Daniel C. Harkins
Of Counsel
Daniel (Dan) Harkins is of counsel in the firm’s Litigation Practice. His practice focuses on commercial litigation and the defense of class actions, including matters involving consumer fraud, data privacy, product liability, securities and bankruptcy litigation.
Dan is a creative problem-solver no matter the subject matter – he has litigated high-stakes disputes across a variety of industries, including consumer goods, transportation and technology. Dan has experience with all aspects of litigation, including pleading attacks, discovery and related motion practice, dispositive motions, oppositions to class certification motions, interlocutory appeals, and settlement and related motion practice.
Prior to joining the firm, Dan served as a law clerk for the Honorable James L. Garrity, Jr., US Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of New York. Before that, he practiced at a multinational law firm, specializing in complex commercial litigation and class action defense involving consumer fraud, breach of contract and business tort actions.
Throughout his career, Dan has maintained an active and diverse pro bono practice. He has represented West African asylum seekers, litigated human trafficking cases, briefed and argued criminal appeals on issues related to procedural due process, and defended challenges to vote-by-mail accommodations provided in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Obtained numerous dismissals on behalf of leading consumer goods company in multiple putative class actions alleging false advertising related to the purported presence of PFAS in dental floss and feminine hygiene products.
- Representing a leading insurance company in offensive action alleging breach of a cybersecurity vendor’s service contract in relation to ransomware attack, and in defence of putative class action alleging invasion of privacy related to same.
- Representing a leading automotive parts manufacturer in defense of putative class action alleging price premium injuries related to alleged concealment of defect in airbag inflators.
- Defended a Fortune 50 global computer company in a consumer fraud putative class action.
- Represented an insurer in a putative class action alleging that a reinsurance transaction adjunct to a workers’ compensation policy illegally modified fixed-cost coverage and violated state consumer protection laws.
- Obtained a favorable settlement for a global airline in a putative class action alleging a breach of the airline’s frequent flyer contract.
- Represented underwriter defendants in securities fraud class actions alleging false and misleading statements to investors.
Education
- Columbia Law School, J.D., Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, 2012
- McGill University, B.A., First Class Honors, History, Dean’s Honor List, 2009
Admissions
- New Jersey, 2022
- New York, 2013
Courts
- U.S. Dist. Ct., S. Dist. of New York
- U.S. Dist. Ct., E. Dist. of New York
- U.S. Dist. Ct., Dist. of New Jersey
- Author, “Revisiting Colorado v. Connelly: The Problem of False Confessions in the Twenty-First Century,” Southern Illinois University Law Journal, 2013.