Allan Kanner

Allan graduated from Harvard Law School in 1979, and then clerked for the late Judge Robert S. Vance of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. He founded the firm in 1981 and has since  acquired a national reputation in the fields of complex litigation, environmental law, and consumer fraud. As a result, he is frequently sought out as a teacher, lecturer, and author. He has taught law courses at Tulane Law School, Duke University, Yale University, and the University of Texas. He has authored/co-authored two books and published over sixty scholarly articles, many of which have been relied upon by courts. Allan is a frequent speaker and lecturer on a variety of topics, and has testified numerous times before the Louisiana legislature. In addition, he has testified before the U.S. Senate regarding frauds uncovered by K&W during a lawsuit against long-term care insurance providers.

Allan currently represents the State of Louisiana in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill litigation, as well as the State of New Jersey against ExxonMobil in a major natural resource damages case. He also serves as Lead Plaintiffs’ counsel in a national MDL class action against the manufacturers of a generic formulation of Wellbutrin XL®, In re: Budeprion XL Marketing and Products Litigation Litigation, MDL No. 2107 (E.D.Pa.) and is co-lead counsel in In re: Cox Enterprises, Inc. Set-Top Cable Television Box Antitrust Litigation, MDL No. 2048 (W.D.Okla.)

Allan is a member of the bars of California, the District of Columbia, Louisiana, New Jersey, Oklahoma, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico (Federal), and Texas.

Publications & Presentations

• Perspectives On the Attorney-Client Privilege and the Work Product Doctrine, Ch. 19,
  The Attorney-Client Privilege And The Work Product Doctrine (5th Ed. 2010).
• Communications Between Attorneys And Putative Class Members, Ch. 7, The Attorney-Client Privilege And The Work Product Doctrine (5th Ed. 2010).
• Chinese Drywall – Environmental Forensic Opportunities, Vol. 11 Environmental Forensics pp. 6-16, Issues 1 &2 (March 2010).
• The Evolving Crisis Over Defective Chinese Drywall: An Overview of Legal Claims and Legislative Efforts, BNA Toxic Torts Litigation Reporter (November 2009) p. 1337.
• What We Learned From Katrina, Trial Magazine (October 2009), p.39.
• Consumer Class Actions After CAFA, 56 Drake L. Rev. 303 (2008).
• Daubert and the Disappearing Jury Trial, 60 U. Pitt. L. Rev. 2 (2008).
• Tort Remedies and Litigation Strategies, Ch. 19, Michael B. Gerrard, The Law of Environmental Justice (2nd ed.).
• Class Action Practice in the Wake of CAFA, ABA Section of Litigation, Class Actions Today: Jurisdiction to Resolution (2008).
• Strategy and Storytelling In Environmental Litigation, ABA Environmental Litigation Committee Newsletter (Winter/Spring 2007), p.9.
• Meeting the Burden for Admissibility of Environmental Forensic Testimony, Vol. 8, No. 1, Environmental Forensics (Mar. 2007).
• Understanding and Protecting Natural Resources, 17 Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum 119 (2006).
• Legal Strategy, Storytelling and Complex Litigation, 30 Am. J. of Trial Advocacy 1 (2006).
• Interpreting the Class Action Fairness Act in a Truly Fair Manner, 80 Tulane L. Rev. 1645 (2006).
• Environmental and Toxic Tort Trials, 2nd Edition, Lexis-Nexis (2004, 2005).
• The Public Trust Doctrine, Parens Patriae, and the Attorney General as the Guardian of the State’s Natural Resources, 16 Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum 57 (2005).
• Unjust Enrichment in Environmental Litigation, 20 J. of Envtl. Law & Litig. 111 (2005).
• Exploding the Blackmail Myth: A New Perspective on Class Action Settlements, 57 Baylor L. Rev. 681 (2005).
• Measuring Loss of Use Damages in Natural Resource Damage Actions, 30 Columbia J. of Envtl. Law 417 (2005).
• Equity in Toxic Tort Litigation: Unjust Enrichment and the Poor, 26 Law & Policy 209 (2004).
• Toxic Tort Litigation in a Regulatory World, 41 Washburn L. Rev. 535 (2002).
• The Politics of Toxic Tort Law, 2 Widener Law Symp. J. 163 (1997).
• Public and Private Laws, 10 Tulane Envtl. L. Journal 235 (1997).
• Environmental Justice, Torts and Causation, 34 Washburn L. Journal 505 (1995).
• Future Trends in Toxic Tort Litigation, 20 Rutgers L. Journal 669 (1989).
• Emerging Conception of Latent Personal Injuries in Toxic Tort Litigation, 18 Rutgers L. Journal 343 (1986).