Gregory A. Lofstead

Member

Areas of Practice

Greg Lofstead is a RPWB member who focuses on occupational lung disease cases. His work includes representing underground and surface coal miners in West Virginia who develop silicosis, coal workers’ pneumoconiosis and progressive massive fibrosis.

His work includes representing underground and surface coal miners in West Virginia who develop silicosis, coal workers’ pneumoconiosis, and progressive massive fibrosis. He spent several years as a foreign legal consultant to Canadian provinces in litigation to hold tobacco companies accountable for smoking-related health expenditures by the government.

Education

West Virginia University, J.D., 1996
West Virginia University, B.A., cum laude, 1992

Admissions

1996, South Carolina
2000, U.S. District Court, District of South Carolina
2018, District of Columbia
2018, West Virginia

Professional Memberships

South Carolina Bar
Trial Lawyers for Public Justice (Finalist, Trial Lawyer of the Year, 2003)
Best Lawyers in America, 2018 (Product Liability Litigation)

Representative Cases

Complex Business Disputes

Jim is counsel in Global Communications Inc. v. PDI Communications Inc. et al., in which it is alleged that DirecTV infringed upon key patents that enable the satellite provider to use a single dish unit to broadcast multiple channels throughout each customer’s house.

Mutual Fund Litigation

As fund assets grow, the cost of managing a mutual fund does not increase as exponentially as revenues generated by fees do. Jim serves as counsel in cases on behalf of investors against mutual fund advisors for charging excessive fees. A number of his cases have resulted in settlements to investors, and his work has caused some mutual funds to initiate reforms, including fee breakpoints and better oversight by boards of directors.

Insurance Industry Risk Calculations

Jim is counsel in class action litigation against AIG for its methodology of calculating a company’s risk when determining workers’ compensation premiums. The insurance company used a rolling three-year average of paid claims, but failed to consider the portion of those claims that was ultimately recouped from the at-fault party’s insurance company and other sources.

Securities Markets

Jim is counsel in a proposed class action against seven major banks for allegedly colluding in private chat rooms for years to manipulate prices in the $5 trillion per day forex market, which impacted both spot prices and futures contracts. The case, Teel v. Bank Of America Corporation et al, was filed on behalf of investors who bought foreign currency futures. It is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.