News

ABA Journal, "A Step Up in Class"

          In the proud eyes of its proponents, the 2005 Class Action Fairness Act set out to radically change the cat-and-mouse game between class action plaintiffs lawyers and the corporations whose cheese they challenge. It was crafted to board up most entry holes to state courts for cases reaching nationwide, leaving only the federal courts. CAFA declared, in effect, to hell with the so-called judicial hellholes—those jurisdictions thought to favor plaintiffs and super-sized jury awards. More...

The Press Democrat, "$33 million bias suit payout: 2,500 women may share in Smith Barney settlement spurred by Santa Rosa suit"

        Citigroup Inc. will pay $33 million to settle a lawsuit filed by three female brokers in Santa Rosa who charged its Smith Barney unit denied equal opportunities for women. More...

Bloomberg, "Citigroup to Settle Smith Barney Bias Lawsuit for $33 Million"

        Citigroup Inc., the biggest U.S. bank by assets, agreed to pay $33 million to resolve claims by female brokers at unit Smith Barney that the company continued to discriminate after a 1997 sexual-harassment settlement. More...

Reuters, " Citigroup to pay $33 million in gender bias lawsuit"

        Citigroup Inc (C.N) has agreed to pay $33 million to about 2,500 current and former female brokers at its Smith Barney unit to settle a three-year-old discrimination lawsuit, court papers show. More...

Mill Valley Herald, "Mill Valley Man [and Lieff Cabraser Partner] Named Lawyer of the Year"

          Mill Valley resident [and Lieff Cabraser partner] Robert J. Nelson was named a California Lawyer of the Year by the editors of California Lawyer magazine recently. The award honors Nelson's victory in a major case against the DaimlerChrylser Corporation in which a jury awarded $50 million in punitive damages against the company in addition to $5.2 million in compensatory damages for the death of Richard Mraz. More...

LA Times, "Class actions feel effects of Milberg case"

          As famed class-action lawyer William S. Lerach steps before a federal judge in Los Angeles today to learn his sentence in a wide-ranging fraud and conspiracy probe, his misdeeds and those of former colleagues may be helping to alter the way securities law is practiced. "There's heightened concern," said San Francisco lawyer Richard Heimann, who represents plaintiffs in securities class actions. Fund managers who have approached him want reassurance "that there weren't any skeletons in our closet," he said, often asking for written declarations from prospective lawyers that they have not been indicted or disciplined by the bar. More...

San Diego Tribune, "Scripps Health settlement deal could benefit up to 60,000 patients"

A proposed settlement of a class-action lawsuit against Scripps Health on billing of uninsured patients could reduce unpaid hospital bills owed by as many as 60,000 patients. The deal would apply to patients who received care from one of the nonprofit's five hospital emergency rooms as far back as July 19, 2002, were uninsured at the time and paid full prices for medical services. Those patients would be eligible for a 35 percent discount on their bills. More...

Star-Ledger (NJ), "New label for Ortho Evra birth control patch"

          The Food and Drug Administration yesterday approved an updated label for Johnson & Johnson's Ortho Evra birth control patch that gives heightened emphasis to the risk of serious blood clots some women could face. More...

AP, "Study links blood clots to Ortho Evra contraceptive patch"

          A new study showing an increased risk of blood clots among women using a contraceptive skin patch prompted the Food and Drug Administration on Friday to add that finding to the drug's label. More...

Bloomberg, "Punitive Damages Shrink as High Court Reins in Trial Lawyers"

          A U.S. court crackdown on punitive damages resulted in the second consecutive year of declines and reversals of earlier verdicts. Punitive damages in the 50 biggest verdicts fell to $1.6 billion in 2007 from $1.8 billion in 2006 and $5 billion in 2005, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. A pivotal U.S. Supreme Court decision last year will aid in appeals and help reduce future awards, companies' lawyers say. The court said defendants can't be punished for harming anyone not included in a case, such as other customers. More...

Mraz v. DaimlerChrysler Makes Top Verdicts in Daily Journal's Annual Review

In its annual review of the top jury verdicts in California, the Daily Journal recognized Mraz v. DaimlerChrysler as the fourth largest verdict of the past year. With local counsel, Lieff Cabraser partners Robert J. Nelson and Scott P. Nealey represented Adriana Mraz, whose husband was killed due to a "park to reverse" transmission defect in a Dodge Dakota. The jury returned a verdict of $50 million in punitive damages in March 2007. Read the Daily Journal's profile of the Mraz case.

January 3, 2008, Nashville, TN -- For the third consecutive year, Lieff Cabraser partner Kathryn Barnett was named one of Tennessee's 150 Best Lawyers by the magazine Business Tennessee. To compile the short and distinguished list, the magazine "polls leading attorneys, judges and corporate executives across the state and beyond to spotlight some of the brightest minds in Tennessee's legal community." Learn more...