Patrick Howard

Patrick Howard is a partner and co-chair of the Class Action Group. Since 2005, Patrick has successfully represented consumers, businesses, and municipal entities in class action litigation stemming from consumer fraud, false advertising, product liability and antitrust violations.

Together with firm President Robert J. Mongeluzzi, Patrick served as lead class counsel in the Conshohocken Riverwalk Fire Litigation that displaced hundreds from their homes and caused millions of dollars in property damage. After filing the first class action complaint, and following a thorough investigation, including securing witness statements and real time photographs of the fire igniting, a $36.25 million settlement was secured, one of the largest at that time.

More recently, Patrick served as court appointed lead class counsel in the historic $65 million data breach settlement in Doe v. Lehigh Valley Health Network. This considerable achievement is believed to be the largest per capita data breach settlement in history. The settlement received national and international attention for the relief it provided directly to each of the 134,000 class members.

Patrick served amongst the leadership in the Pennsylvania Opioid Litigation stemming from the national opioid crisis. He represented Delaware County, a Pennsylvania trial bellwether, in active litigation against the largest pharmaceutical manufacturers, distributors, and pharmacies for their alleged role in the opioid crisis. The litigation to date has resulted in excess of $100 million in recoveries for Delaware County.

Patrick also represented the interests of Pennsylvania District Attorneys from both Montgomery and Bucks County in multidistrict litigation against JUUL and Altria for marketing vape products to underage children. He recovered more than $5 million for their respective offices to be used to combat youth vaping in their respective communities.

Patrick has been recognized by jurists for both his skill and efficiency. After recovering more than $6 million for a group of elderly investors who were defrauded in a Ponzi scheme, United States District Court Judge Christine M. Arguello lauded his efforts in obtaining an outstanding recovery for the class in high risk litigation, stating “I will have to say that in this case, I really believe that Mr. Howard did an excellent job of representing the interests [of the class] and doing it efficiently.”

In 2020, Patrick achieved a one of its kind $7 million settlement on behalf of property owners who unknowingly had sewer lines beneath their homes and properties without a corresponding easement. The settlement obtained easements for the defendant, while providing just compensation to the property owners.  The Hon. Mark Bernstein commented on the settlement that, “The result achieved in a remarkably short timeframe for extensive complex litigation can only be adequately described as creative excellence on the part of counsel.”

Patrick has also represented the interests of individuals and small businesses. In 2024, he recovered $2.15 million from the Borough of Haddonfield after two families lost their homes during a 2019 flood event. In addition, he recovered $3 million for a non-profit sewer authority that was sold defective plumbing parts as part of a sewer system upgrade.

Patrick has been selected as a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer every year between 2013 – 2025. Prior to that, he was named a Pennsylvania Rising Star in 2008, 2011 – 2012. He is a member of The Melvin M. Bellli Society, an invitation-only society of lawyers with the purpose of promoting the international exchange of ideas among lawyers through meetings and education. He is also a board member of the Philadelphia Bar Foundation, whose mission is to bring equal justice to underserved communities in Philadelphia.

Patrick has a proven track record of results:

• Delaware County v. Purdue Pharma., No. 2017-008095 (served in leadership of the Pennsylvania Opioid Litigation while representing the first bellwether plaintiff, Delaware County. Recovered in excess of $55 million for the County)
• Hadley, et al., v. The Sewer Authority of the City of Scranton, No. 2016-cv-6261 (Lackawanna Cty.) (obtained $7 million settlement on behalf of 600 property owners who were unaware of sewer lines on their property without a proper easement)
• Underwood v. Kohl’s Dep’t Stores, Inc., No. CV 15-730, 2017 WL5261535, at *4 (E.D. Pa. Nov. 13, 2017) (defeated summary judgment and obtained class certification in favor of consumers who paid for worthless credit card add-on product; $1.8 million settlement)
• Ajose v. Interline Brands, Inc., No. 14-cv-01707 (M.D. Tenn.) (Chair of lead counsel committee in product defect class action resulting in a $16.5 million settlement)
• Standard Iron Works v. U.S. Steel, No. 08-cv-5214-JBZ (N.D. Ill.) (counsel to lead plaintiff, Standard Iron Works, in antitrust class action against world’s largest producers of raw steel; $166 million settlement)
• Trabakoolas v. Watts Water Technologies, Inc., et al., No. 12-cv-01172 (N.D. Cal)(lead counsel in product defect class action resulting in $23 million settlement).
• Touchstone Group, LLC v. Tatum, LLC, et al., No. 11-cv-02971 (D.Col.)(co-lead counsel in securities class action resulting in $6.05 million settlement on behalf of victims of the Mantria Corp. Ponzi Scheme)
• In re Apple In-App Purchase Litig., 11-cv-01758 (N.D. Cal.)(co-lead counsel in highly publicized litigation against Apple for the sale of deceptive apps sold to children. Nationwide settlement achieved offering full refunds to consumers)
• In re Riverwalk Fire Litigation: $36 million settlement in a class action suit involving a Conshohocken, Pa., apartment fire, including $9 million for tenants’ lost property claims ($36 Mil. Agreement Reached in Montco Apartment Fire – Riverwalk)
• In re Optical Disk Drives Litigation, No. 10-md-2143-RS (N.D. Cal) (counsel to named plaintiff, JLK Systems, in antitrust litigation against manufactures of optical disk drives; $37.9 million settlement)
• In re Blood Reagents Antitrust Litig., No. 09-md-2081 (E.D. Pa) (Counsel to lead plaintiff, Community Medical Center, in antitrust litigation against manufactures of traditional blood reagents; $44 million settlement)

Patrick obtained a Bachelor’s of Science from the University of Scranton in 1998 and received his law degree from University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 2001. He clerked for the Hon. Peter Paul Olszewski Sr. of the Pennsylvania Superior Court from September 2001-2002. After his clerkship, Patrick entered private practice working for a prominent, Philadelphia defense firm.