Jonathan D. Selbin
Partner, New York Office
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212 355-9500
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“There are so many ways in which people in our society compete with one another and seek an advantage over one another. To me, justice is about making sure that the playing field is as level as possible.”
Jonathan D. Selbin
Jonathan D. Selbin

One of the Nation’s Leading Lawyers for Consumers

Jonathan D. Selbin is a senior partner in the New York office of Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, where he has practiced for 28 years, and a long-time member of the firm’s Executive Committee. He has led complex consumer protection, defective products, and sex abuse class action lawsuits in courts around the country against many of the world’s largest corporations and institutions. Together, cases in which Jonathan played a lead role have resulted in court-approved class action settlements with a combined total cash payout to class members in excess of $3.5 billion, plus other relief such as extended and enhanced warranties and implementation of best-practices institutional reforms. He has extensive appellate experience, having argued in the 1st, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, and 11th Circuits, as well as before state supreme and appellate courts.

Jonathan served on the Board of Directors of Equal Justice Works, where he and his family also founded the Selbin Voting Rights Fellowship which funds a rolling two-year fellow working to ensure fair access to voting. He also serves on the Board of the Beyond #MeToo Working Group on Corporate Governance, Compliance, and Risk.

Jonathan was a Finalist for The American Lawyer’s 2021 Litigator of the Year, a National Law Journal 2021 “Plaintiffs’ Lawyer Trailblazer,” a Law360 2020 “Titan of the Plaintiffs Bar,” and a New York Law Journal “2020 Litigation Trailblazer.” In February 2020, Modern Counsel profiled Jonathan, highlighting his lifelong legacy of fighting for consumer and civil rights in “Jonathan Selbin Levels the Playing Field.”

Jonathan is a 1993 magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School and a 1989 summa cum laude graduate of the University of Michigan. He clerked for the Honorable Marilyn Hall Patel of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California from 1993-1995 prior to joining Lieff Cabraser.

Long form bio (click to open pdf).

  • Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Massachusetts
    J.D. (Magna Cum Laude) – 1993
  • University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
    B.A. (Summa Cum Laude) – 1989
  • California, 1994
  • District of Columbia, 2000
  • New York, 2001
  • New York State Supreme Court, 2002
  • U.S. Supreme Court, 2012
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, 1st Circuit, 2022
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit, 2016
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, 3rd Circuit, 2009
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit, 2002
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, 6th Circuit, 2012
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit, 2007
  • U.S. Court Of Appeals, 10th Circuit, 2014
  • U.S. Court Of Appeals, Federal Circuit, 2015
  • U.S. District Court, Central District of California, 1995
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, 1997
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of California, 2012
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Florida, 2009
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, 2010
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, 2007
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, 2008
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, 2001
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas, 2016
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin, 2013
  • U.S. District Court, Western District of Wisconsin, 2014
  • American Bar Association
  • Bar of the District of Columbia
  • Beyond #MeToo Working Group Board
  • Equal Justice Works, Board of Directors; Development Committee Chair, 2017-2022
  • New York State Bar Association
  • State Bar of California
  • Panelist, “General Trends in Class Litigation,” Trial Lawyers of Mass Torts Park City, Utah Conference, February 2024
  • Contributing Author, “Ninth Circuit Reshapes California Consumer-Protection Law,” American Bar Association, July 2012
  • On Class Actions, 2009
  • Contributing Author, California Class Actions Practice and Procedures (Elizabeth J. Cabraser, editor-in-chief), 2003
  • “Bashers Beware: The Continuing Constitutionality of Hate Crimes Statutes After R.A.V.,” 72 Oregon Law Review 157, Spring 1993
  • Selected for inclusion by peers in The Best Lawyers in America in field of Product Liability Litigation – Plaintiffs, 2013-2024
  • “Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers in America,” Lawdragon, 2023, 2024
  • “Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers in America,” Lawdragon, 2021-2023
  • Super Lawyer for New York Metro, Super Lawyers, 2006-2022
  • “Plaintiffs’ Lawyer Trailblazer,” National Law Journal, 2021
  • “Litigator of the Year Finalist,” The American Lawyer, Industry Awards, 2020
  • “Titan of the Plaintiffs Bar,” Law360, 2020
  • “Litigation Trailblazer,” New York Law Journal, 2020
  • Distinguished Service Award, American Association for Justice, 2016
  • New York Litigation Star, Benchmark Litigation, 2013-2016
  • Lawdragon Finalist, Lawdragon, 2009