Joseph Saveri Law Firm

In under a decade, Joseph R. Saveri built a law firm entrusted to take on headline-grabbing cases challenging some of the world’s most powerful corporations.

Saveri was a managing partner at Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP before starting his own firm in 2012 that focused on complex commercial litigation.

“At a basic level, I am entrepreneurial and willing to take some risks around that,” Saveri said. “I had the courage to start my own firm, but I wasn’t 100% sure that it would succeed. But I was confident and I certainly had the courage to try.”

Now, the firm has 16 lawyers and an office in New York. In 2018, Saveri snatched Steven N. Williams, who joined as partner from Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy LLP. When asked about the firm’s greatest success, Williams pointed to the firm’s young lawyers.

“I have always gotten tremendous satisfaction when I see younger attorneys who are given opportunities and do well,” Williams said. “So I’d say that is number one, the opportunity to work with some of these young attorneys and bring them to the point where they now can lead cases.”

The firm’s success is also apparent when looking at some of its recent cases. Saveri was lead counsel in a large case involving manufacturers for capacitors and represented a class of purchasers that accused manufacturers of price-fixing in the international multibillion-dollar market. Re Capacitors Antitrust Litigation, 3:14-cv-03264-JD (N.D. Cal., filed July 18, 2014).

The case involved both Japanese and American companies. The trial was mostly completed in March 2020, when the pandemic hit. A new trial is set for November 2021. But settlements of $439 million have already taken place.

The biggest challenge was that most defendants were located in Japan and spoke Japanese as their first language, Williams said.

“They tried to destroy evidence,” according to Williams. “There was a lot of evidence we found saying delete this after you read it, and things like that. So I’d say the challenge was for witnesses who were overseas. It’s not easy to get discovery from them, or find out information from them for something that had a span of over 10 years.”

In another case, the firm showcased its ability to take on a wide variety of cases. The firm represented content moderators who worked for Facebook. Scola v. Facebook, Inc. 18CIV05135 (San Mateo Sup. Ct., filed Sept. 21, 2018). The moderators claimed that they suffered PTSD and other trauma since they witnessed thousands of extreme and graphic violent acts when reviewing Facebook content.

The class settled for $52 million and workplace improvements.

“I think in a lot of ways when we filed the case, we knew something was wrong, but there wasn’t a very clear legal theory to address it,” Saveri said. “And part of the challenge there was finding that and ultimately, we were successful.”

The firm has grown exceptionally since its launch in 2012. In the future, Saveri hopes to continue to expand.

“I think the firm’s geographic reach is going to continue,” Saveri said. “I think we’re also getting involved in cases abroad. In Europe, they are developing things that resemble American class actions. I think the other thing that’s important is that we’re going to continue to develop the next generation of lawyers.”

--Henrik Nilsson