Derek W. Loeser
Seattle
1201 Third Avenue, Suite 3400
Seattle, WA 98101
Derek is a senior partner in Keller Rohrback’s nationally recognized Complex Litigation Group and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee.
Derek's passion for holding large corporations accountable for wrongdoing has helped recover billions of dollars for consumers, retirees, governments and institutions. He has served in leadership roles in major complex cases across the country.
Currently, Derek is co-lead counsel in In re Facebook, Inc. Consumer Privacy User Profile Litigation, the MDL litigation against Facebook stemming from the Facebook Cambridge Analytica scandal. In the case, after years of hard-fought litigation, he and the team achieved a historic $725 million settlement, the largest amount paid to date to resolve a privacy-based class action.
In addition to his class action work, Derek helps manage the Keller Rohrback team representing state and local government entities in a number of matters involving significant public health crises. For example, Derek leads the Keller Rohrback team litigating government cases against opioid manufacturers and distributors in The National Prescription Opioid Litigation. In the Opioid MDL, Derek serves on the Expert and Law & Briefing Committees and lead the litigation against a major opioid manufacturer. He also represents school districts and counties in litigation against the e-cigarette company, JUUL, for targeting and addicting youth, and in litigation against social media companies for causing a youth mental health epidemic. These cases are quintessential examples of the type of litigation Derek and the Keller Rohrback team fervently pursue: corporate fraud and malfeasance causing serious harm to the public.
Derek’s other notable cases include the Wells Fargo unauthorized account consumer class action for which Derek served as lead counsel. In the Wells Fargo case, Derek and the Keller Rohrback team achieved a $142 million settlement requiring the bank to refund all improper fees and provide first-of-its kind credit damage reimbursement, among other relief, to Wells Fargo customers; multi-billion dollar mortgage-backed securities cases on behalf of the Federal Home Loan Banks of Chicago, Indianapolis and Boston; ERISA class cases on behalf of employees whose retirement savings were decimated by corporate fraud and abuse on the part of Enron, WorldCom, Countrywide, and Washington Mutual, among others. He has also litigated fraud, RICO, and antitrust cases against drug manufacturers, pharmacy benefit managers, and insurance companies for conspiring to drive up the cost of life-saving medications such as insulin.
Many of Derek’s cases have required coordinating with state and federal agencies involved in litigation that parallels cases pursued by Keller Rohrback, including state attorneys general, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Labor. In addition, Derek has extensive experience negotiating complex, multi-party settlements, and coordinating with the many parties and counsel necessary to accomplish this. He is frequently asked to speak at national conferences about class actions, public health litigation, ERISA, and other complex litigation topics.
In 2024, Derek was recognized by Law360 as a "Titan of the Plaintiffs Bar."
Before joining Keller Rohrback, Derek served as a law clerk for the Honorable Michael R. Hogan, U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon. He was also a trial attorney in the Employment Litigation Section of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. where he prosecuted discrimination cases on behalf of the United States.
Professional & Civic Involvement
King County Bar Association, Member
Washington State Bar Association, Member
American Bar Association, Member; Employment Benefits Committee Member
National Employment Lawyers Association, Member
American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, Cooperating counsel
Honors & Awards
Best Lawyers in America®, Litigation - ERISA, Seattle, Washington, 2025 (Recognized since 2024)
Law360 Titans of The Plaintiffs Bar honoree, 2024
Forbes inaugural list of America’s Top 200 Lawyers, recipient, 2024
Lawdragon, 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers, 2023-2024
Named to Super Lawyers list in Super Lawyers - Washington, 2007-2012, 2014-2024
National Trial Lawyers, Top 100 Civil Plaintiff Trial Lawyers in Washington
Listed as Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America, 2018, 2022-2024
Named to Top 100: Washington Super Lawyers, 2022-2023
AV®, Peer Review Top-Rated by Martindale-Hubbell
Recipient of the 2010 Burton Award for Legal Achievement for the article, The Continuing Applicability of Rule 23(b)(1) to ERISA Actions for Breach of Fiduciary Duty,. Pension & Benefits Reporter, Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. (Sept. 1, 2009)
Named to Rising Stars list in Super Lawyers - Washington, 2005-2007
U.S. Department of Justice Award for Public Service, 1996
U.S. Department of Justice Achievement Award, 1996
U.S. Department of Justice Honors Program Hire, 1994
Articles & Presentations
Panelist, Law Seminars International – Health Care Class Actions: The Role of Class Actions as a Path to Recovery of Damages Related to the Opioid Crisis – Class certification issues for human health impacts vs. financial impacts on government entities (November 2020).
Panelist, HarrisMartin's MDL Conference: JUUL and Capital One Data Breach Litigation – JUUL, E-Cigarettes & Vaping Litigation – An Overview of JUUL Legal Landscape: Case Filings, Judicial Rulings and MDL Submissions, Beverly Hills, CA (September 2019).
Panelist, HarrisMartin’s MDL Conference: Opioid, Equifax & Talcum Powder– Opioid Litigation Landscape: Venues, Jurisdictional Hurdles, Defenses and Cause of Action, St. Louis, MO (November 2017).
Panelist, HarrisMartin’s National Opioid Litigation Conference - Current Landscape of Opioid Litigation, Chicago, IL (October 2017).
Speaker, Trends in Auto Defect Litigation, Seattle, WA (May 2017).
Panelist, Law Seminars International - VW Diesel Emissions Litigation: A Case Study of the Interplay Between Government Regulatory Activity and Consumer Fraud Class Actions (May 6, 2016).
Speaker, Class Action & Data Breach Litigation, Santa Barbara, CA (March 2016).
Speaker, Fiduciary Challenges in a Low Return Environment, Seattle, WA (December 2014).
Speaker, Post-Certification Motion Practice in Class Actions, Seattle, WA (June 2014).
Speaker, Investment Litigation: Fees & Investments in Defined Contribution Plans, ERISA Litigation, Washington, D.C. (2012).
Speaker, Post-Certification: Motion Issues in Class Actions, Litigating Class Actions, Seattle, WA (2012).
Derek W. Loeser, Erin M. Riley & Benjamin B. Gould, 2010 ERISA Employer Stock Cases: The Good, the Bad, and the In Between-Plaintiffs' Perspective, Pension & Benefits Daily, Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. (January 28, 2011).
Derek W. Loeser & Erin M. Riley, The Case Against the Presumption of Prudence, Pension & Benefits Daily, Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. (September 10, 2010).
Speaker, ABA Mid-Winter Meeting, San Antonio, TX (2010).
Speaker, 22nd Annual ERISA Litigation Conference - New York, NY (November 2009).
Speaker, 22nd Annual ERISA Litigation Conference - Las Vegas, NV (October 2009).
Derek W. Loeser & Benjamin B. Gould, The Continuing Applicability of Rule 23(b)(1) to ERISA Actions for Breach of Fiduciary Duty, Pension & Benefits Reporter, Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. (September 1, 2009).
Derek W. Loeser & Benjamin B. Gould, Point/Counterpoint: Is Rule 23(b)(1) Still Applicable to ERISA Class Actions?, ERISA Compliance and Enforcement Library of the Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. (May 1, 2009).
Derek W. Loeser, The Legal, Ethical, and Practical Implications of Noncompetition Clauses: What Physicians Should Know Before They Sign, J.L. Med. & Ethics, Vol. 31:2 (2003).
Press
Law360, Cybersecurity & Privacy Group Of The Year: Keller Rohrback (February 2023)
Law360, Product Liability Group of the Year: Keller Rohrback (February 2023)
Lawdragon.com, Lawyer Limelight: Derek Loeser (October 2022)
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