Charlotte E. Dougherty

Charlotte's casework includes litigating multi-million dollar class actions against the United States government under the Little Tucker Act and the Administrative Procedure Act including: Steele v. United States, Case No. 1:14-cv-1523-RCL where she represents hundreds of thousands of tax return preparers alleging the IRS charged unauthorized user fees for the issuance and renewal of preparer tax identification numbers; National Veterans Legal Services Program v. United States, Case No. 16-00745-PLF where the Court approved a $125 million settlement* based on Plaintiffs’ allegations that the Administrative Office of the United States Courts was charging more for PACER services than was authorized by statute; Volkova v. USCIS et al., Case No. 1:23-cv-07565-FB-LB where she represents a Ukrainian parolee who alleges the government unlawfully charged Ukrainian humanitarian parolees a $410 fee to apply for an employment authorization document; and Cortez v. United States, Case No. 1:24-7532 which seeks to recover cash bonds that were posted to secure the release of detained individuals.

Charlotte also represents large public pension funds, unions, and institutional investors in securities fraud class actions including In re Upstart Holdings, Inc. Securities Litigation, Case No. 2:22-cv-02935-ALM-SCS, Chow v. Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. et. al., Case No. 1:24-cv-00634, and Leventhal v. Chegg, Inc. et al., Case No. 5:21-cv-09953 which resulted in a $55 million settlement* in 2025.

In addition, Charlotte has experience with contract disputes and rate setting proceedings, representing the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers (SESAC) in arbitration with the Radio Music Licensing Committee (RMLC) to determine rates for the majority of America’s commercial terrestrial radio stations.

Charlotte is also actively involved in firm growth and development and currently serves on the Hiring Committee and the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee.

*Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.