Marc Seltzer has practiced law for more than fifty years, litigating complex cases in federal and state courts throughout the United States. Seltzer’s relationship with the lawyers of Susman Godfrey began in the late 1970’s, when he worked with Steve Susman on the Corrugated Container antitrust case. In the ensuing years, Seltzer joined forces with Susman Godfrey on a number of other cases. In February 1998, Seltzer became a partner of the firm, and opened the firm’s Los Angeles office.
Seltzer’s involvement in nationally prominent litigation began in the mid-1970’s, when he joined Jack Corinblit to work on the massive Equity Funding securities litigation. That case consisted of more than 100 consolidated class and individual cases, and was settled in 1976 for over $60 million, then the largest recovery ever achieved in a securities fraud class action. Later, in the 1980’s, Seltzer was appointed by the Los Angeles federal court to serve as sole lead counsel to represent the plaintiff class in the ZZZZ Best securities fraud case. The ZZZZ Best fraud was described by the United States Attorney for the Central District of California as “the most massive and elaborate securities fraud perpetrated on the West Coast in over a decade,” harking back to the Equity Funding case. The case resulted in several important published decisions sustaining plaintiffs’ claims and settlements totaling more than $40 million for the class he represented. See In re ZZZZ Best Securities Litigation, 864 F. Supp. 960 (C.D. Cal. 1994).
Lawdragon Honors
Since joining the firm, Seltzer has continued to represent both plaintiffs and defendants in a wide variety of high stakes cases. Among other prominent cases, he served as co-trial counsel with Steve Susman in representing Frank McCourt in his marital property litigation with his former wife which involved competing claims to ownership of the Los Angeles Dodgers. In 2015, Seltzer successfully argued the appeal taken by Ms. McCourt from the order denying her motion to set aside the settlement reached in that case.
In the In re Toyota Motor Corp. Unintended Acceleration Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation, Seltzer was appointed by the Court to serve as one of the three co-lead counsel for the economic loss class action plaintiffs. After several years of hard fought litigation, an historic settlement was reached valued by the Court at approximately $1.6 billion, with the class receiving net benefits valued at approximately $1.4 billion.
Seltzer is leading the firm’s work as one of the co-lead counsel in the pathbreaking Real Estate Commission Antitrust Litigation. The cases have been partially settled for more than $1 billion pursuant to settlements that require fundamental changes in real estate industry rules and the practices of real estate agents. Read more.
Seltzer is also currently leading Susman Godfrey’s efforts as one of co-lead counsel for plaintiffs in In re Automotive Parts Antitrust Litigation, pending in the Detroit federal court. The United States Department of Justice has called the cartels that are the subject of this litigation the largest group of price-fixing conspiracies ever uncovered. The cases have been settled for more than $1.2 billion, which is believed to be the largest recovery ever obtained for indirect purchasers under the antitrust laws.
Over his years of practice, Seltzer has also represented defendants in antitrust, securities, copyright, trademark, trade secret, unfair competition, class action and other complex litigation.
Seltzer has been honored for his many years of service to the legal community by the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles and the American Jewish Committee.