court fuel surcharge class action litigation in Florida, California and several other states, and secured nationwide settlement for Defendants that cost-effectively eliminated several hundred thousand class member claims.
• Todd led the defense of an automaker in a Consumer Leasing Act nationwide class action that resolved disclosure claims for more than 600,000 class members. § Todd led the defense of a cruise line in the defense of a class action that resolved nationwide port charges claims for more than 2,000,000 class members.
• Todd has defended many businesses and non-profits in the resolution of Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practice Act class actions.
  
• Real Estate Litigation:
  
• Todd successfully defended a significant real estate asset against several lawsuit claimants by winning a bench trial in 2015 in which the Court ruled the plaintiff lacked standing to sue Todd’s client for breach of contract, and then after winning a per curiam affirmance on appeal, Todd used collateral estoppel to defeat a related company’s tortious interference claim by summary judgment that was also affirmed on appeal.
• Todd successfully defended a developer in a permanent injunction case brought by an HOA which had sought to enjoin an adjacent multi-family project based on Declaration of Restrictive Covenants, a result that was affirmed on appeal.
• Todd won another bench trial for a developer against an HOA resulted in a stay a $14 million subdivision-wide construction defect lawsuit for improperly obtaining the statutorily required authorization from a majority of the lot owners and required the HOA to pay the developer’s attorney’s fees, the end result of which was a complete construction case resolution.
  
• Intellectual Property Litigation:
  
• Todd represented pool cleaner inventors in a two-week liability phase jury trial which resulted in a favorable declaratory judgment adjudicating patent rights that led to a favorable settlement.
• Todd defended a chemical manufacturing company in a two-week federal patent infringement trial, the end result of which was a nominal damages judgment for the Plaintiff.
• Todd prosecuted a significant federal trade secret and injunctive relief case against a former employee and a competitor in the municipal securities business, the end result of which was a consent injunction and confidential settlement.
  
• Corporation, Partnership and LLC Disputes and the Defense of Securities Cases:
  
• Todd has served as lead counsel for control persons in the successful defense of breach of fiduciary duty and other similar internal governance litigation, defending direct and derivative claims.
• In one 50/50 deadlocked limited liability company dispute among members suing one another, Todd achieved summary judgment on business judgment rule defense for managing member on multiple breach of duty tort claims while preserving for trial that managing member’s own offensive claims for misconduct.
• In another 50/50 deadlocked limited liability company dispute involving management and control of several related businesses, Todd achieved early resolution of claims and counterclaims in direct and derivative lawsuits through a negotiated buy-out that effectuated the desired change of control.
• In a suit by a group of physician Limited Partners against the General Partner of Lithotripsy Limited Partnership, Todd first won a federal court dismissal of all Anti-Kickback Act claims, and then Todd later won a state court dismissal of all remaining non-contract claims (breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, unjust enrichment, etc.) resulting in an early settlement that enforced the share buy-back provisions of the contract.