Seyfarth Shaw's class action practice group leader Gerald Maatman Jr., the former outside counsel to Harvey Weinstein's now-bankrupt film company, has relocated his practice to the employment department of Duane Morris, bringing along seven additional attorneys.

Maatman has been tasked with developing Duane Morris' newly created workplace class action group out of its Chicago office, serving as chair. Leaders at the Philadelphia-based firm targeted him due to his go-to status as a defender of multistate companies against large-scale EEOC, wage and discrimination lawsuits.

His most prominent representations include defending the sexual harassment suits brought in 2018 against The Weinstein Co., the namesake film company of disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. Maatman has also defended Sterling Jewelers against discrimination claims made by female employees who claimed to be paid less than their male counterparts.