Marie Noel Appel - Westlake Village, CA

Marie Noel Appel is dedicated to advocating on behalf of those who are less powerful in the face of large corporations and other business entities.

For the first fifteen years of her career, Marie litigated consumer class actions, including Capers v. Pac. Bell Internet Serv., No. CGC-01-318733 (S.F. Super. Ct.) (unfair business practices for improper DSL billing practices resulting in refunds of more than $1.6 million to 20,000 class members in 2004); Clark v. Santa Barbara Bank & Trust, No. CGC-04-427959 (S.F. Super. Ct.) (unfair business practices for improper debt collection practices resulting in refunds of more than $2 million and $200,000 in 2007); and Briggs v United States, No. CV-07-5760 WHA (N.D. Cal.) (a $7.4 million nationwide class settlement in 2009 on behalf of veterans whose tax refunds and benefits the government withheld to recover time-barred debts to the Army & Air Force Exchange Service).

From 2012 to 2019, Marie worked for the Justice & Diversity Center of the Bar Association of San Francisco, which provides free legal services to low-income persons. Marie trained and supervised volunteer attorneys assisting clients facing debt collection lawsuits, and provided a range of direct legal services to patients at low-income medical clinics, as well as collaborating with and training medical interns, residents, nurses, and staff regarding legal issues impacting patient health outcomes.

In 2019, returning to private practice, Marie resumed representing consumers in class action litigation. Notable cases include Gold v. Lumber Liquidators, No. 14-cv-05373-RS (N.D. Cal.) (settlement approval and distribution of funds in a certified multistate class action involving bamboo floors), and Smith v. Apple Inc., No. 4:21-cv-09527 (N.D. Cal.) (class action alleging defective Apple watches resulting in $20 million nationwide settlement); In re: Philips Recalled CPAP, Bi-Level PAP, and Mechanical Ventilator Prod. Litig., MDL No. 3014 (member of the Medical Monitoring Working Group in a class action alleging defective CPAP products); Weston v. Subaru of America, Inc., No. 1:20-cv-05876-CPO-SAK (D.N.J.) (member of informal Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in class action alleging vehicle defect that caused sudden unintentional acceleration), and Delahoy v. Samsung Elecs. Am., No. 2:22-cv-04132-CCC-CLW (D.N.J.) (named co-lead interim counsel in case alleging defective range knobs that unintentionally activate).

In 2025, Marie joined Bradley/Grombacher LLP and continues her work representing consumers in class action litigation.

In addition to her litigation work, from 2011 to 2024, Marie was an Adjunct Professor at Golden Gate University School of Law in San Francisco, teaching the Consumer Rights Clinic, and legal research and writing.

Marie has a long history of pro bono involvement and currently volunteers at the Community Legal Assistance Saturday Program, a monthly free legal clinic sponsored by the Alameda County Bar Association. In addition, from 1997 to 2012, Marie volunteered regularly for the Justice & Diversity Center in San Francisco, which, on multiple years, designated her as one of its Outstanding Volunteers in Public Service.

Marie earned a B.A. in French from San Francisco State University and a Juris Doctor from the University of San Francisco School of Law, where she was an Associate Literary Editor of the USF Maritime Law Journal.