Class Actions Against the SSA: A Refresher and Update – 2026 Spring National Conference – Track I (Presented by National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives)

Ira Kasdan, Esq., Partner | Kelley Drye & Warren LLP

Ira Kasdan is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Kelley Drye & Warren LLP, a national law firm, where he brings more than 40 years of litigation experience to complex federal matters. He has served as lead counsel in several significant class actions against the Social Security Administration, including Greenberg v. Colvin in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, which set the precedent for the award of Section 406(b) attorney fees in class actions and Steigerwald v. Berryhill, litigated in the Northern District of Ohio and the Sixth Circuit. He is currently co-lead counsel in a third certified class action pending against the SSA in the Eastern District of Virginia. Mr. Kasdan is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and Maryland bars, various federal circuit courts, and the Supreme Court of the United States.

Education & Credentials

• Ira earned his Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center, where he served as an editor on the Georgetown Law Journal. He is a member of the District of Columbia and Maryland bars and is admitted to practice in multiple federal circuit courts and the Supreme Court of the United States. His broad federal court admissions reflect four decades of active litigation across jurisdictions, including appellate courts and the nation’s highest court.

Recognition & Leadership

• Ira is recognized as a leading authority in Social Security class action litigation. His role as lead counsel in Greenberg v. Colvin produced a landmark precedent establishing the availability of Section 406(b) attorney fee awards in Social Security class actions, a ruling with lasting significance for disability practitioners nationwide. His subsequent leadership in Steigerwald v. Berryhill in the Sixth Circuit and his current co-lead counsel role in a certified class action in the Eastern District of Virginia further cement his standing as one of the country’s foremost litigators in SSA class action matters. His more than 40 years at a national law firm reflect a career of sustained excellence at the highest levels of federal litigation.

Professional Involvement

• Ira’s professional involvement in the Social Security disability space is concentrated at the class action and appellate levels, where his work has shaped the legal framework governing attorney fees and systemic challenges to SSA practices. His active involvement in multiple certified class actions, including the currently pending matter in the Eastern District of Virginia, reflects a sustained commitment to using complex litigation as a tool for advancing the rights of Social Security claimants on a systemic scale. His practice at Kelley Drye & Warren combines deep expertise in federal procedure with a strategic, precedent-setting approach to complex litigation.

Experience

• With more than 40 years of federal litigation experience, Ira Kasdan has built a practice defined by complex class actions and high-stakes federal court work. His Social Security class action litigation has produced precedent-setting outcomes, most notably Greenberg v. Colvin, which established the framework for Section 406(b) fee awards in class actions, and Steigerwald v. Berryhill, litigated through the Sixth Circuit. He currently serves as co-lead counsel in a third certified SSA class action in the Eastern District of Virginia. His admissions to multiple federal circuit courts and the Supreme Court of the United States reflect a career of national scope, and his Georgetown Law Journal editorship signals the academic foundation underlying decades of sophisticated federal practice.

Damon Suden, Esq., Partner | Kelley Drye & Warren LLP

Damon Suden is a partner in the New York office of Kelley Drye & Warren LLP. An accomplished litigator and trial attorney with more than 20 years of practice in federal and state courts across the country, Mr. Suden has significant class action experience and currently serves as co-lead counsel in a certified class action against the Social Security Administration in the Eastern District of Virginia. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1999) and a Juris Doctor from Fordham University School of Law (2002).

Education & Credentials

• Damon holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (B.S., 1999) and a Juris Doctor from Fordham University School of Law (J.D., 2002). His undergraduate training in mathematics brings analytical precision to a litigation practice spanning complex federal and state court matters, while his Fordham Law education provided the foundation for more than two decades of accomplished trial and appellate work. He is admitted to practice in federal and state courts across the country.

Recognition & Leadership

• Damon is recognized as a skilled litigator and class action practitioner, with a track record of handling complex matters in federal and state courts nationwide. His elevation to partner at Kelley Drye & Warren and his selection as co-lead counsel in a certified class action against the Social Security Administration in the Eastern District of Virginia reflect both the confidence his firm and clients place in his abilities and his standing as an accomplished advocate in high-stakes, complex litigation. His more than 20 years of trial and appellate experience across jurisdictions underscore the depth and breadth of his litigation expertise.

Professional Involvement

• Damon’s professional practice spans complex federal and state court litigation, with particular depth in class action matters. As co-lead counsel in the pending certified class action against the SSA in the Eastern District of Virginia, alongside firm partner Ira Kasdan, he contributes strategic and trial-level leadership to one of the most significant current challenges to Social Security Administration practices in the federal courts. His broad litigation background across jurisdictions and subject matters allows him to bring a versatile, rigorous approach to complex matters that require both courtroom skill and sophisticated case management.

Experience

• Damon Suden has practiced as a litigator and trial attorney for more than 20 years, building a career at Kelley Drye & Warren that spans federal and state court litigation across the country. His significant class action experience encompasses complex multi-party litigation at both the trial and appellate levels, and his current role as co-lead counsel in the certified SSA class action in the Eastern District of Virginia represents one of the most consequential ongoing challenges to Social Security Administration practices in federal court. His MIT mathematics background informs an analytically rigorous approach to litigation strategy that complements his Fordham Law training and his two-decade record of effective advocacy in courts nationwide.

I. Class Actions Against the SSA: A Refresher and Update | 11:00am – 12:00pm

The session will review the requirements of FRCP 23 to bring and certify a class action with particular focus on issues pertinent to such cases against the SSA, as demonstrated by precedent. Particular attention would be given to a pending class action in the E.D.Va. in which a class already has been certified. One of the significant issues in the currently-pending class action in the E.D.Va. concerned whether the type and quality of notice that SSA provides beneficiaries in award letters or otherwise is sufficient to trigger the requirement under the Social Security Act that they begin to exhaust their remedies or waive their right to sue. The session will explore this issue in some depth as it is relevant not only in the context of class actions but more generally for awardees in pursuing their rights when they believe that their benefits have been underpaid.