
Rosemary has dedicated her legal career to representing consumers in complex class action litigation involving a wide variety of claims, from false advertising and defective products to privacy violations. She is committed to obtaining justice for consumers and has recovered billions of dollars for her clients and the classes they represent.
Rosemary serves in leadership positions in a number of large-scale complex class action cases and multi-district litigation. She was appointed to the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in the Volkswagen Clean Diesel Litigation, which resulted in a record-breaking settlement totaling more than $14 billion. For her work in the Volkswagen case, Rosemary received the 2018 California Lawyer Attorney of the Year (CLAY) Award, which is given to outstanding California lawyers “whose extraordinary work and cases had a major impact on the law.” In 2022, Rosemary was appointed to serve as Plaintiffs’ Interim Co-Lead Counsel in the In re: Gerber Heavy Metals Baby Food Litigation, which involves allegations that Gerber marketed and sold baby foods containing dangerous levels of heavy metals such as lead and inorganic arsenic.
She has received numerous awards and honors for the quality of her legal work, including the Bay Area Legal Aid Guardian of Justice Award for her achievements in the law and her role in helping direct cy pres (remaining settlement) funds to promote equal access to the legal system. She has been recognized as a Northern California Super Lawyer since 2019, and was previously named a Rising Star by Super Lawyers Magazine.
Rosemary is a fluent Spanish-speaker and previous served on the Board and as Diversity Director of the Barristers Club of the San Francisco Bar Association. She frequently presents at legal and industry-group conferences on developments in consumer protection and class action litigation.
Litigation Highlights
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In re: Gerber Products Company Heavy Metals Baby Food Litigation
A congressional report released in 2021 found that several baby food manufacturers, including Gerber, have marketed and sold baby foods containing dangerously high levels of heavy metals that can harm the development of a baby's brain, including inorganic arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury. In his order appointing Rosemary M. Rivas as Interim Co-Lead Counsel, Judge Michael S. Nachmanoff wrote that Rosemary has "significant experience and knowledge litigating class action cases involving food mislabeling consumer fraud."