Crystal focuses her practice on class action defense, with an emphasis on consumer fraud, data privacy, marketing, accessibility, technology and compliance issues. Crystal has extensive experience successfully defending against class action claims brought under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title II, III and state accessibility law compliance and public accommodations, Unfair Competition Laws, False Advertising Laws, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Hobby Protection Act and Auto-Renewal Law in both state and federal courts.
She has defended corporate clients against class actions at all stages of litigation, including through class certification, preliminary, and final approval of settlements. She has a track record for early and efficient dispute resolution and saving costs associated with discovery through early informal negotiations, mediation and class action settlements. Crystal is also a member of the firm's Sports & Entertainment Practice.
Prior to joining Mintz, Crystal worked as an associate at a global firm, and clerked for the Honorable Frederick J. Martone in the US District Court for the District of Arizona. Before pursuing her legal education, Crystal was a junior consultant at the World Bank, a Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute fellow, and Editor in Chief at Human Rights Law Review and staff editor of A Jailhouse Lawyer’s Manual.
Education
- Columbia University (JD)
- Stanford University (BA, with honors)
Experience
- Successfully defended companies in numerous industries against putative class actions alleging website inaccessibility and violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
- Negotiated a successful settlement on behalf of JB Line, a cosmetics retailer, in a class action alleging violations of New York false advertising laws in connection with a beauty product.
- Successfully settled a class action alleging violation of the TCPA against Popeye’s, a fast-food restaurant chain. At the outset we filed and won a motion to stay the case pending the Supreme Court’s decision in Spokeo. After the stay was lifted we informed plaintiff’s counsel of our intent to file a motion to dismiss for lack of standing and they made a settlement demand.
- Represented 24 Hour Fitness in a TCPA class action matter in CA. Matter was resolved quickly and efficiently via favorable settlement agreement.
- Represented Western Union in a class action for unfair business practices. Successfully settled on an individual basis on the eve of filing a motion to dismiss without any discovery.
- Obtained an early dismissal before an answer or motion practice in various class actions, including:
- Coerver v. Webimax., Southern District of Texas
- Makaron v. World Wide Vacations, Central District of California
- Obtained multiple favorable settlements in class actions involving statutory violations for the TCPA and the recording of telephone calls
- Counseled corporate clients to ensure compliance with telemarketing laws
Recognition & Awards
- Best Lawyers of America Ones to Watch - Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Defendants (2021-2022)
- Southern California Super Lawyers Rising Star: Class Action (2018-2020)
- BTI Consulting Group Client Service All-Star (2020)
- Southern California Super Lawyers Top Women Attorneys Rising Star: Class Action (2019)
- Recognized by the Los Angeles Business Journal as one of the Leaders in Law - Attorney Nominees (2017)
Languages
- Spanish
Recent Insights
Viewpoints
Monthly TCPA Digest — September 2021
September 21, 2021 |Article
TCPA Litigation Update — Sixth Circuit Holds TCPA Claims Arising Between November 2015 and July 2020 Are Viable
September 21, 2021 |Article
Monthly TCPA Digest — August 2021
August 18, 2021 |Article
News & Press
Viewpoints
Monthly TCPA Digest — September 2021
September 21, 2021 | Article | By Russell Fox, Joshua Briones, Jonathan P. Garvin, Crystal Lopez
Our TCPA newsletter discusses proposed rulemaking items on the FCC’s September Open Meeting agenda involving the Do-Not-Call registry for 911 call centers and gateway providers for foreign-originated calls to the United States, and covers the 6th Circuit’s Lindenbaum v. Realgy decision rejecting the Creasy v. Charter Communications federal court ruling.
Read more
TCPA Litigation Update — Sixth Circuit Holds TCPA Claims Arising Between November 2015 and July 2020 Are Viable
September 21, 2021 | Article | By Joshua Briones, Crystal Lopez
Read about the Sixth Circuit’s Lindenbaum v. Realgy decision, which rejected the Creasy v. Charter Communications federal court ruling that the TCPA was unconstitutional when it included the government debt exemption between November 2015 and July 6, 2020.
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Monthly TCPA Digest — August 2021
August 18, 2021 | Article | By Russell Fox, Joshua Briones, Crystal Lopez, Esteban Morales, Matthew Novian
Our TCPA newsletter covers the FCC’s adoption of processes to appeal a decision to revoke a VoIP provider’s STIR/SHAKEN Service Provider Code (SPC) and to limit the ability of interconnected VoIP providers to obtain phone numbers for customers directly from the Numbering Administrator and discusses how courts are applying Facebook to dispose of TCPA cases at summary judgment – a welcome development for TCPA defendants.
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TCPA Litigation Update — Courts Dispose of TCPA Claims at Summary Judgment Post-Facebook
August 18, 2021 | Article | By Joshua Briones, Crystal Lopez, Esteban Morales, Matthew Novian
Now, courts are applying Facebook’s holding to dispose of TCPA cases at summary judgment on the ATDS issue. See Timms v. USAA Federal Savings Bank, 2021 WL 2354931 (D.S.C. June 9, 2021); Barnett v. Bank of America, N.A., 2021 WL 2187950 (W.D. N.C. May 28, 2021).
Read more
TCPA Litigation Update — District Court Rules TCPA Unconstitutional from 2015 to 2020
October 20, 2020 | Article | By Joshua Briones, Crystal Lopez
Read about the federal district court ruling in Creasy v. Charter Commc’ns, Inc., which held that the TCPA was unconstitutional from 2015 to 2020.
Read more
Monthly TCPA Digest — October 2020
October 20, 2020 | Article | By Joshua Briones, Russell Fox, Crystal Lopez
Mintz’s October TCPA Digest covers Creasy v. Charter Communications, Inc., a federal district court ruling that deems autodialed calls and text messages made during the past five years unconstitutional under the TCPA, and recent TCPA-related activity at the FCC.
