Gretchen Carpenter is a partner of Strange & Carpenter. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Theatre, cum laude, from the University of California at San Diego, where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Ms. Carpenter received her law degree from UCLA School of Law, where she was an editor of the Women's Law Journal. She is admitted to practice before all courts in the State of California and several federal courts throughout the country, including several Courts of Appeals. Ms. Carpenter was chosen as one of Southern California's Super Lawyers in 2010, 2011 and 2012.
Ms. Carpenter is an experienced class action litigator, having successfully analyzed, drafted and argued numerous class certification motions. Ms. Carpenter has extensive knowledge of Rule 23 and state class action procedures, and her superior drafting and analytical skills have brought her to the forefront in drafting and arguing numerous complex class certification issues, including certifying a litigation class of over 100,000 members in Hale v. Sharp Healthcare, San Diego Superior Court Case No. 37-2007-00060598-CU-BT-CTL in 2011 and certifying a nationwide class under California law in Talwar, et al. v. Creative Labs, Inc., United States District Court for the Central District of California Case No. CV 05-3375 FMC (AJWx). Ms. Carpenter also has extensive experience with class certification in the context of the firm’s many settlements, worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Ms. Carpenter has been involved in litigating a wide variety of complex class actions, including cases against hospitals relating to their billing practices for uninsured patients, cases against banks relating to credit card and mortgage practices, cases against cellular telephone companies relating to early termination fees, defective product cases for a wide range of products, deceptive advertising cases, class actions relating to pharmaceuticals and other harmful products, and an employment meal break class action. She has successfully analyzed, drafted and argued numerous complex motions and appeals, including obtaining a published Court of Appeal decision in Hale v. Sharp Healthcare, 183 Cal. App. 4th 1373 (2010), upholding claims brought under California’s consumer protection statutes relating to a hospital’s unfair and deceptive billing practices with respect to its uninsured patients.
As a complement to her class action experience, Ms. Carpenter also has extensive knowledge and experience concerning arbitration issues and class action bans, and has litigated numerous arbitration motions, including being part of the team that obtained the seminal California Supreme Court decision in Discover Bank v. Superior Court, 36 Cal. 4th 148 (2005), which held that class action bans in arbitration clauses are unconscionable and unenforceable under California law.
Ms. Carpenter has lectured on both class action and arbitration-related topics before several CLE and other organizations.
Areas of Practice
100% Class Actions - Plaintiffs
Litigation Percentage
100% of Practice Devoted to Litigation
Bar Admissions
California, 1995
U.S. District Court Central District of California, 1995
U.S. District Court Northern District of California, 1996
U.S. District Court Eastern District of California, 1996
U.S. District Court Western District of Wisconsin, 2007
U.S. Court of Appeals 3rd Circuit, 2004
U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit, 2004
U.S. Court of Appeals 8th Circuit, 2000
U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit, 1995
Education
UCLA School of Law, Los Angeles, California
J.D. - 1995
Law Journal: Women's Law Journal, Editor, 1993 - 1995
University of California at San Diego, San Diego, California
Bachelor of Arts (Cum Laude)
Honors: Phi Beta Kappa
Major: Political Science
Major: Theatre
Representative Published Cases
Discover Bank v. Superior Court, 36 Cal. 4th 148, 30 Cal. Rptr. 3d 76 (2005) (California Supreme Court)
Hale v. Sharp Healthcare, 183 Cal. App. 4th 1373, 108 Cal. Rptr. 3d 669 (2010) (California Court of Appeal)
Classes/Seminars
Arbitration and Class Action Bans, The Straus Inst. For Dispute Resolution
Class Action Filings in Federal Court After Shady Grove, 2011
The Long Shadow of Shady Grove, Bridgeport Class Action Conference, 2011
Making the Argument for and Against Class Certification, Bridgeport Class Action Conference, 2012
