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Anna P. Prakash

Partner
  • Bio
  • Awards & Memberships
  • Presentations & Publications
  • Admission & Education
Bio

Anna Prakash represents everyday people against corporations and the government and uses her agility, intellect, and skill to pursue justice for her clients under a wide variety of laws and settings. Focusing on complex class actions and multi-plaintiff litigation, Anna has litigated civil rights cases in the employment, school, healthcare, and housing realms, including cases seeking freedom and damages resulting from race discrimination, discrimination against the trans community, and forced labor of immigrant workforces. She has represented employees seeking unpaid minimum wages and overtime, including in numerous cases on behalf of people in marginalized professions such as exotic dancers. Anna has represented consumers with respect to predatory loans, credit reporting issues, and other unlawful practices. And she is always looking for new and creative ways to tackle injustice and the imbalance of power across the country.

Anna’s intense work ethic and determination have helped her clients take on powerful defendants, drawing considerable interest and attention to the injustice and imbalance of power across the nation. Her cases have been featured in national and local media, including CNN, The New York Times, Bloomberg Businessweek, the Daily Beast, the Star Tribune, Minnesota Public Radio, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Anna’s versatility has allowed her to move seamlessly between multiple practice groups at the firm. She is one of the founding leaders of the firm’s Civil Rights and Impact Litigation practice group. And over the course of her time at the firm, Anna has led the firm’s National Consumer Class Action practice group, been a member of the firm’s National Wage & Hour practice group, tried cases in court or arbitration, and authored and argued class and individual appeals at the state and federal level.

Anna is also involved in numerous professional organizations. She serves on the Board of Directors of the People’s Parity Project, as well as on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the Public Justice Foundation, a nationwide charitable organization supporting high-impact lawsuits to combat social and economic injustice. Anna is also a member of Twin Cities Diversity and Practice’s Professional Development Committee and a member of the Nominating Committee for the National Association of Consumer Advocates. Anna previously served as the employee/union-side co-chair of the American Bar Association’s Occupational Safety and Health Committee, and on the Board of Directors of Standpoint, an organization that exists to serve domestic and sexual violence survivors, advocates, attorneys, and other professionals working within the justice system in Minnesota, and is also a past board member of the Minnesota Chapter of the National Employment Lawyers’ Association. Anna is a frequent speaker at national legal seminars and, for five years, was an adjunct professor of legal writing at the University of Minnesota Law School.

Prior to joining Nichols Kaster, Anna served as an attorney for the United States Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and monitored special education compliance for the State of Minnesota.