Read more
Breaking: SCOTUS Will Decide ATDS Definition in Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid et al.
July 10, 2020 | Blog | By Joshua Briones, Crystal Lopez, Esteban Morales, Matthew Novian
Breaking: Supreme Court Scraps TCPA’s Government Debt Exception
July 6, 2020 | Alert | By Joshua Briones, Crystal Lopez, Esteban Morales, Matthew Novian
This alert covers the US Supreme Court’s ruling in Barr v. American Association of Political Consultants, Inc., which invalidated the TCPA’s government debt exception but left the remainder of the statute intact.
Read more
TCPA Litigation Update — Circuit Split Deepens on What Constitutes an ATDS Under the TCPA
April 16, 2020 | Article | By Joshua Briones, Russell Fox, Crystal Lopez
Read about a 2nd Circuit holding that equipment that merely stores and dials telephone numbers constitutes an ATDS and the 7th Circuit’s holding that a $280 million penalty against DISH for illegal telemarketing was insufficient.
Read more
Monthly TCPA Digest — April 2020
April 16, 2020 | Article | By Joshua Briones, Russell Fox, Crystal Lopez
Mintz’s April TCPA Digest covers a circuit split on what an Automatic Telephone Dialing System is under the TCPA and a petition at the FCC for a TCPA emergency exception for COVID-19 communications.
Read more
News & Press
Five Mintz Attorneys Named 2020 BTI Client Service All-Stars
December 11, 2020
Mintz Member Arameh O’Boyle and Associate Crystal Lopez co-authored an article published by Natural Products Insider examining proposed regulation and litigation risks associated with labeling cosmetics products as “natural.”
Legal Uncertainty Surrounding the Term ‘Natural’
July 13, 2020
Mintz Member Arameh O’Boyle and Associate Crystal Lopez co-authored an article published by Beauty Packaging Magazine that addressed how manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, and retailers can minimize litigation risks associated with labeling products as “natural.”
Managing Member of Mintz’s Los Angeles Office Joshua Briones, Associates Crystal Lopez and Adam Korn, and client Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Hot Topic Kim Matthews co-authored an article published by Corporate Counsel that examined some of the challenges facing subscription-based companies during the pandemic, including regulation and litigation spurred by COVID-19, and offered tips on how to protect these businesses.
2019 Trends in Bet the Company Class Actions
November 13, 2019
Managing Member of Mintz’s Los Angeles office Joshua Briones and Associate Crystal Lopez, along with Senior Vice President of Legal, Fry Cook and Cashier at Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers Camille Penniman, co-authored this article published by Corporate Counsel examining common law trends in bet the company class actions in 2019.
Litigators Joshua Briones and Crystal Lopez authored this “Expert Analysis” column discussing growing interest in California Invasion of Privacy Act class actions and what recent decisions mean for businesses.
Yelp Escapes Privacy Suit Over Recording Sales Calls
April 19, 2018
This coverage highlights the decision by a San Francisco judge tossing out a proposed class action against Yelp Inc. for allegedly monitoring and recording conversations between the named plaintiff and Yelp sales representatives.
The Dos and Don’ts Of Minimizing Risk For TCPA Liability
July 14, 2017
Joshua Briones, Managing Member in Mintz’s Los Angeles office and Crystal Lopez, a Litigation Associate, authored a Law360 article on the importance for businesses to be vigilant about internal and third-party Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) compliance.
False Labeling Suits Get Hung Up On Faulty Damages Models
December 30, 2016
This piece, published by Bloomberg BNA Product Safety & Liability Reporter, highlights the faulty damages models of food companies and the companies’ defenses to consumer fraud class actions over product labeling.
Challenging No-Injury Class Actions In State Court
August 30, 2016
Joshua Briones, Managing Member in Mintz’s Los Angeles office and Crystal Lopez, a Litigation Associate, authored a Law360 column on the worry businesses nationwide are experiencing over facing “no-injury” class action lawsuits.
Mintz and Ansell Grimm & Aaron, P.C., have achieved a dismissal – among the first of its kind – on behalf of Work Out World, which faced a class action alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and attempting certification of a nationwide class.
Joshua Briones, Managing Member in Mintz’s Los Angeles office, and Associates Esteban Morales and Crystal Lopez, authored this Inside Counsel article covering three U.S. Supreme Court decisions in separate Telephone Consumer Protection Act TCPA class action cases.
Mintz Litigation Associate Crystal Lopez authored this Daily Journal article on the U.S. Supreme Court’s highly anticipated decision in Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Bouaphakeo.
Websites’ automatic-renewal policies can lead to trouble
March 11, 2016
Joshua Briones, Member and leader of the Los Angeles office, and Los Angeles-based Litigation Associate Crystal Lopez authored this Computerworld column with a warning to companies that implement the automatic subscription renewal business model.
Class Actions at the High Court
January 26, 2016
Crystal Lopez, a Mintz Associate, authored this Daily Journal article discussing recent class action lawsuits that reached the U.S. Supreme Court and the implications of these cases.
Events
Speaker
Nov
17
2021
Mintz’s Annual Developing Trends in Bet-the-Company Class Actions 2021 Edition
Mintz Webinar
Los Angeles
Moderator
Panelist
Panelist
Mar
11
2019
Avoid False Advertising Scandals that Damage Your Brand
ACC Southern California In-House Counsel Conference - January 31, 2019
Hollywood, CA
Speaker
Speaker
Apr
26
2018
Trailblazers - 21st Century Women Leaders
Shutters Hotel 1 Pico Bl.vd., Grand Salon Santa Monica, CA 90405
Moderator