Lieff Cabraser Civil Justice Newsletter
Issue #18, October 2005

Top News

1. Ford Cruise Control Recall Expands; Fires Reported Nationwide
2. Unlawful Kickbacks to Major California Real Estate Brokerages Alleged
3. Work to End National Tragedy of 15-Passenger Van Rollover Accidents Continues
4. Court Certifies Racial Discrimination Class Action Lawsuit Against FedEx Express
5. Investigation of Reported General Motors Wheel Defects
6. National Law Journal Selects Lieff Cabraser as One of The Nation's Best Plaintiffs' Firms
7. Welders File Suit For Injuries From Exposure to Welding Fumes
8. Lieff Cabraser Attorneys Receive Honors

• Kelly M. Dermody
• Kathryn E. Barnett
• Elizabeth J. Cabraser

Introduction

The Lieff Cabraser Civil Justice Newsletter is published quarterly by the law firm of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP. With over 60 lawyers in five offices, Lieff Cabraser has a comprehensive, diversified civil litigation practice that is unique among plaintiff law firms in the United States. We also maintain affiliations with attorneys worldwide.

You are receiving this newsletter as a result of contacting us on the internet. We hope you find it to be of interest. A copy of the newsletter is also available online at www.lieffcabraser.com/newsletter_cover.htm.

As set forth in complaints, the Ford Speed Control Deactivation Switch (also known as a "brake pressure switch"), mounted above flammable reservoirs of brake fluid, is always under power by current from the battery. Under certain conditions fire can break out, even when the engine has been turned off -- in some cases after being idle for days.

The following signs could indicate that you have a problem with your cruise-control switch:

• cruise control is not working properly;
• brake fluid is leaking around the switch;
• fuses are blown near the switch; or
• the fuse for the speed control cannot be opened.

On September 7, 2005, Ford announced a recall of 3.8 million full-size pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles to repair the allegedly defective cruise control switch. The voluntary recall came less than two weeks after consumer advocate Ralph Nader criticized Ford, the nation's number two automaker, for dragging its feet on the issue.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has received more than 1,000 complaints of engine fires linked to the faulty switch. NHTSA first opened an investigation into the alleged switch defect in November 2004, which resulted in the January 2005 recall of almost 800,000 Ford pickups and sport utility vehicles.

To read more about the switch fire dangers, and to see an expanded, updated list of recalled vehicles, including those that have the same or similar cruise control switches, please visit www.vehicle-injuries.com/ford-fire.htm.

  
Unlawful Kickbacks to Major California Real Estate Brokerages Alleged

Lieff Cabraser is investigating claims that major real estate brokerages in California, including Coldwell Banker, Century 21, ERA, Intero, Lyon, Prudential California Realty and Re/Max of California and Hawaii, received indirect kickbacks of real estate closing costs paid by sellers of residential property, in violation of federal law.

If you sold a home in California within the last year and used any of these brokerages, please visit www.lieffcabraser.com/broker-complaints.htm to learn how you can advance the rights of property owners and obtain a free, no-obligation review of your claim.

  
Work to End National Tragedy of 15-Passenger Van Rollover Accidents Continues

On December 15, 2003, Tim and Frances Bardessono lost their daughter Corinne when she was illegally transported in a Ford E350 15-passenger van on a school trip. After their daughter's death, the Bardessonos began working on a campaign to warn schools, police departments and rental car offices in Washington against the use of such vans for transporting students.

According to government statistics, over 1,200 fatal crashes have occurred involving the large, heavy vans since 1990. As part of their efforts, the Bardessono family has developed warning stickers to advise occupants of the high risk of rollover and to keep school children out of large passenger vans. 

Lieff Cabraser served as counsel for the Bardessono family. If you would like to learn more about the rollover risks these vehicles present or to request a warning sticker, please visit http://www.vehicle-injuries.com/15-passenger-van-rollovers.htm.

  
Court Certifies Racial Discrimination Class Action Lawsuit Against FedEx Express

In September 2005, U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston certified as a class action a racial discrimination suit against FedEx Express. The complaint, filed by eight current and former employees, alleges that FedEx Express systematically discriminates against African-American and Latino hourly employees and African-American lower-level managers in the company’s Western Region.

