Jonathan D. Selbin

Jonathan D. Selbin is a senior partner in the New York office of Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, where he has practiced for 30 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.

Since March 2025, Jonathan has served as Special Assistant Attorney General to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, assisting and advising her office on issues relating to federal constitutional and administrative law and connected questions.

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.

Published Works & Appearances

•Speaker, Trial Lawyers of Mass Torts Los Cabos Conference, November 2025
•Panelist, “Cross-Border Litigation of Defective Products,” Perfect Law Class Actions & Mass Torts Conference, Florence, Italy, September 2025
•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

Honors & Awards

•Selected for inclusion by peers in The Best Lawyers in America in field of Product Liability Litigation - Plaintiffs, 2013-2026
•“Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America,” Lawdragon, 2026
•“Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America,” Lawdragon, 2025, 2026
•“Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers in America,” Lawdragon, 2023-2026
•“Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers in America,” Lawdragon, 2021-2026
•Lawdragon Finalist, Lawdragon, 2009
•Super Lawyer for New York Metro, Super Lawyers, 2006-2025
•“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

In the News

•March 27, 2026
Twenty-Three Lieff Cabraser Attorneys Named to Lawdragon’s “500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers” List for 2026
•February 17, 2026
30 Lieff Cabraser Attorneys Recognized as Lawdragon “500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers” for 2026
•February 4, 2026
Jonathan Selbin to Speak on Litigation Funding at Perfect Law’s 2026 Global Class Actions & Mass Torts Conference in London
•January 9, 2026
Eleven Lieff Cabraser Partners Named to 2026 “Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America” List
•October 30, 2025
21 Lieff Cabraser Attorneys Selected as 2025 New York Metro Super Lawyers and Rising Stars