   
  • Named to "Top Lawyers List," Minnesota Monthly 2022 - 2023
  • Named one of “The Best Lawyers in America”, 2021 - 2023
  • Named to Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Employment & Civil Rights Lawyers list, 2018 – 2022
  • Named to the Super Lawyers list, Minnesota Super Lawyers, Minneapolis/St. Paul Magazine, and Twin Cities Business, 2021 - 2023
  • Named to the Rising Stars list, Minnesota Super Lawyers, Minneapolis/St Paul Magazine, and Minnesota Business Journal, 2013 - 2020
  • Public Justice – Executive Committee Member, Chair of Diversity, Equity Inclusion and Accessibility Committee
  • People’s Parity Project – Board Member, Nominating Committee Member
  • Twin Cities Diversity in Practice – Professional Development Committee Member
  • National Association of Consumer Advocates, Nominating Committee Member
  • National Employment Lawyers Association
  • Minnesota Chapter of National Employment Lawyers Association
  • Minnesota State Bar Association
Publications
  • COVID-19 and OSHA Alternatives 2021
  • Civil Liberties in the Biden Era: National and Local Priorities 2021
  • The Aftermath: Learning From Your Mistakes 2021
  • COVID-19 Litigation Update 2021
  • Class Action Damages 2021
  • Covid-19 Employment Litigation 2021
  • Deposing Named Plaintiffs in Employment Class and Collective Actions, 2020
  • Civil Rights in Consumer Law 2020
  • Power and Privilege: Their Impact on Our Profession 2020
  • Consumer Law: Applying a Civil Rights Lens to the World of Consumer Law 2019
  • Defendant Interference and Intimidation 2019
  • Six Questions Every Lawyer Must Answer Before Filing an Employment Discrimination Class Action 2019
  • Keeping Settlements on Track 2019
  • Two Big Changes to the FLSA 2018
  • What’s the Harm? Evaluating and Proving Damages 2018
  • Locating and Ethically Communicating with Potential Class and Collective Members 2018
  • Discovery: Life After the 2015 Amendments 2018
  • Deposing Named Plaintiffs in Employment Class and Collective Actions: Strategies for Plaintiff and Defense Counsel 2017
  • Hot Topics in FLSA Litigation 2016
  • When a Sale Really Isn’t a Sale: False Discounts and Consumer Protection 2016
  • The ABC's Of Litigating Wage & Hour Collective and Class Actions 2016
  • Mediating FLSA Actions 2016
  • Consumer Law 101 2016
  • Expert Testimony and Daubert Motions in Consumer Protection Litigation 2016
  • Changing Standards for Class Certification: Spokeo, Standing, and Other Emerging Issues 2016
  • Class Action Trial Plans after Dukes and Duran 2015
  • The Fair Credit Reporting Act 2015
  • The New Women’s Economic Security Act – New Employee Leave, Pregnancy Accommodations, Familial Status, Wage Disclosure Protections and More 2015
  • Deposing Named Plaintiffs in Class Litigation: Uncovering and Leveraging Issues of Adequacy & Commonality 2015
  • Intake: Both in Individual Case Selection and During the 216(b) Opt in Process, 2015
  • The Dreaded Defendant Bankruptcy: Tips on Protecting and Preserving Plaintiff's Claims when Defendant Files for Bankruptcy 2015
  • Beyond the Minimum Wage: How the FLSA's Broad Social and Economic Protections Support Its Application to Workers Who Earn a Substantial Income 2015
  • The Carrot and the Stick: How to Effectively Use Rule 68 Offers and When to Reject Them 2015
  • The Contingent Workforce: Update on Misclassification and Joint Employment Issues 2015
  • Roundtable Discussion – Applying Remedy and Damage Analysis to Four Different Types of Disputes 2014
  • Named Plaintiff Depositions: What to Do Before, During, and After 2014
  • "Discovery v. Privacy in Public Sector Employment Cases 2014
  • Class-Representative Adequacy: Preparing for and Responding to Attacks on Plaintiffs 2014
  • Protecting Gratuities: Minnesota Law on Tip Pooling 2014
  • Workplace Case Studies – What Must Employers Do Differently Under the Provisions of the New Women's Economic Security Act 2014
