Robert Carey handles class-action lawsuits against a variety of organizations and companies - including the NCAA Student-Athlete Name & Likeness Licensing Litigation; Passport Expedite Fee, which involves a class action Tucker Act claim; Best Buy Insignia speakers litigation; and Swift Truckers litigation. Mr. Carey has prosecuted several claims against auto manufacturers such as Hyundai and Toyota for vehicle defects, including the Hyundai Horsepower Litigation, which settled for approximately $100 million. He is currently helping Steve Berman on the Toyota Unintended Acceleration class action, and he recently completed the federal-court settlement in LifeLock Sales and Marketing litigation, for which he was appointed lead counsel.
At home in the courtroom, Mr. Carey has handled an array of cases such as bad-faith insurance, personal injury, medical malpractice, and contract claims. He has taken several of these to a jury if necessary, achieving verdicts in cases with as much as $75 million at stake. Mr. Carey has argued several highprofile cases in federal and state courts, including various state supreme courts, served as trial counsel on multi-billion dollar claims by counties for damages stemming from tobacco-related illnesses, led dozens of consumer and insurance class actions across the country, and acted as special counsel to recover Medicaid and statutory damages in the landmark tobacco/public health litigation. Capping off his courtroom experience is his service as a judge pro tempore in Maricopa County Superior Court, which included managing both contract and tort jury trials.
From 1990 to 1996, Mr. Carey acted as Arizona’s Chief Deputy Attorney General, for which he received the Distinguished Service Award for his work overseeing an office with 300+ lawyers. In this position, he was responsible for all major legal, policy, legislative, and political issues. On the legal front, he also spearheaded a $4 billion divestiture, a landmark $165 million antitrust settlement, and recoveries in numerous consumer and tort cases. On the policy side, Mr. Carey originated and constructed Arizona’s law requiring the DNA testing of all sex offenders, and developed a penalty requiring that criminals pay he cost of victims’ rights. He was also a principal drafter of the first major overhaul of Arizona’s criminal code, and, for Senators Dole and Kyl, drafted the portion of the federal Prisoner Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that virtually eliminated the frivolous prisoner lawsuits that were clogging the courts—a solution that stemmed from the solution incorporated into Arizona law that he conceived of and which served as a model for many other states. His legislative experience began when he served as a former campaign staffer, intern, and staff member for Senator John McCain, during and after Senator McCain’s first run for public office.
Recognized by the judges of the Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County for outstanding contributions to the justice system, Mr. Carey has remained active in his community. He has keynoted at national conferences and for over a decade taught tort, contract, and public policy courses at the graduate and undergraduate levels. He has presented at several CLE seminars, addressing topics ranging from class action principles to perspectives on the U.S. Supreme Court’s evolving jurisprudence regarding excessive punitive damages. In addition, he currently serves as the Chair of the Arizona State Bar Class Action and Derivative Suits Committee, and recently co-authored the Arizona section of the American Bar Association’s 2010 survey of class-action law.
Mr. Carey earned his bachelor’s degree at Arizona State University, and received his MBA and law degree from the University of Denver. He also attended Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, where he completed the state and local government program.