Twelve Bailey Glasser partners were named to the 2026 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers guide. Our 2026 recipients are John W. Barrett; Mark G. Boyko; Katherine E. Charonko; Brian A. Glasser; Joshua I. Hammack; James L. Kauffman; Lawrence "Larry" Lederer; Jonathan R. Marshall; D. Todd Mathews; Michael L. Murphy; Gregory Y. Porter; and David L. Selby II. 

Lawdragon's announcement states: 

We’re honored to recognize The 2026 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers.

These amazing advocates find pathways to justice for investors who have been defrauded, companies who have been blocked from fair competition and consumers who have been duped, hornswoggled and otherwise had their rights trampled on by ruthless corporations, from social media to pharmaceuticals.

This is our 9^th edition reporting on leading lights of the plaintiff financial bar. This guide and the practices it represents have grown exponentially since 2007, when we first published a guide to plaintiff lawyers. Resumed in 2019, it reflects the astounding scale of wealth and, some would say, greed that permeates big business.

Year by year, the accomplishments of these lawyers astound in both the sheer size of the financial compensation they achieve and in the perseverance and legal skill required to succeed in these cases.

View the full 2026 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers announcement and list here.

Meet this year's recipients:

Brian A. Glasser is a founding partner of the firm. Brian is a Rhodes scholar and graduate of Harvard Law and Oxford University and has tried cases in 18 different states, including two mass actions and six class actions, where he went toe to toe with some of the country’s biggest law firms and emerged victorious. Brian has been recognized across the legal industry, including by Lawdragon on its 2026 Lawdragon Top 500 Lawyers in America, and as a Top 500 Leading Litigators since 2023. In addition, he has more than a decade of Band 1 rankings in commercial litigation from Chambers & Partners along with ranking on the corporate/commercial front as well. Forbes named him one of the Top 200 Lawyers in the United States in its inaugural 2024 list in Business Law and included him again in 2025 among its Top 250 Lawyers, alongside numerous other honors. 

In 2025, Brian was co-lead counsel of the trial team representing the Coalition of Counsel for Justice for Talc Claimants that won dismissal of another “Texas Two-Step” attempt by Johnson & Johnson to discharge liabilities arising from people alleging its baby powder causes cancer. Learn more about that 2025 victory here.  Brian also led the trial team that obtained a jury verdict in favor of approximately 37,000 Arkansas State Farm customers who suffered a “total loss” of their vehicle. The jury found that the insurance company breached the contract of insurance when its computer program applied a “typical negotiation adjustment” to comparable vehicles used to determine the “actual cash value” of the wrecked vehicle. Brian and our brave client appeared on a CBS news piece about this win. Learn more here.

John W. Barrett is a leader in class action law and among only a handful of elite lawyers nationally to have won class action, mass action, and individual plaintiff jury trials in federal and state court and successfully argued appeals to uphold verdicts won in those cases. In November 2025, John, alongside David Selby and co-counsel, secured final court approval of a historic settlement exceeding $100 million in a class action lawsuit against Dr. Oumair Aejaz and Henry Ford Health System, including its affiliate Henry Ford Macomb Hospital. The landmark resolution delivers justice to approximately 8,200 patients who were sexually abused or secretly recorded by Dr. Aejaz during medical treatments at Henry Ford Macomb and other hospital system facilities. Over his career, John has recovered more than half a billion dollars in verdicts and settlements for clients across a wide range of matters, including TCPA and consumer litigation, representing survivors of institutional sexual abuse, and handling disputes where energy companies failed to meet their obligations to landowners and royalty owners. John's work earned him recent recognition from Best Lawyers in America® as a 2026 Lawyer of the Year in Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Plaintiffs (Charleston, West Virginia), among many other accolades and recognitions.

Mark G. Boyko represents clients in actions brought under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). He has secured judgments and settlements in this area exceeding $500 million and handled successful appeals in federal circuit courts as well as the Supreme Court of the United States. Mark is a pioneer in ERISA class action litigation, representing workers and retirees in many of the earliest cases in his field. In addition to his elite litigation practice, Mark is an elected member of the Missouri House of Representatives for District 90 where he is working on supporting healthcare, public education, jobs, and protecting the environment. 

Katherine E. Charonko is a litigator and head of the firm’s sophisticated and cutting-edge ESI group where she oversees e-discovery in complex disputes involving billions of documents and ensures proper collection, production, and review of electronic data. Kate's work creates life-changing results for people harmed by dangerous products in some of the largest product liability and mass tort cases in the country, including being part of the trial team representing the Coalition of Counsel for Justice for Talc Claimants that won dismissal of another “Texas Two-Step” attempt by Johnson & Johnson to discharge liabilities arising from people alleging its baby powder causes cancer. Learn more about that 2025 victory here. Kate is nationally ranked by Chambers & Partners in the Product Liability: Plaintiffs category, was named a 2026 Lawdragon Top 500 Litigator in America, as well as a 2025 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers, among other accolades. Kate was also recently named a 2026 winner of the Monica Bay Women of Legal Tech Award, an award given by ALM / Legaltech News.

Joshua I. Hammack handles complicated matters from their inception through appeal. He has briefed and argued appeals in state and federal courts across the country in numerous substantive legal areas, including the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), Title IX, the Commerce Clause, contract interpretation, deed construction, statutes of limitation, and more. Josh has a VPPA matter currently pending before the Supreme Court of the United States, learn more about that important appeal here.  Josh was also part of the litigation team representing the Coalition of Counsel for Justice for Talc Claimants that won dismissal of another “Texas Two-Step” attempt by Johnson & Johnson to discharge liabilities arising from people alleging its baby powder causes cancer. Learn more about that 2025 victory here. In addition to being named to this list for another year, Josh was named to Benchmark Litigation's "40 & Under Litigator" list in the appellate and commercial categories for Washington, D.C. in 2024 and 2025.  