  • 10 Tips for Tackling the Heart of the Beast - Written Discovery 2014
  • Tackling Proof of Hours & Wages: Beyond Mt. Clemens Pottery 2013
  • Organizing and Managing the Discovery Process 2012
  • Independent Contractors - Hot Topics and New Changes in Minnesota Law 2012
  • Tips on Tipping Out: An Overview of Minnesota’s New Tip Pooling Legislation 2011
  • Practitioner Tips & Tools for Proving and Winning Widespread Multi-Plaintiff Discrimination Cases, California Employment Lawyers Association Annual Conference, September 2023
  • “Justice-Oriented, Counter-Corporate Plaintiffs-Side Lawyering,” Corporate Capture of the Legal System, Harvard Law School, January 2023
  • (Not So) Historical Racism: How Institutionalized Prejudice Impacts Workers, National Employment Lawyers Association Annual Convention, San Francisco, July 2022.
  • COVID-19 Litigation Update, Upper Midwest Employment Law Institute, May 2022
  • Using Class Actions in Different Contexts, National Association of Consumer Advocates Spring Training, May 2022
  • Disparate Impact and Workers Safety: Making Sure Safety is for Everyone, ABA Labor and Employment Section, Occupational Safety and Health Committee Midwinter Meeting, March 2022
  • Certifying Classes with “Individualized” Legal Claims, Impact Fund Class Action Conference, February 2022.
  • This is Minnesota: Understanding Disparities and Systemic Barriers in the Black Law Student Experience (panel moderator), Twin Cities Diversity in Practice, January 2022.
  • Covid-19 Employment Litigation, Minnesota Association for Justice Annual Convention, August 2021
  • Class Action Damages, Remedies, and Damages in Commercial Litigation, Minnesota CLE, July 2021
  • COVID-19 Litigation Update, Upper Midwest Employment Law Institute, May 2021.
  • The Aftermath: Learning From Your Mistakes, National Association of Consumer Advocates Spring Training, May 2021.
  • Civil Liberties in the Biden Era: National and Local Priorities, Mitchell Hamline School of Law, April 2021.
  • COVID-19 and OSHA Alternatives, American Bar Association, Occupational Safety, and Health Law Committee Virtual Midwinter Meeting, March 2021.
  • Power and Privilege: Their Impact on Our Profession, American Bar Association, Labor and Employment Law Conference, November 2020.
  • Civil Rights in Consumer Law, National Consumer Law Center Consumer Rights Litigation Conference, November 2020.
  • Deposing Named Plaintiffs in Employment Class and Collective Actions, Strafford Webinars, February 2020.
  • “Keeping Settlements on Track,” Trial Magazine, October 2019.
  • “Six Questions Every Lawyer Must Answer Before Filing an Employment Discrimination Class Action,” FLASH, American Bar Association Labor and Employment Section Newsletter, June 2019.
  • “Defendant Interference and Intimidation,” Impact Fund Class Action Conference, San Francisco, CA, February 2019.
  • "Consumer Law: Applying a Civil Rights Lens to the World of Consumer Law", Minnesota CLE, January 2019.
  • “Discovery: Life After the 2015 Amendments,” National Consumer Rights Litigation Conference, Denver, Colorado, 2018.
  • "Locating and Ethically Communicating with Potential Class and Collective Members,” American Association for Justice Annual Convention, Denver, CO, July 2018.
  • “What’s the Harm? Evaluating and Proving Damages,” Upper Midwest Employment Law Institute, St. Paul, MN, May 2018.
  • “Two Big Changes to the FLSA,” American Bar Association Labor and Employment Newsletter, Volume 46, Issue 3 (Spring 2018).
  • “Deposing Named Plaintiffs in Employment Class and Collective Actions: Strategies for Plaintiff and Defense Counsel,” Strafford Webinar, February 2017.
  • “Changing Standards for Class Certification: Spokeo, Standing, and Other Emerging Issues,” Federal Bar Association, Northern District of California Chapter, Class Action Symposium, San Francisco, CA, December 2016.
  • “Expert Testimony and Daubert Motions in Consumer Protection Litigation,” National Consumer Law Center’s Consumer Rights Litigation Conference, Anaheim, CA, October 2016.
