Junk Fee Class Actions: Prosecuting Drip Pricing and Hidden Fees Under State Law

Mr. Dellefave earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from Syracuse University College of Law, and holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a B.A. in Economics from Syracuse University. He is admitted to the bars of California, the District of Columbia, and Maryland, and to practice before the U.S. District Courts for the District of Columbia, the District of Maryland, and the Central District of California, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Mr. Dellefave is a member of the Order of the Coif and the Order of Barristers (2018), and received the National Academy of Trial Lawyers Award for Distinguished Achievement in the Art and Science of Advocacy (2018) and the CALI Excellence for the Future Award (2017–2018). At Syracuse he was named to the Dean’s List (2015–2018), served in the Moot Court Honor Society (2016–2018), and was Executive Editor of the Journal of Science and Technology Law (2017–2018).

In addition to his junk fee and "Rent Now, Pay Later" client alerts, Mr. Dellefave has written on what the new Reference Manual for Scientific Evidence teaches about AI in the courtroom (Drug & Device Law, February 19, 2026) and on the application of the Halo Electronics enhanced-damages standard in U.S. district courts. He maintains an active pro bono practice serving low-income individuals and nonprofit organizations in the National Capital Region and Southern California. While in law school he worked in the New York State Science and Technology Law Center, guiding inventors and technology companies through intellectual property protection and regulatory approvals, and interned for the Honorable David E. Peebles of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York.

Mr. Dellefave’s complex business litigation practice includes class action defense, commercial disputes, corporate shareholder and securities litigation, defamation and First Amendment lawsuits, and challenges to the validity and constitutionality of state administrative regulations. He has litigated for clients in the hospitality, healthcare, energy, logistics, automotive, and defense industries, and his practice groups include Class Action Litigation and Arbitration, Hospitality, Product Liability, and Real Estate Disputes and Advocacy.

His representative results include prevailing before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in a complex business dispute involving federal, state, and foreign law; winning a complete defense verdict after a nine-day jury trial for a national real estate developer, defeating more than $30 million in alleged damages; obtaining dismissal of a trade secret misappropriation suit and a subsequent $5.8 million attorneys’ fee award for bad-faith prosecution; securing complete dismissal of a False Claims Act and Anti- Kickback Statute case against a physician; and obtaining summary judgment for a corporation in a shareholder suit arising from an asset sale. He also represents real estate developers, owners, and investors in disputes over high-value projects, and technology clients in matters involving trade secrets, data security, and medical devices, where he draws on his engineering background to bridge the gap between technical clients and the courts.