Law360, New York ( March 23, 2015, 11:15 AM EDT) -- Two billion dollars. That is what the top legal counsel at nearly 350 companies spent on the defense of class actions in 2014. In addition to the cost of outside counsel, on average, companies dedicate six in-house individuals to manage class actions, four of whom are attorneys. Moreover, class actions — regardless of whether they concern consumer fraud, cybersecurity or employment — have the ability to instantly damage an entity's goodwill and reputation. And, critically, bet-the-company class action litigation is on the rise. Given these high stakes, it is too often that class action defendants bear the heavy burden of paying for costly discovery and substantial motion practice well before they can challenge even the flimsiest class action allegations....