  • “Consumer Law 101,” Minnesota Association for Justice Annual Convention, Brainerd, MN, August 2016.
  • "Mediating FLSA Actions,” American Association for Justice Annual Convention, Los Angeles, CA, July 2016.
  • "The ABCs Of Litigating Wage & Hour Collective and Class Actions," National Employment Lawyers Association Annual Convention, Los Angeles, CA, June 2016.
  • “When a Sale Really Isn’t a Sale: False Discounts and Consumer Protection,” Minnesota Trial, The Journal of The Minnesota Association For Justice, Spring 2016.
  • “Hot Topics in FLSA Litigation,” American Bar Association’s Fair Labor Standards Legislation Committee, Midwinter Meeting, San Juan, PR, February 2016.
  • "The Contingent Workforce: Update on Misclassification and Joint Employment Issues," 9th Annual American Bar Association Section of Labor and Employment Law Conference, Philadelphia, PA, November 2015.
  • "The Carrot and the Stick: How to Effectively Use Rule 68 Offers and When to Reject Them," Federal Bar Association Annual Meeting and Convention Presentation, Salt Lake City, UT, September 2015.
  • "Beyond the Minimum Wage: How the FLSA's Broad Social and Economic Protections Support Its Application to Workers Who Earn a Substantial Income," American Bar Association Journal of Labor & Employment Law, Spring 2015.
  • "The Dreaded Defendant Bankruptcy: Tips on Protecting and Preserving Plaintiff's Claims when Defendant Files for Bankruptcy," American Association for Justice Annual Convention, Montreal, Canada, July 2015.
  • "Intake: Both in Individual Case Selection and During the 216(b) Opt-in Process," American Association for Justice Annual Convention, Montreal, Canada, July 2015.
  • "Deposing Named Plaintiffs in Class Litigation: Uncovering and Leveraging Issues of Adequacy & Commonality," Strafford Webinar, June 2015.
  • “The New Women’s Economic Security Act – New Employee Leave, Pregnancy Accommodations, Familial Status, Wage Disclosure Protections and More," 2015 Upper Midwest Employment Law Institute, St. Paul, MN, May 2015.
  • "The Fair Credit Reporting Act," 20th Annual Consumer Financial Services Institute, Practising Law Institute, New York, NY, April 2015.
  • "Class Action Trial Plans after Dukes and Duran," Impact Fund Class Action Conference, Berkeley, CA, February 2015.
  • "10 Tips for Tackling the Heart of the Beast - Written Discovery." A Checklist Approach to Successful Civil Litigation, Minnesota CLE, Minneapolis, MN, December 2014.
  • "Workplace Case Studies – What Must Employers Do Differently Under the Provisions of the New Women's Economic Security Act," Minnesota CLE, Minneapolis, MN, July 2014.
  • "Protecting Gratuities: Minnesota Law on Tip Pooling," Minnesota Lawyer, June 19, 2014.
  • "Class-Representative Adequacy: Preparing for and Responding to Attacks on Plaintiffs," American Bar Association's Section of Litigation - Class Actions & Derivative Suits Committee Newsletter, June 3, 2014.
  • "Discovery v. Privacy in Public Sector Employment Cases," Upper Midwest Employment Law Institute, St. Paul, MN, May 2014.
  • “Named Plaintiff Depositions: What to Do Before, During, and After,” Strafford Webinar, April 2014.
  • “Roundtable Discussion – Applying Remedy and Damage Analysis to Four Different Types of Disputes,” Minnesota CLE, Minneapolis, MN, April 2014.
  • "Tackling Proof of Hours & Wages: Beyond Mt. Clemens Pottery." Natl. Employment Lawyers Assoc.’s Preventing Wage Theft: A Two-Day Guide to Litigating Cases Involving Wages, Hours & Work, Chicago, IL, March 2013.
  • "Independent Contractors - Hot Topics and New Changes in Minnesota Law." Minnesota CLE Webinar, October 2012.
  • “Organizing and Managing the Discovery Process,” Hennepin County Bar Association New Lawyers’ Section, Minneapolis, MN, May 2012.
  • “Tips on Tipping Out: An Overview of Minnesota’s New Tip Pooling Legislation,” Minnesota CLE Webinar, September 2011.

