Dan Deane

What do you focus on?

Complex Commercial Litigation and Class Action/Aggregate Litigation

I focus on defending consumer-facing clients facing claims of unfair and deceptive practices, unfair debt collection practices, illegal marketing, and invasion of privacy. My strategies are calculated to avoid or minimize the disruption of costly class and aggregate litigation and I have a track record of securing efficient victories for clients by defeating class certification and enforcing contractual arbitration and class-waiver provisions. I have particular experience defending lenders, franchise concepts, and other consumer-facing businesses against claims under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), CAN-SPAM Act, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), and similar state consumer protection laws.

Franchise Litigation

My civil litigation practice includes frequent representation of franchise systems and franchisor clients in all manner of franchise-related litigation, including breach of contract, franchise terminations, enforcement of trademark rights and non-competition covenants, and defending against government enforcement actions and private class actions that threaten entire franchise systems.  

Personal Injury, Civil Rights, and Government Investigations

I represent individuals and institutions involved in civil and criminal proceedings concerning claims of sexual misconduct, personal injury, discrimination, and other civil rights violations. I have also helped individuals and companies navigate through complex federal and state civil and criminal investigations, including against charges of mail and wire fraud and other alleged violations of federal and state laws.

Pro Bono and Social Justice

I am a committed partner to Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of New Hampshire, assisting for more than a dozen years in litigation and appeals to the New Hampshire Supreme Court in furtherance of their mission to advocate in the best interests of abused and neglected children. I also provide pro bono support to the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence. Currently, I am a member of the NP team that has partnered with the AARP Foundation, the Disability Rights Center of New Hampshire, and New Hampshire Legal Assistance in bringing a class action against the New Hampshire Department of Health & Human Services to ensure that a class of older adults and disabled persons are provided with the home and community-based care the State had promised to deliver to them under Medicaid’s CFI Waiver program.

Appeals

I have an active appellate practice in state and federal appellate courts. I have briefed and argued before the First, Fourth, Ninth, and Tenth United States Courts of Appeal, as well as the New Hampshire and United States Supreme Courts.

What do you see on the horizon?

Despite calls for reform, the growth of class action litigation continues unabated, particularly class actions premised on alleged violations of consumer protection statutes that provide for statutory damages and claims that retailers induced consumers with false or misleading representations. Privacy claims will also remain at the forefront of consumer litigation. Businesses that interact with consumers should ensure their ongoing compliance with state and federal privacy laws, including the FCRA, TCPA, Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, HIPAA, CCPA, and related state laws. To stay up-to-date on this ever evolving area of the law, please visit our Privacy blog.

Representative Cases

Class Action Defense

• Defending putative class action over adequacy of fitness club franchisor’s membership agreement under state law; motion to dismiss granted on all counts but one with renewed motion to dismiss pending on that count; Truglio et al. v. Planet Fitness, Inc. et al. USDC(NJ)
• Engineered early, small payout settlements of several multimillion-dollar TCPA class action suits, including multiple suits against a jewelry retailer sued for debt collection calls, a TCPA debt collection class action against a national bank, telemarketing class actions against a fitness club franchise and a restaurant franchise, and a TCPA telemarketing class action against a residential solar company
• Defended KeyBank, National Association against class action allegations that the bank’s student loan business should be held derivatively liable to the students of a non–Title IV flight school in California that closed its doors; prevailed on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, obtaining a significant ruling enforcing the bank’s arbitration clause and effectively ending plaintiffs’ class action bid; the precedent-setting decision invalidated California’s “public injunction” exception to arbitration; Kilgore v. KeyBank, Nat’l Assoc., 673 F.3d 947 (9th Cir. Mar. 7, 2012)
• In cases involving similar non–Title IV student loans for culinary schools, procured the voluntary dismissal of another large national bank from a series of class actions and aggregate mass actions premised on allegations of derivative lender liability under the Federal Trade Commission’s “Holder Rule”
• Negotiated favorable settlements for two national banks in three separate but similar litigations in Utah involving failed flight schools; in a fourth case, drafted briefing that resulted in the dismissal of the action with prejudice and granting attorneys’ fees and costs to the client; Aquila v. JPMorgan Chase & Co., et al., No. 080417681 (3rd Jud. Dist. Ct., Salt Lake Cnty., Utah, Jan. 26, 2010)
• Defended a national bank against a $15 million lender liability action in Florida involving allegations of fraud, misrepresentation and civil RICO claims arising from a failed flight school
• Preserved KeyBank, National Association’s dismissal in a putative nationwide class action concerning forced place insurance in appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit; Anapoell v. Key Equip. Fin., et al., No. 08-4114, 2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 6315 (10th Cir. Mar. 24, 2009), and defeated plaintiff’s petition for writ of certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court, 130 S. Ct. 264, 175 L. Ed. 2d 132, 2009 U.S. LEXIS 6137 (Oct. 5, 2009)

Other Litigation

• Recent federal trial experience defending a private boarding school in litigation stemming from an allegation of student-on-student sexual assault and the student disciplinary proceedings that followed
• Negotiated favorable settlement for a student loan lender defending against claims that it had violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act and several state consumer protection laws
• Assisted a state insurance guaranty association obtain summary judgment against the United States Department of Labor’s attempt to establish a priority, through a novel federal preemption argument, over the guaranty association’s claims in insurer liquidation proceedings; Solis v. The Home Ins. Co., et al., No. 10-cv-572-SM, 2012 DNH 120; 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9551 (D.N.H. Jan. 27, 2012)
• Obtained a favorable global settlement for a national bank defending against dual lawsuits in the New York Supreme Court and before a FINRA arbitration panel alleging investment mismanagement
• Negotiated several favorable confidential settlements on behalf of multiple health care and financial services clients facing claims brought by former employees
• Successfully obtained injunctive relief for a business division of Dell against a former high-level sales executive enforcing the company’s confidentiality and non-competition agreements; in subsequent related proceedings, successfully fended off the former employee’s claim for wrongful injunction both in Superior Court and on appeal to the New Hampshire Supreme Court; EqualLogic, Inc. v. Shea, S. D. Hillsborough Cnty. Superior Ct. No. 08-E-265 (2009), N.H. Supreme Ct., No. 2009-0679 (Jan. 5, 2011)
• In a case in New Hampshire state court involving allegations that an IRA custodian account was improperly handled, filed a motion to dismiss for a national bank that caused the plaintiff to voluntarily dismiss the bank

Publications

• “United States,” The Franchise Law Review, 8th edition, chapter 42, Law Business Research Ltd., March 2021 (co-author)
• “The uncertain future of the TCPA in the Trump era,” Bloomberg Law, May 08, 2017
• “Protect your consumers’ privacy from mass telemarketing,” Rochester Business Journal, October 9, 2015
• “Think Before You Hit Send: What businesses need to know about the Telephone Consumer Protection Act,” New Hampshire Business Review, September 4, 2015
• “Avoiding the Risks of Local Counsel Engagement in Federal Court,” New Hampshire Bar News, December 17, 2014
• “Law: ‘Associational discrimination’ emerges in lawsuits,” New Hampshire Business Review, December 4, 2011
• “The Articulate Advocate: New Techniques of Persuasion for Trial Lawyers” (book review), New Hampshire Bar News, September 18, 2009
• “What to Do When the Feds Knock on Your Door: Responding Appropriately To An Unwanted Government Intrusion Is Critical To the Future of A Company,” New Hampshire Business Review , May 22, 2009
• “COPA and Community Standards on the Internet: Should the People of Maine and Mississippi Dictate the Standard in Las Vegas and New York?” 51 Cath. U. L. Rev. 241, Fall 2001