Defeating class actions after they have been certified is a difficult and highly risky business. Typically at that stage, it's all about who should get how much money.

A 2002 breach-of-contract case against Anthem Insurance Cos. Inc., in which plaintiffs alleged Anthem paid the wrong parties in its demutualization and conversion to a publicly traded company, had already gone on six years when Craig Hoover entered the case.

The individual class members were Connecticut state employees and retirees who contended they should have been paid as the insureds of Anthem, instead of the state of Connecticut, which Anthem had determined was the sole mutual member. The class numbered in the tens of thousands, and the plaintiffs demanded nearly $100 million in damages.