Admissions

  • United States Supreme Court
  • Minnesota Supreme Court
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
  • United States District Court for the District of Colorado
  • United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida
  • United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
  • United States District Court for the District of Minnesota
  • United States District Court for the Western District of New York
  • United States District Court for the District of North Dakota
  • United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin

Education

  • J.D., Cornell Law School
  • B.A., University of Michigan, High Distinction

Select Results

  • Fain v. Crouch, No. CV 3:20-0740, --- F. Supp. 3d ---, 2022 WL 3051015 (S.D.W. Va. Aug. 2, 2022) (granting Medicaid recipients’ affirmative motion for summary judgment under the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid Act, and Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and enjoining the West Virginia Medicaid Program from excluding gender affirming surgical care from coverage); 2022 WL 3051014 (S.D.W. Va. Aug. 2, 2022 (granting class certification of a class comprised of all transgender people who are or will be enrolled in West Virginia Medicaid and who are seeking for will seek gender-confirming care barred by the program’s coverage exclusion)
  • T.B., et al. v. Indep. Sch. Dist. 112, No. 19-CV-2414, 2022 WL 3030561 (D. Minn. Aug. 1, 2022) (denying school district’s motion for summary judgment on plaintiff-students’ race discrimination claims under the Minnesota Human Rights Act, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution)
  • Carmen v. Health Carousel, LLC, No. 1:20-CV-313, 2021 WL 2476882, at *1 (S.D. Ohio June 17, 2021) (denying motion to dismiss nurse’s case under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act and denying motion to strike class allegations)
  • Bliss v. CoreCivic, Inc., 978 F.3d 1144 (9th Cir. 2020) (reversing, in part, district’s court summary judgment opinion and allowing plaintiff’s case under the Federal Wiretap Act and Nevada state law to proceed); No. 218CV01280JADEJY, --- F. Supp. 3d ---, 2022 WL 167584 (D. Nev. Jan. 14, 2022) (denying private prison company’s motion to dismiss plaintiff’s wiretapping claims)
  • MacDonald, et al. v. CashCall, Inc., et al., 33 F.R.D. 331 (D. N.J. Oct. 31, 2019) (granting motion for class certification in case involving more than 11,000 borrowers where Defendants are alleged to have violated usury law, the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act, and RICO).
  • Bible v. United Student Aid Funds, Inc., 799 F.3d 633 (7th Cir. 2015), reh’g en banc denied, 807 F.3d 839 (7th Cir. 2015), cert. denied, 136 S. Ct. 1607 (2016) (reversing the district court’s dismissal of plaintiff’s complaint against a student loan guarantor for wrongfully charging collection fees on defaulted student loans, finding that plaintiff’s claims for breach of contract and for violations of the RICO Act were not preempted by the Higher Education Act, and stating that “a guaranty agency may not impose collection costs on a borrower who is in default for the first time but who has timely entered into and complied with an alternative repayment agreement”).
  • Monroe v. FTS USA, LLC, No. 2:08-cv-21 (W.D. Tenn. Oct. 2011), 860 F.3d 389 (6th Cir. 2017), cert. denied, No. 17-637, 2018 WL 942457 (Feb. 20, 2018) (affirming jury verdict finding that defendants willfully violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by failing to pay nearly 300 cable installers for all overtime hours worked).
  • Robrinzine v. Big Lots Stores, Inc., No. 15-CV-7239, 2016 WL 212957 (N.D. Ill. Jan. 19, 2016) (denying defendant’s motion to dismiss and holding that plaintiffs sufficiently stated a claim for willful violations of the FCRA).
  • Hart v. Rick’s Cabaret Int’l, Inc., 60 F. Supp. 3d 447 (S.D.N.Y. 2014) (granting plaintiffs’ affirmative motion for summary judgment on damages, holding that no reasonable jury could conclude that the Rule 23 class of approximately 2,200 exotic dancers were owed less than $10.8 million dollars, holding that defendants were not entitled to an offset against the minimum wage, holding that defendants violated New York Labor Law, and denying decertification of the Rule 23 class and FLSA collective), 967 F. Supp. 2d 901 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 10, 2013) (granting plaintiffs’ affirmative motion for summary judgment and holding that plaintiffs were employees as a matter of law under the FLSA and New York Labor Law).
  • Huff v. Pinstripes, Inc., 972 F. Supp. 2d 1065 (D. Minn. 2013) (granting plaintiffs’ affirmative motion for summary judgment and holding that the defendant restaurant violated Minnesota law by requiring its servers to share their tips with certain other employees at the restaurant).
  • Clincy v. Galardi South Enters., Inc., 808 F. Supp. 2d 1326 (N.D. Ga. 2011) (granting plaintiffs’ affirmative motion for summary judgment and holding that defendant misclassified its exotic dancers as independent contractors and that the dancers—members of the FLSA collective—were employees as a matter of law).

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