Michael J. Mueller

Mike has more than 36 years of experience with class actions and other complex cases, including wage-hour class actions and collective actions, consumer products class actions, racketeering (RICO), and labor disputes with unions and employee groups.  He has tried more class actions and representative actions to verdict than perhaps any other attorney in the country. He has spent 215 trial days in court, including in a dozen class actions or other representative actions tried to verdict, the majority of which have resulted in zero recoveries by the plaintiffs.

Mike has earned multiple awards for his aggressive, innovative and successful track record, including The American Lawyer’s 2015 “Litigator of the Week,” The National Law Journal’s 2016 “Litigation Trailblazer” and Law 360’s 2016 “Class Action MVP.”

• Lead counsel in more than 70 class actions for clients in various industries, including consumer products manufacturers and sellers, food processors, security guard service providers, hospitals, and restaurants.
• Successfully represented a consumer products manufacturer and distributor in putative class actions in multiple states raising legal claims relating to warranty terms or service, or replacement parts statutes.  Currently representing same manufacturer/distributor in multiple cases arising out of sales of consumer household products, including claims relating to design or advertising/sale issues.
• Currently representing on appeal a battery manufacturer against one of the Department of Labor’s top enforcement actions for alleged wage-hour violations at 24 factories. In May 2023, jury returned a verdict that rejected all of the government’s claims on behalf of non-uniformed employees, rejected the government’s claim that the employer willfully violated the law, and rejected 80% of the government’s claimed damages. The district court called the trial probably the largest ever under the FLSA, and it was the longest case in the judge’s 20 years on the bench. In post-trial rulings, the Court limited injunctive relief to the new pay practices developed in consultation with counsel, and denied the Secretary’s motion for liquidated damages of $22.25 million (constituting the largest dollar value loss in history for a DOL claim for liquidated damages).  Both sides have cross-appealed.
• Successfully represented a consumer products manufacturer and distributor in settlement negotiations and obtained settlement approval over the objections of well-known objector’s counsel Ted Frank. In Re: Samsung Top-Load Washing Machine Marketing, Sales Practices And Products Liability Litigation, MDL Case No. 17-ml-2792-D, 2020 WL 2616711 (W.D. Okla.), aff’d, 997 F.3d 1077, No. 20-6097 (10th Cir. May 7, 2021).
• Successfully represented a producer of premium poultry products in a claim by a New York grocery store chain that the producer was discriminating against it due to its customers being located primarily in majority-minority neighborhoods, whereas the producer sold to other grocery store chains in primarily white-majority neighborhoods. Citing U.S. Census data, demonstrated that publicly available facts of which the court could take notice disproved the allegations. In addition, court dismissed the complaint in its entirety for failure to plausibly plead discriminatory intent, or the existence of a contract or prospective contractual relations with wholesalers.
• Successfully represented a policyholder against a major insurance carrier to recover for damages sustained in Hurricane Irma.

• Successfully represented a consumer products distributor for claims relating to alleged deceptive inclusion of software on a product to boost product reviews.
• Successfully represented a major retailer against a claim by the purchaser of a vacant store for the condition at the time of surrender after five tenants occupied space over a 30-year lease.
• Successfully represented a major provider of temporary labor against putative class claims relating to state wage-hour laws applicable to pre- and post-shift activities, breaks, meal periods, and pay upon termination.
• Tried an ICC arbitration in Switzerland relating to commercial supply dispute between a “drone” manufacturer and US customer.
• Successfully opposed class treatment in a putative class action against a major household appliance company on alleged product defect claims originally including a proposed class of over 54 million owners that plaintiffs’ expert valued at nearly $11 billion.
• Lead counsel in more than three dozen class-action and secretary of labor cases involving wage-hour rights of employees at a major restaurant chain and food processing companies.  One case resulted in a complete defense verdict after only four hours of jury deliberations, leading the case to be listed in The National Law Journal’s “Defense Hot List” in 2006.  Another two verdicts were reversed on appeal after Mike argued both on the same day before the Eighth Circuit, leading to Mike being named “Litigator of the Week” by the American Lawyer in 2015.
• Lead trial counsel for a major food-processing company in an eight-week jury trial in an action brought by the US Secretary of Labor seeking back wages for “donning and doffing” by employees. Obtained a mistrial when jurors did not unanimously agree on verdict.
• Lead counsel for a trade association in an action alleging Lanham Act and cyber-piracy violations based on fraudulent impersonation of association's personnel and web site.
• Led, for a multinational client, the domestic litigation strategy in response to a threatened international cyber-attack
• Served as co-counsel in a landmark trial of tort claims brought by a major supermarket chain against a television network for an undercover effort that resulted in a segment on PrimeTime Live.
• Defended at two trials the securities and racketeering claims made by investors against a major real estate developer.
• Represented both plaintiffs and defendants in numerous civil racketeering cases, including the defense of one of the nation’s leading home builders and one of the nation's largest hospital chains, and prosecution of a civil RICO case against a major union for one of the nation’s largest grocery store chains.

• Recommended for Product Liability, Mass Tort and Class Action: Defense - Toxic Tort, Legal 500 United States, 2020
• President’s Award, Association of Florida Management Attorneys, October 12, 2018
• Named among 52 Litigation Trailblazers, National Law Journal, 2016
• Selected as a Class Action MVP, Law360, 2015 (1 of 5 nationally)
• Selected as Litigator of the Week, American Lawyer, August 27, 2015
• Selected as a Super Lawyer for Class Action/Mass Torts, DC Super Lawyers magazine, 2007, 2013-2020
• AV® Peer Review Rated in Martindale-Hubbell

• Former Chair, Litigation Committee, Bar Association of the District of Columbia
• Former Chair, Civil RICO Committee; Antitrust Section, American Bar Association
• Former Management Co-chair, Labor and Employment Law Section; Antitrust, RICO and Labor Law Committee, American Bar Association
• Member, Editorial Advisory Board, Civil RICO Report and the Advisory Board of the RICO and Securities Fraud Law Reporter
• Member, Federal Bar Association
• Member, Miami-Dade County Bar Association
• Member, Collier County Bar Association
• Member, Southwest Florida Federal Court Bar Association
• Master of the Bench, Michael R. N. McDonnell American Inn of Court (formerly Thomas S. Biggs American Inn of Court)
• Academy of Florida Management Attorneys, Sergeant-at-Arms (Oct. 2023-present)
• Bar Association of D.C. (Voluntary Bar)
• Collier County Women’s Bar Association