• "One of the nation's premier plaintiffs' firms."

    American Lawyer

  • "Representing the best qualities of the plaintiffs' bar."

    The National Law Journal

  • "Their effective and caring advocacy for clients has earned Lieff Cabraser its first-class reputation."

    The Daily Journal
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Lieff Cabraser has participated in many of the most important civil cases in the United States over the past three decades, helping recover over $42 billion in verdicts and settlements for clients, plus an additional $206 billion in the multi-state tobacco litigation.

Successes

Practice Area Case Result
Antitrust

  • In 2003, the Court approved a landmark of $1.1 billion settlement in class action litigation against El Paso Natural Gas Co. for manipulating the market for natural gas pipeline transmission capacity into California.  Lieff Cabraser served as Plaintiffs’ Co-Lead Counsel and Co-Liaison Counsel in the Natural Gas Antitrust Cases I-IV.

    $1.25 billion settlement
Consumer Protection

  • Under settlements with several of California's largest hospital chains, almost a million patients received refunds or bill adjustments, and millions more benefitted from reduced prices for future medical care.

    Price discrimination against California uninsured patients ended
Defective Products

  • The settlement provided an enhanced 20-year warranty of free service and free parts for consumers whose high efficiency condensing furnaces have not yet failed, and cash refunds for consumers who already paid to repair their Carrier furnaces.

    20-year enhanced warranty of free service & free parts

  • In approving the settlement, the Court stated, "I want to thank counsel for the ... very effective and good work ... it was carried out with vigor, integrity, and aggressiveness with never going beyond the maxims of the Court."

    $750 to $1,300 certificates
Employment Law

  • The complaint charges that AT&T has a common practice of misclassifying its technical support workers as exempt and failing to pay them for all overtime hours worked in violation of federal overtime pay laws.

    $12.5 million settlement

  • The Smith Barney settlement provides for comprehensive injunctive relief and significant monetary relief for the 2,411 female financial advisors who were part of the class.

    $33 million settlement
Environmental Litigation

  • After a series of appeals, the U.S. Supreme Court set the punitive damages award against Exxon for the Exxon Valdez oil spill at $507.5 million, an amount equal to the compensatory damages. With interest and earlier payments, the total recovery to the plaintiff class was $1.515 billion.

    $1.5 billion in awards and other payments
False Claims Act

  • We served as Lead Plaintiffs' Counsel for former University of Phoenix enrollment counselors. The complaint alleged the school knowingly misled the U.S. Department of Education to become eligible for its students to collect financial aid.

    $78.5 million settlement
Personal Injury

  • Lieff Cabraser served as Plaintiffs’ Liaison Counsel and Elizabeth J. Cabraser chaired the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee charged with overseeing all personal injury and consumer litigation in Federal courts nationwide arising out of the sale and marketing of the COX-2 inhibitors Bextra and Celebrex.

    $850 million in settlements

  • In 2007, Lieff Cabraser attorneys obtained a $54 million verdict against Chrysler in the Mraz v. DaimlerChrysler wrongful death case arising out of a defective vehicle (the park-to-reverse transmission defect).

    $54 million verdict in defective vehicle case
Securities & Investor Fraud

  • Coupled with the earlier $118 million partial settlement, the total recovery in the derivative action was approximately $197.5 million, constituting the third largest in a derivative action involving stock options backdating.

    Settlements valued at $197.5 million
  View All Successes

Current Cases

Practice Area Case Issue
Antitrust

  • Leading High Tech companies allegedly entered into agreements with each other, eliminating a significant form of competition to attract highly skilled employees and distorting the hiring and promotion process to the detriment of affected employees.

    Restraint of competition

  • Lieff Cabraser is the Court-appointed Co-Lead Class Counsel in antitrust litigation against the world's leading manufacturers of Thin Film Transistor-Liquid Crystal Displays (TFT-LCDs), which are incorporated into flat screen televisions, computer monitors, laptop computers and other products.

    Price-fixing cartel
Consumer Protection

  • Richard M. Heimann served as Lead Trial Attorney in a class action lawsuit by Wells Fargo California customers charging the bank engaged in unfair and manipulative business practices to boost the number of overdraft fees it charged. Wells Fargo has filed an appeal.

    $203 million in restitution; litigation ongoing
Defective Products

  • The complaints charge that certain front-loading washers develop mold, resulting in a moldy odor on clothes that also permeates the washing machines and consumers' homes.

    Defective design, mildew growth
Employment Law

  • Female employees represented by Lieff Cabraser and co-counsel charge that Costco discriminates against women in promotions to management positions.

    Gender discrimination

  • Lieff Cabraser serves as Co-Lead Counsel for plaintiffs in a gender discrimination class action lawsuit against Goldman Sachs. The complaint charges that, among other things, Goldman Sachs pays its female professionals less than similarly situated males, disproportionately promotes men over equally or more qualified women, and offers better business opportunities and professional support to its male professionals.

    Gender discrimination
Environmental Litigation

  • We are representing individuals, property owners, and business owners along the Gulf Coast seeking compensation for lost business and decline in property values in litigation against BP.

    Multi-state environmental disaster
False Claims Act

  • This qui tam (whistleblower) lawsuit charges that Sutter hospitals, one of the largest hospital chains in California, submitted false bills for anesthesia services.

    Fraudulent billing of anesthesia services
Personal Injury

  • Major orthopedic manufacturers have announced the recall of several prosthetic hip implants, including the DePuy ASR XL Acetabular and ASR Hip Resurfacing systems, and the Zimmer Durom Cup.

    Defective artificial hip implants

  • The FDA approved Medtronic's Infuse bone graft for use in the lower back, but in many cases it has been used in other areas of the back and neck, casuing severe pain and uncontrolled bone growth.

    Improper off-label use
Securities & Investor Fraud

  • The lawsuit charges Bank of America with making misrepresentations to shareholders in the course of its purchase of Merrill Lynch.

    Misrepresentations during merger

  • The complaints charge that defendants concealed excessive mark-ups or mark-downs relative to foreign exchange rates of the trades conducted for defendants' custodial FX clients.

    False foreign exchange rates
  View All Current Cases