CLASS ACTIONS

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Ms. Lesser has served as a neutral in a wide range of class and collective actions, including:

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• Fair Lending Act cases

• Fair Credit Reporting Act claims 

• ERISA class actions

• State and federal consumer protection claims 

• Breach of insurance contract class case 

• Race and sex discrimination class actions 

• Fair Labor Standard Act collective actions

• Tribal Lending class actions

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CONTRACTS​

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Ms. Lesser has deep experience as a neutral with breach of contract claims, involving hundreds of private and government contracts, in diverse industries such as technology, securities, transportation, aeronautics, hospitality, healthcare, manufacturing, food service, construction, telecommunications, aeronautics, and energy, including disputes between: 

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• Manufacturing vendors and customers

• IT companies and customers over software development services

• Common carriers and customers

• Force majeure disputes 

• Patent licensing  and other IT disputes

•  Government contractors and government entities 

•  Prime contractors and subcontractors 

• Partnership disputes in a wide variety of fields, including law firm disputes

• Healthcare providers and vendors

•  Breach of franchise agreements 

• Contract indemnification claims 

• Multi-level marketing company disputes

• Employment-related contract disputes, including tortious interference, non-compete agreements, and NDA agreements

• Lawyer/client fee disputes

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ENERGY

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Ms. Lesser had handled a variety of cases as a neutral in the energy field, from futures trading disputes to force majeure provisions in disputes between power plants and vendors: 

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• Contract disputes between energy company and supplier 

• Oil and gas lease disputes, including those involving Native American Tribes 

• Contract disputes between energy futures trading partners, utilities, and vendors

• Raw materials disputes between suppliers and coal-fired generation companies

•  Rate making proceedings between electric and water utilities and customers

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JOINT VENTURE, PARTNERSHIP, CORPORATE & SECURITIES

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Ms. Lesser has served as a neutral in dozens of corporate and partnership disputes under the laws of Delaware, New York, Washington DC, California, and other jurisdictions, including:

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• Joint venture disputes between textile manufacturers 

• Joint venture dispute between two major pharmaceutical companies

• Partnerships and closely held corporation disputes, including breach of fiduciary duty and ethical claims

• Lawyer-lawyer fee disputes

• Law firm breakup cases

• ERISA claims brought by PBGC and private parties

• Multiple arbitrations and mediations regarding post-closing balance sheet adjustments 

•  Insider trading and securities fraud claims brought by the SEC and private parties 

• Shareholder direct and derivative complaints against corporations

• Customer complaints against major brokerage houses for securities violations

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 HEALTH CARE

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Ms. Lesser’s experience as a neutral in the healthcare field has been wide-ranging, including:

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• Qui tam and other whistleblower claims involving Medicare/Medicaid fraud 

• Contract disputes between managed care organizations and subcontractors

• Medical practice breakups 

• Medical malpractice

• Credentialing claims 

• Patent disputes involving medical devices and processes

• Physician termination disputes

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INSURANCE COVERAGE

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Ms. Lesser has handled numerous coverage cases as a neutral: 

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• 9/11 coverage matter

• Accounting and legal professional liability coverage disputes

• Representation and warranty coverage claim

• Multi-party construction cases involving performance and payment bond disputes, subrogation claims, builders risk policy and property/casualty coverage disputes

• Errors and omissions, general liability, environmental, mortgage insurance, securities, life insurance and all risk policies disputes

• Dozens of directors and officers liability claims

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INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY and TECHNOLOGY
 

Ms. Lesser has handled a large number of intellectual property disputes as a neutral, from patent infringement cases to software licensing disputes. Ms. Lesser has also had a number of disputes involving software vendors and customers over alleged inadequacies in the systems. Other matters handled include:​

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• Copyright violation claims between publisher and customer

• Multimillion-dollar contract disputes involving a major Internet service provider and business partners 

• Software copyright infringement actions 

• Music industry copyright violations

• Software license disputes

• Patent disputes regarding software development, medical devices, sound systems, automotive, lighting technology, film coding, baby products, ISP technology 

• Royalty disputes between music copyright licensor and artist

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LAND USE AND REAL ESTATE

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Ms. Lesser has served as a neutral in a variety of disputes concerning:

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• Real estate limited partnerships

• Eminent domain proceedings

• Community-developer conflicts regarding proposed land uses 

• Broker-broker and broker-client disputes

• Developer-tenant disputes

• Construction disputes among contractors, subcontractors, owners

• Public and private nuisance actions

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PERSONAL INJURY and TORT

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Ms. Lesser’s experience as a neutral in the tort area ranges from investor fraud claims to professional liability claims:
 

• Wrongful death claims 

• Securities violation claims by investors and acquirers

• Personal injury claims against a municipality 

• Premises liability case against hotel

• Legal and accounting malpractice matters 

• Sexual assault cases against religious institutions 

• Libel and defamation claims

• Product liability and consumer protection class actions 

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RAILROADS and Other TRANSPORTATION

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Ms. Lesser has served for well over a decade as the standing Chair of the Amtrak National Arbitration Panel, which hears disputes between Amtrak and the freight railroads nationwide. She has also arbitrated and mediated:

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• Disputes among common carriers and customers 

• Disputes among multiple railroads over shared track costs

• Disputes in the intermodal freight transportation industry 

• Dispute between railroad and port facility

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WHISTLEBLOWER CLAIMS

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Ms. Lesser has served as a neutral in connection with a variety of False Claims Act and other federal and state statutory whistleblower claims, including: 

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• False Claims Act cases involving Medicare/Medicaid programs 

• False Claims Act and other statutory whistleblower claims involving government construction and defense projects

• Sarbanes Oxley and Dodd Frank whistleblower claims

• Employee retaliation claims under a variety of federal and state statutes