About Mark Obenstine
Attorney Mark Obenstine is a complex litigation and class action specialist who holds corporate defendants accountable for misconduct. Obenstine is adept at identifying legal trends and opportunities for justice in the class-action space ahead of the curve. He anticipates shifts in the broader class-action landscape before they take hold. His forward-looking perspective enables him to recognize evolving patterns in consumer protection, corporate accountability, and regulatory enforcement, often before they become focal points of national litigation.
A Law Graduate of Harvard Law School
Obenstine graduated from Syracuse University, New York, in 1994, Summa Cum Laude. He attended Harvard Law School and graduated in 1999. His first job as an attorney upon graduating was with Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison, a large law firm based in San Francisco, California, where he spent two years before striking out on his own.
A Focus on Class Action Consulting
In 2001, he opened his own law practice, initially specializing in breach-of-contract cases for small businesses, and later formed a consulting practice focused on class-action litigation. He provided consulting services to law firms specializing in class actions, including legal research, developing novel legal argumentation, and overall strategic legal advice in connection with the firm’s class actions. While providing these services, he worked on dozens of cases, including several high-profile class actions.
In July 2024, Mark Obenstine decided to form his own class action firm and dedicate his time to uncovering cases that would be impactful and achieve meaningful resolutions through early, strategic pre-litigation settlement negotiation.
Class actions are typically brought when a large group of individuals with similar injuries or complaints collectively sue a defendant as a single group. These types of lawsuits allow the resolution of numerous claims in a single proceeding when it would be impractical for each person to file an individual lawsuit. Class actions often involve defective products, false advertising, employment law violations, consumer fraud, data breaches, securities fraud, or environmental disasters. They proceed through various phases, such as class certification and discovery, and can often end in a settlement.
A class action lawsuit can take as little as a few months or as long as a few years. If there are court appeals, it can take even longer.
Holding Corporations Accountable
Obenstine, in establishing his own class action firm, is a steadfast advocate for the plaintiff’s bar, championing accountability and justice in corporate misconduct cases. This is especially important to him in an environment where regulatory oversight falls short, as agencies are not doing enough to set standards and protect the American public from harm caused by hazardous or defective products.
Without legal representation to bring cases forward and expose corporate negligence or misconduct issues through civil litigation, the public would not be aware of certain dangers, and victims would be left without any recourse to right a wrong. By bringing class-action lawsuits against corporations, Obenstine not only provides individuals with a collective avenue to seek justice, but it also serves as one of the few effective checks on corporate power. This brings transparency, changes unsafe practices, and compels companies to place consumer safety above profit.
In fact, successful class action cases often result in broad changes that benefit the class members and the public. They can deter bad actors, remove defective products from the marketplace, and set a strong precedent for future class-action suits or individual cases.
A Leader in Complex Litigation and Classification
Mark Obenstine’s expertise in class-action suits and his passion for corporate responsibility set him apart from his peers. His extensive, specialized experience enables him to navigate the unique legal procedures that define the class-action process, including the criteria that courts require for a group to be certified.
Obenstine also brings a wealth of practical insight gained from his years of consulting with and working alongside top class-action attorneys. He is prepared to go to trial if the class action is not settled out of court. He is fully prepared to go to trial when cases cannot be resolved through negotiation. In addition, Obenstine manages intricate logistics, oversees vast data, coordinates with numerous plaintiffs, and directs a multi-faceted settlement administration process, ensuring efficiency, accuracy, and fairness at every stage.