James L. Kauffman is a consumer rights advocate whose practice focuses on protecting the public from junk fees. James has successfully represented hundreds of thousands of consumers nationwide who were charged illegal junk fees in “pay to pay” schemes – where consumers must pay an extra fee just for paying their bills. Collectors call these “convenience fees” but usually these fees are for paying electronically, which is usually more convenient and economical for the collector than the consumer paying the extra fee. In 2025, James was part of the trial team that won a landmark jury verdict against State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance, learn more here. In addition, James led teams that won important victories on behalf of consumers being charged illegal fees. 

Lawrence J. Lederer has extensive experience litigating securities, commercial, consumer class actions, and other cases in federal and state courts throughout the United States. In the last year, he’s brought impactful litigation designed to help people who have had issues related to violations of privacy laws, mortgage lending and finance, telemarketing, and the non-funding of PPP loans, which continue to affect small businesses across the country. Larry has been named to this Lawdragon list since 2019, and is also on the Best Lawyers in America®, Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Plaintiffs (2022- 2026) list, where he was also named a Lawyer of the Year, Mass Tort Litigation / Class Action - Plaintiffs in 2023. 

Jonathan R. Marshall is the Practice Area Leader of the firm's entire contingency side and also leads the firm’s Consumer Litigation, TCPA, and Employment Practice Groups. Jonathan is a Director of the Center for Consumer Law and Education at West Virginia University College of Law, where he also teaches. In addition, he is a past President of the Council of Presidents, American Association for Justice. In 2025, Jonathan was part of teams that won important victories on behalf of consumers being charged illegal fees. This is Jonathan's second year on this Lawdragon list. Best Lawyers in America® named Jonathan its “Lawyer of the Year” in Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions in Charleston, West Virginia in 2023 and again in 2025, and Benchmark Litigation recognizes him as a “Litigation Star.”

D. Todd Mathews leads teams fighting for justice on behalf of hundreds of victims of sexual abuse in Maryland, Illinois, and beyond. In 2025, Todd was part of the litigation team that represented the Coalition of Counsel for Justice for Talc Claimants in winning dismissal of another “Texas Two-Step” attempt by Johnson & Johnson to discharge liabilities arising from people alleging its baby powder causes cancer. Learn more about that 2025 victory here.  In addition to being named to this list, Todd was named a Lawdragon 500 Leading Consumer Plaintiffs Lawyer as well as a Leading Civil Rights & Plaintiff Employment Lawyer in 2024 and 2025.  He has been ranked by Best Lawyers in America® in Mass Tort Litigation/Class Action, Medical Malpractice Law – Plaintiffs, and Product Liability Law – Plaintiffs, among other accolades.

Michael L. Murphy leads cutting-edge privacy litigation on behalf of consumers and has extensive experience with class actions and a wide range of other cases in federal and state courts nationwide, including mortgage lending, finance, telemarketing, and PPP loans. His recent work includes being involved in the largest antitrust settlement in U.S. healthcare history ($2.8 billion) in the Blue Cross Blue Shield MDL, a long-running antitrust lawsuit representing healthcare providers nationwide. Mike is part of the appellate team representing our client before the Supreme Court of the United States in a Video Privacy Protection Act case. Learn more here.  Mike has also been Band 1 ranked by Chambers & Partners in the District of Columbia - Band One; Litigation: Mainly Plaintiffs category for several years. 

Gregory Porter is the Practice Group Leader of the firm's award-winning ERISA, Employee Benefits & Trust Litigation Practice Group. Greg has extensive trial and class action experience in complex pension, 401(k) plan, and employee stock ownership plan (ESOPs) lawsuits in federal court. He has led the firm’s ERISA and trust practice to major trial and appellate victories, including before the Supreme Court of the United States.  Greg has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars on behalf of employees who lost retirement savings in 401(k) plans and ESOPs. Greg is nationally ranked by Chambers & Partners for his ERISA work, by Legal 500 as a Washington DC Elite, Commercial Disputes (2026), among other accolades.

David L. Selby II is the firm's Mass Torts Practice Group Leader and leads teams fighting on behalf of sexual abuse survivors and people injured by defective products. David is a nationally acclaimed litigator who was named by Lawdragon to its 2026 Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America list as well as on its 2025 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers and Lawdragon 500 Leading Civil Rights & Plaintiff Employment Lawyers (2024 and 2025) lists. David is nationally ranked by Chambers USA in its Nationwide Product Liability category as well as leads a practice group nationally ranked by Chambers USA, among many other recognitions.

In 2025, David was part of the trial team representing the Coalition of Counsel for Justice for Talc Claimants that won dismissal of another “Texas Two-Step” attempt by Johnson & Johnson to discharge liabilities arising from people alleging its baby powder causes cancer. Learn more about that 2025 victory here.  He was also part of the trial team that obtained a jury verdict in favor of approximately 37,000 Arkansas State Farm customers who suffered a “total loss” of their vehicle.  The jury found that the insurance company breached the contract of insurance when its computer program applied a “typical negotiation adjustment” to comparable vehicles used to determine the “actual cash value” of the wrecked vehicle. Learn more here.  In November 2025, David, alongside John Barrett and co-counsel, secured final court approval of a historic settlement exceeding $100 million in a class action lawsuit against Dr. Oumair Aejaz and Henry Ford Health System, including its affiliate Henry Ford Macomb Hospital. The landmark resolution delivers justice to approximately 8,200 patients who were sexually abused or secretly recorded by Dr. Aejaz during medical treatments at Henry Ford Macomb and other hospital system facilities.

We applaud all the lawyers who made this list, and we thank Lawdragon for the recognition.