 Mitchell Breit
Email: mbreit@hanlyconroy.com
Phone: (212) 784-6422
Mr. Breit received his B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1972 and his J.D. from Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles in 1979. He is a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, where he served on the Art Law Committee, the Committee on State Courts of Superior Jurisdiction, the Committee on Federal Legislation, and the Committee on the Judiciary. He is currently a member of the City Bar Committee on Products Liability; the Federal Bar Council American Inn of Court (Master); the American Association for Justice (formerly Association of Trial Lawyers of America) and the New York State Trial Lawyers Association (Member, Board of Governors: Co-Chair, Mass Torts Committee). Mr. Breit is admitted to the bars of New York, New Jersey and Virginia, and to the Southern District of New York, Eastern District of New York, District of New Jersey and Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
Mr. Breit's practice is focused on consumer class actions and mass torts. In the past year he settled a seminal case against Bank of America involving debit card overdraft fees for $35 million. He also recently settled an environmental class action against Honeywell, Inc. involving contamination of properties in the vicinity of a manufacturing facility in Tampa, Florida. Mr. Breit served on the Plaintiffs' Executive Committee in the ReNu MoistureLoc ® litigation (In re: Bausch & Lomb, Inc. Contact Lens Solution Products Liability Litigation-MDL 1785) and as Liaison Counsel in New York State consolidated Bextra-Celebrex litigation. Earlier in his career, Mr. Breit was class co-counsel in groundwater contamination litigation in the Southern District of New York involving the gasoline additive MTBE and was co-counsel in union health and welfare fund tobacco litigation, which included multiple class actions in numerous jurisdictions.
Mr. Breit has been a frequent panelist at national litigation conferences involving toxic and mass torts, class actions and groundwater contamination, including: Chair: LexisNexis Wall Street Forum, Mass Tort Litigation, New York, N.Y., 2005; Mealey's Toxic Tort Litigation Conference, Boston, Massachusetts, 2002; Panelist: Eighth Annual Class Action Litigation Conference, Bridgeport Continuing Education, San Francisco, CA (2009); Practicing Law Institute Consumer Financial Services Litigation, New York, NY and Chicago, IL (2009, 2006); ATLA Heart Device Litigation Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada, 2005; Colorado Bar Association Pharmaceutical Torts, Denver, Colorado, 2005; Mealey's: Zyprexa Litigation Conference, Pasadena, California 2004; Fen-Phen Litigation Conference, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 2002; Water Contamination Conference, Pasadena, California, 2004; MTBE Litigation Conference, Pasadena, California, 2001. He authored "Preemption: Is This The Beginning Of The End?," Bill of Particulars, New York State Trial Lawyers Institute (Spring 2008).
Mr. Breit is the father of 2 college-age daughters on whom he dotes. He lives in Manhattan 8 blocks from his office with his wife, Marjorie, who is a writer.
Representative Cases
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Perlas v. Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. , United States District Court, Northern District of California - class of homeowners in California who have challenged “strawman” Mortgage Electronic Registration System’s standing to institute foreclosure actions. Millions of homes have been subject to these actions, which deprive the owners of their statutory right to negotiate with the note holder to avoid loss of their homes. |
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Remson v. Verizon, United States District Court, Eastern District of New York - medical monitoring class action in the Eastern District of New York on behalf of a group who were exposed to hazardous wastes at a former Sylvania manufacturing facility on Long Island, now owned by Verizon, Inc. |
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8 class actions on appeal to Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals involving plaintiffs’ allegations that defendants implemented a scheme which resulted in plaintiffs paying inflated prices and ultimately causing numerous foreclosures in plaintiffs' neighborhoods, resulting in a decline in the value of plaintiffs' homes. |
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Closson v. Bank of America, Superior Court, San Francisco - $35 million class settlement involving overdraft fees. Objectors’ appeal pending. |
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Jones v. Honeywell, Circuit Court, Hillsborough County, Florida – settlement of class action involving homeowners diminution in value claims as a result of contamination emanating from former Honeywell facility in Tampa. |
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In re: Bausch & Lomb, Inc. Contact Lens Solution Products Liability Litigation, MDL 1785 – Member, Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee |
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In re Medtronic, Inc. Implantable Defibrillators Products Liability Litigation, MDL 1726 – Member, Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee |
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In re Bextra and Celebrex Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation – New York State Court Liaison Counsel |
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