Keker, Van Nest & Peters and Wilkinson Walsh + Eskovitz scored separate defense verdicts in California this month in the rarest of trials: class actions.

The lawsuits were both in consumer class actions. On Feb. 21, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carolyn Kuhl issued a tentative verdict for Keker Van Nest's client, Public Storage, following a bench trial. And, on Feb. 22, a federal jury in San Francisco sided with Wilkinson Walsh's client, Bayer.

In some ways, the trials were like many others, relying on expert witnesses and the credibility of the lead plaintiffs who testified. But class action issues, and potential damages of hundreds of millions of dollars, made them unlike most trials.