Blake Hunter Yagman is the founder of YAGMAN PLLC, a boutique litigation firm based outside Washington, D.C., focusing on antitrust, consumer protection, and data privacy class actions. His work has been covered by The New York Times, Reuters, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, ESPN, Law360, and Bloomberg. He is also a Founding Member of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library.
I asked Blake what led him to start his own firm.
"Consumer protection has always been important to me," he told me. "I've gone through various phases of my life where my family didn't have a lot, or I was struggling financially and living at the margins. I had options in law school to do things that were going to be a lot more immediately lucrative. But I'm such a true believer in the work."
For nearly a decade, Blake honed his skills at other firms, running class action practices and building a reputation as a formidable litigator. During the pandemic, he doubled down on his craft, working relentlessly to master the complexities of class action litigation. But eventually, he realized he was giving away his time and talent to build other people's cases.
"It got to the point where I was like, I think I could just do this myself," he shared. "I said to myself, you have every skill. You've gone to trial, you've investigated cases, you've dealt with appeals, depositions, dispositive motion briefing, hearings, oral arguments. All of it had been done. There was no reason why I was just going to continue to let my entrepreneurial spirit rot behind somebody else."
He launched his firm with a clear vision: to build a litigation powerhouse that takes on major corporate accountability cases while maintaining a culture of collegiality and respect. Within his first three months, he filed the first-ever surveillance pricing class action in American history - a landmark case against JetBlue alleging the airline used consumers' personal data to adjust ticket prices - which drew coverage from People Magazine, The New York Times, CBS News, and Reuters.
Despite the high stakes of his practice, Blake refuses to adopt the aggressive, performative posturing often associated with high-level litigation.
"I love interacting with opposing counsel, which sounds nuts," he explained. "I don't curse at people. I don't really do any of the chest-pounding that a lot of other plaintiffs' lawyers do. Are there times where you have to advocate zealously for your client? Of course, but you don't need to be a terrible person doing it. That to me almost matters as much as the substance."
As a new firm owner, one of his biggest challenges has been learning when to say no. Class action attorneys are frequently approached with potential cases, and the temptation to take on every grievance is strong. But Blake is highly selective, guided by a commitment to making good law rather than just extracting quick settlements.
"There are not enough plaintiffs' lawyers who are willing to say, I'm here to fight bad behavior by bad people. I'm not here to extort people, and I'm not here to make bad law in the process."
"I'm here to fight bad behavior by bad people."
His ultimate goal is to give a voice to those who have been wronged by corporate overreach, using the collective strength of a class action to level the playing field.
"No matter where you've come from, everyone has the ability and the power to make a difference," he said. "A class action is having some form of adversity that we've all faced together, and now we're going to stand in unity to take on that adversity. It's collective strength."
Are you dealing with an antitrust, consumer protection, or data privacy issue? Connect with Blake Hunter Yagman and check out YAGMAN | PLLC.