Learn more FedEx Express race discrimination case at www.racecaseagainstfedex.com.

  
Investigation of Reported General Motors Wheel Defects

Lieff Cabraser is investigating alleged design defects in General Motors vehicles, model year 1999 to present, equipped with 16-inch aluminum/aluminum alloy rear wheels with rear disc brakes.

The rear wheel disc brake assemblies in these vehicles are allegedly defective, in that they readily permit stones, rocks, pieces of asphalt and other debris to lodge between the brake caliper and the wheel. Debris lodged against the wheel can cut through the rim and cause tire damage or can act as a brake and cause the wheel to stop rotating and therefore cause sudden, extreme instability with the vehicle and lead to an accident or rollover.

To see photos of the alleged defect and learn more about your legal rights, visit http://www.vehicle-injuries.com/gm-wheel-defects.htm.

National Law Journal Selects Lieff Cabraser as One of The Nation's Best Plaintiffs' Firms

In its annual list of the plaintiffs' firms “doing the most to shape the law" published on October 10, 2005, the National Law Journal selected Lieff Cabraser as one of the nation’s top 12 plaintiffs’ firms. Lieff Cabraser was also a member of the National Law Journal's Plaintiffs ' "Hot List" in 2004 and 2003, and is one of only five plaintiffs' firms in the nation to receive this award each of the last three years.

Over the past year, Lieff Cabraser has achieved a series of remarkable trial victories and settlements on behalf of consumers, businesses, employees, patients and homeowners.

  
Welders File Suit For Injuries From Exposure to Welding Fumes

In July 2005, eighteen welding rod workers filed a mass tort lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against Airco Inc., Caterpillar, Inc., General Electric Company and more than 55 other defendants claiming that they incurred serious neurological injuries from exposure to welding fumes containing manganese, a substance toxic to the human central nervous system.

"The diseases that people suffer as a result of exposure are chronic, debilitating, and do not improve even after they stop welding," said Lieff Cabraser partner Robert J. Nelson. To learn more about this litigation, please visit http://www.weldingrodinjuries.com.

  
Lieff Cabraser Attorneys Receive Honors

Kelly M. Dermody - The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights (LCCR) of the San Francisco Bay Area has announced that it will honor Lieff Cabraser partner Kelly Dermody at an event on October 27, 2005, for her "outstanding leadership, extraordinary vision and unwavering commitment" to the LCCR. Ms. Dermody has been a board member of the LCCR since 1998 and co-chair since 2003.

The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights is devoted to advancing the rights of people of color, the poor, immigrants and refugees. Learn more at http://www.lccr.com.

   
Kathryn E. Barnett - In its review of the top attorneys in Nashville and the surrounding region, the Nashville Business Journal in August 2005, selected Lieff Cabraser partner Kathryn E. Barnett as being among the "Best of the Bar." Ms. Barnett was one of only eleven attorneys named in the “Litigation” category. The Journal noted that Ms. Barnett “is one of the few true trial lawyers among a generation of lawyers that know how to litigate, but rarely get to try a case.”

      
Elizabeth J. Cabraser - This Fall, the San Francisco and Los Angeles Daily Journals selected the Top 75 Women Litigators and Top 100 Lawyers in California. Appearing on both lists was Elizabeth J. Cabraser. When asked by the Daily Journal about her mentor and law partner, Robert L. Lieff, Ms. Cabraser responded, “Learning from Robert Lieff that the law and the legal process was intended to resolve disputes and solve problems, and that ‘adversary’ was the process but not the point of litigation, enabled me to become and stay a lawyer, and to try to be a good one.” Ms. Cabraser was also named one of Law & Politics' "Super Lawyers" for 2005.

  
About Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP

Founded in 1972, Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, is a national plaintiffs' law firm with offices in San Francisco, New York and Nashville.

We represent consumers in consumer protection cases; patients in cases involving dangerous or defective products; employees subjected to discrimination and unlawful labor practices; shareholders, institutional investors and public entities in securities and financial fraud litigation; homeowners and others exposed to environmental contamination and toxic substances; and consumers, businesses and public entities alleging antitrust violations by large corporations.

We can be reached on the internet at www.lieffcabraser.com or by mail to Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, 275 Battery Street, 30th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94111-3339.

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