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

Jessica L. Farmer, Partner | Holland & Knight LLP

Jessica L. Farmer is a Partner in Holland & Knight’s Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice in Washington, D.C., where she defends national housing providers and hotel brands in high-profile class actions challenging resort, amenity, and other fees alleged to be junk fees or drip pricing under various consumer protection statutes. Her defense work spans commercial litigation, arbitrations, and class actions across the housing, real estate, hospitality, and consumer services industries, with
particular depth in putative class actions alleging breach of contract, unfair and deceptive trade practices, junk fees/drip pricing, and environmental nuisance. She serves as national, regional, and local counsel for corporate clients and manages every phase of a case, from early case assessment through depositions, dispositive motions, evidentiary hearings, mediation, and trial.

• Education & Credentials

Ms. Farmer earned her J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law and her B.A. in Psychology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She is admitted to the bars of the District of Columbia and Maryland, and to practice before the U.S. District Courts for the District of Maryland and the District of Columbia, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

• Recognition & Leadership

Ms. Farmer is listed in The Best Lawyers in America guide as a Commercial Litigation “One to Watch” in Washington, D.C. (2022–2027), was named a Thomson Reuters Stand-Out Lawyer for 2026, and was selected as a Holland & Knight Rising Star in the Class of 2024. She regularly leads defense teams as lead counsel and as a key member of national counsel teams in coordinated litigation.

• Professional Involvement

Ms. Farmer writes and speaks frequently on fee-disclosure litigation. Her publications include “No More Hidden Fees: D.C. Takes Aim at Drip Pricing and Strengthens Consumer Protection Act” (Holland & Knight Alert, June 12, 2026) and “The Rise of Junk Fee Class Actions: What Companies Should Know” (Holland & Knight Alert, April 22, 2026), and she presented the firm webinar “Price Transparency and Junk Fee Regulations: Trends and Strategies for the Real Estate Industry” (April 29, 2026). Her other writing covers the use of pricing algorithms in price-fixing claims, indoor-environment mass torts in rental housing, ERISA and ESOP litigation, and Fair Housing Act developments, and she has presented on the financial services litigation and enforcement outlook. She also maintains an active pro bono practice representing veterans in discharge upgrade and military sexual trauma matters before the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

• Experience

Ms. Farmer defends national housing providers and hotel brands in class actions challenging resort, amenity, and other fees alleged as junk fees or drip pricing under consumer protection statutes, and represents a housing provider in a purported class action alleging consumer protection act violations and unfair and deceptive trade practices. She is lead counsel for a privatized military housing operator defending purported class actions alleging mold exposure on U.S. military bases, manages the defense of a national mortgage lender in multiple putative data-breach class actions, and serves on the national
counsel team defending a major pharmaceutical manufacturer in federal multidistrict litigation and a related state mass tort action. She obtained a complete dismissal on standing of an ERISA putative class action arising from a $200 million ESOP transaction.

Her broader practice includes hotel and real estate management disputes involving termination rights,
performance issues, and fiduciary duties; commercial lease litigation, including force majeure and COVID- 19-related claims; a multibillion-dollar ICC arbitration arising from a mega-infrastructure project, where she served on the core trial team for a six-week merits hearing; and the defense of Fair Housing Act and Americans with Disabilities Act claims.

Nick Dellefave, Associate | Holland & Knight LLP

Nick Dellefave is a trial and appellate litigation attorney in Holland & Knight’s Washington, D.C., and Newport Beach offices whose practice includes class action defense, class action litigation and arbitration, and hospitality and consumer-facing disputes. He is the author of “The Rise of Junk Fee Class Actions: What Companies Should Know” (Holland & Knight Alert, April 22, 2026) and “Proposed California Law Takes Aim at ‘Rent Now, Pay Later’ Services” (Holland & Knight Alert, June 24, 2026). Mr. Dellefave focuses on complex business litigation, with particular emphasis in the real estate and technology sectors, and has represented national and international clients in all phases of high-stakes state and federal litigation.

• Education & Credentials

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.

• Recognition & Leadership

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).

• Professional Involvement

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.

• Experience

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.

SESSION 1 – Anatomy of a Junk Fee Complaint: Early Defense Strategies and Threshold Challenges | 12:00pm – 1:00pm

Jessica Farmer & Nick Dellefave examine the latest wave of drip-pricing lawsuits brought under California’s SB 478, the CLRA, the UCL, the FAL, and similar statutes in Minnesota, Massachusetts, and Virginia. Attendees will learn how to leverage statutory carve-outs and safe harbors, challenge overlapping causes of action based on preemption and primary jurisdiction principles, and pursue early dismissal through standing and arbitration arguments. The session also explores effective Daubert/Rule 702 challenges to speculative damages models and offers practical, industry-specific strategies drawn from hospitality, real estate, and consumer services litigation.

BREAK | 1:00pm – 1:10pm

SESSION 2 – Breaking the Class: Defeating Certification, Arbitration Traps, and Inflated Damages in Fee Litigation | 1:10pm – 2:10pm

Jessica Farmer & Nick Dellefave will discuss the anatomy of a case from the pleading stage through resolution. They will discuss mechanisms to defeat class certification by highlighting individualized issues of reliance and transaction-specific differences, use arbitration provisions and mass-arbitration procedures to gain strategic advantage, and challenge the damages theories that often drive settlement pressure. For cases that proceed to trial, attendees will learn effective jury themes, how to use evidence of compliance to strengthen the defense, and how fee-shifting doctrines can significantly alter the plaintiff’s risk-reward calculus.