Overview

Mitchell Breit is a Senior Partner at Milberg in the firm’s New York City office. During a legal career spanning more than 40 years, he has been a champion of consumer and environmental protection, litigating class actions and mass torts of national scope that have brought relief to victims of corporate wrongdoing.

Mr. Breit grew up in a family of lawyers. He recalls going to court with his father and having the sanctity of the courtroom impressed upon him at a young age. After starting his career in defense work, Mr. Breit, wanting to make a difference in society and the lives of his clients, switched over to his true calling as a plaintiffs’ attorney. He has since notched victories benefiting large groups of people who suffered harm at the hands of some of the world’s most powerful companies.

His career highlights include litigating Acetaminophen Mislabeling cases against Rite Aid, Walgreens, and Walmart; the BP Gulf Oil Spill and Toyota Unintended Acceleration cases; the Dollar General Motor Oil Marketing case; the faulty Audi transmission case against Volkswagen; settling a large overdraft fee class action against Bank of America; acting as lead counsel in the settlements of environmental claims involving Honeywell, Inc. and ConocoPhillips, Inc.; and serving on the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee in the ReNu MoistureLoc® litigation. Mr. Breit was also appointed as Liaison Counsel in the New York State consolidated Bextra-Celebrex litigation and was co-counsel in cases that ultimately achieved major public health victories against the tobacco industry.

Mr. Breit has been named to New York Metro Super Lawyers for over a decade. He has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America for several consecutive years, most recently as the 2024 Long Island Lawyer of the Year for Mass Tort Litigation/Class Action (Plaintiffs).

Mr. Breit has been an Adjunct Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School, is a Board Member of Public Justice, and is a member of the American Association for Justice. He is a frequent speaker at national litigation conferences involving toxic and mass torts, class actions, and groundwater contamination, including Mealey’s, HarrisMartin, Practicing Law Institute, and bar association conferences.

Mr. Breit was educated at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Southwestern University School of Law. He is admitted to practice in New York, New Jersey, Virginia, multiple federal courts, and the United States Supreme Court.

Pending Class Actions

• Martin, Lawrence E., et al. vs. Brighthouse Life Insurance – overcharges for costs of insurance
• Musikar-Rosner v. Johnson & Johnson – acetaminophen product false labeling
• McLaren v. The UPS Store, Inc. – notary fee overcharges
• Golden Unicorn Enterprises, Inc. v. Audible – breach of contract for failure to pay royalties
• O’Connor v. Ford Motor Company – defective transmissions
• Bianchi et al v. Samsung Electronics America, Inc. – defective built-in-door refrigerator icemaker
• Johnson v. Nissan North America, Inc. et al – defective panoramic sunroofs
• Gjonbalaj v. Volkswagen – panoramic sunroof leak defect

Representative Cases

• Gillard v. Volkswagen – faulty transmission in Audi vehicles
• Reichardt et al v. Electrolux Home Products – defective residential electrical and gas oven ranges
• Beaty et al v. Ford Motor Company; Anderson v. Ford Motor Company – defective panoramic sunroofs
• In Re: Dollar General Corp. Motor Oil Marketing and Sales Practice Litigation – sale of obsolete motor oil
• Meek v. Skywest, Inc. et al – ramp agent wage and hour claims
• Bailey v. Rite Aid – acetaminophen product false labeling
• Edwards v. Walmart – acetaminophen product false labeling
• Brown v. Walgreens – acetaminophen product false labeling
• Country Breeze Ventures, LLC v. Jordan Outdoor Enterprises LTD., et ano. – breach of contract, fraudulent inducement and tortious interference with business
• Ligia Pires v. The Bowery Presents LLC – consumer class action on behalf of concert ticket purchasers for defendant’s violations of New York’s Arts and Cultural Affairs Law
• Stevenson v. Mazda – consumer class action for defective variable valve timing in defendants’ vehicles
• Thomas v. ConocoPhillips, Inc., Circuit Court, Escambia County, Florida – class action settlement involving homeowners’ diminution in value claims as a result of contamination plume emanating from defendants’ facilities in Pensacola
• Closson v. Bank of America, Superior Court, San Francisco – $35 million class settlement involving overdraft fees
• 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
• In Re: Bausch & Lomb, Inc. Contact Lens Solution Products Liability Litigation, MDL 1785 – Member, Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee
• In Re: Bextra and Celebrex Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation – New York State Court Liaison Counsel

Speaking Engagements

Chair:

• The Litigation Series, Class Action Forum, 2022-2023
• Cambridge Plaintiffs’ Forum on Mass Tort Litigation, Naples, Florida, 2017
• LexisNexis Wall Street Forum, Mass Tort Litigation, New York, 2005
• Mealey’s Toxic Tort Litigation Conference, Boston, 2002

Panelist:

• HarrisMartin Antitrust Pay-for-Delay Litigation Conference, Philadelphia, 2014
• HarrisMartin Publishing MDL Conference, Portland, Maine, 2013
• New York State Trial Lawyers Institute, New York, 2009
• Eighth Annual Class Action Litigation Conference, Bridgeport Continuing Education, San Francisco, 2009
• Practicing Law Institute Consumer Financial Services Litigation, New York and Chicago, 2006, 2009
• ATLA Heart Device Litigation Conference, Las Vegas, 2005
• Colorado Bar Association Pharmaceutical Torts, Denver, 2005
• Mealey’s Zyprexa Litigation Conference, Pasadena, 2004
• Water Contamination Conference, Pasadena, 2004
• Fen-Phen Litigation Conference, Philadelphia, 2002
• MTBE Litigation Conference, Pasadena, 2001

Publications

• “New Jersey Mass Torts & Class Action Treatise,” Chapter 6: New Jersey Class Actions. Co-Author, with principal author Andrea Bierstein (2015)
• The Beat Goes On, Trial Magazine 16 (June 2010)
• Charting the Course in Medical Preemption, Trial Magazine 28 (September 2013)

Affiliations

• Brooklyn Law School, Adjunct Professor of Law, 2016-2019
• Fordham University School of Law, Guest Lecturer, 2018-2021
• North Carolina Outward Bound School, Board Member
• Association of the Bar of the City of New York, former member of the Art Law Committee, the Committee of State Courts of Superior Jurisdiction, Committee on Federal Legislation Committee on the Judiciary, and Committee on Products Liability
• Federal Bar Council, former member – American Inn of Court (Master) Chapter, Member until 2013
• American Association for Justice
• Public Justice, Board Member, 2019-Present