The Seattle Times, "Weyerhaeuser Settles Suit Over Faulty Roofs"

Thousands of homeowners who roofed their houses with shakes made from a combination of cement and wood fiber will benefit from a $105 million lawsuit settlement reached with Weyerhaeuser. Under a partial agreement announced today in a class-action suit against Weyerhaeuser and MacMillan Bloedel, homeowners will be able to replace faulty roofs made with a range of shakes manufactured by Oregon-based American Cemwood.

MacMillan Bloedel, based in Canada, acquired American Cemwood in 1994.  Weyerhaeuser acquired MacMillan Bloedel for $2.45 billion in June. The class action involves homeowners throughout the United States.  "Although this is a partial settlement of the litigation, it provides significant, fair and expeditious relief for homeowners," said William Bernstein, plaintiffs' attorney at San Francisco law firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein.

Los Angeles Times, "Germany Pledges $5.2 Billion for Slave Laborers"

Professing shame and remorse for the crimes of the Nazis, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on Friday heralded a $5.2-billion compensation pact for World War II slave laborers as long-awaited closure on an era "that left an undying mark on the hearts and minds and souls of mankind."

The agreement settling class-action lawsuits more than 60 years after the Third Reich first enslaved workers "will take U.S.-German relations to new heights in the new millennium," said Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who was in the German capital for a foreign policy meeting. Estimates of the number of survivors eligible for compensation range as high as 2.3 million, but many details of how the payments will be distributed remain unresolved.

Reuters, "California Gets First Check From Tobacco Pact"

California has received its first slice of the $206 billion national tobacco settlement, with two more checks set to follow by next April. The $315 million check is the first installment of California's estimated $1 billion a year payout from the 25-year national settlement reached in November 1998 between the tobacco industry and 46 states.

The state government of California is slated to receive 50 percent of the total payout, with the state's counties getting 45 percent and the cities of Los Angeles, San Jose, San Diego and San Francisco sharing the remaining 5 percent. Lieff Cabraser served as co-counsel for the California counties and cities.

New York Times, "Monsanto Sued Over Use of Biotechnology in Developing Seeds"

Some of the nation's most prominent antitrust lawyers filed a class-action lawsuit against the Monsanto Company yesterday, accusing it of rushing genetically engineered seeds to the marketplace without properly testing them for safety and of forming an international cartel that conspired to control the world's market in corn and soybean seeds.

The suit, which contends that Monsanto is at the hub of an international conspiracy to control a large part of the world's seed supply, was brought on behalf of a coalition of small farmers and farm groups that accused Monsanto of giving farmers false and fraudulent guarantees about the safety and marketability of a new breed of bio-engineered seeds.

Wall Street Journal, "Germans, U.S. Reach Accord to Compensate Slave Laborers"

After nearly a year of contentious negotiations, German government and industry officials reached a 10 billion mark ($5.19 billion) accord with U.S. negotiators to compensate Nazi-era slave laborers, according to officials involved in the talks and a German attorney representing survivors.

The agreement marks the first time German companies have banded together to pay significant amounts to people forced to work for them, often under inhumane conditions, as part of the Nazi war machine. In return, German industry will receive immunity from U.S. regulatory sanctions and class action lawsuits.

PR Newswire, Press Release, "American Family Enterprises Settles Class Action Suits"

American Family Enterprises (AFE), sponsors of the American Family Publishers sweepstakes, announced today that the United States District Court of New Jersey has preliminarily approved an agreement that settles the outstanding legal claims of all class action and other private lawsuits filed against the Company. The settlement requires AFE to implement a variety of consumer-oriented initiatives and establish a $33 million consumer fund.

Elizabeth Cabraser, co-lead Counsel for the Plaintiffs, said that the settlement provided substantial benefits to the Class of consumers affected by it and also stated, "We have worked hard to develop rules which will reform the sweepstakes business. Our settlement dovetails with similar measure taken by various state Attorneys General who also took a leadership role in this effort." For a more complete description of the proposed settlement, click here.

The Wall Street Journal, "Administration Threatens Massive Suit Against Gun Industry to Force Changes"

The Clinton administration threatened to file a massive lawsuit against the gun industry in a move that could significantly alter the decades-old debate about firearms in America. Officials at the Department of Housing and Urban Development said yesterday that they were moving ahead with plans for a class-action lawsuit that could be filed on behalf of 3,200 public housing authorities around the country.

Gun foes celebrated the development. "This is a momentous event in this litigation," said Robert Nelson, a lawyer with the San Francisco firm of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, which has been representing that city and others in their gun suits and advising HUD on shaping a housing-authority class action. "The threat of really massive litigation and federal involvement could cripple the industry" and will force it to compromise, Mr. Nelson predicted.

The Recorder, "Firms May Tussle Over Microsoft"

Two leading law firms with antitrust class actions against Microsoft Corp. are seeking to make San Francisco the venue for the handful of such cases pending in California courts. San Francisco class action plaintiffs firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP jumped into the Microsoft fray last week with a suit on behalf of consumers who purchased Microsoft Windows upgrades.  The firm has filed a motion to coordinate Microsoft class actions in San Francisco.

"The litigation on file the longest and the level of sophistication with complex class actions is here; we think San Francisco is the best place for this," said Lieff Cabraser partner Joseph R. Saveri. "Based on our track record, whatever leadership structure there is should include us."

Associated Press, "Judge Approves Dow Corning's Bankruptcy"

Thousands of women claiming silicone gel breast implants made by Dow Corning Corp. made them sick will share $3.2 billion in a settlement worked out by dozens of lawyers over 4 1/2 years. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Spector approved the plan during a 20-minute hearing Tuesday morning, but he cautioned that it could not take effect unless there were no appeals.

According to the settlement worked out between the company and attorneys for many of the women, those who blame illnesses on Dow Corning implants could get between $12,000 and $300,000 each.  Women also can get up to $25,000 for ruptured or leaking implants, and up to $5,000 for implant removal. Most women will join the settlement rather than risk further legal action that could leave them empty-handed, said San Francisco attorney Elizabeth Cabraser of the Tort Claimants Committee, the group of lawyers who represented all women with implant claims. "Lawsuits take a long time. They're expensive and they're uncertain," she said. "There are 200,000 claimants who will now have their first happy holiday season in eight years."

The Recorder, "Seeds of Discontent"

Ten U.S. law firms are preparing a class action against Monsanto Co. over its marketing practices and requirements it has placed on farmers who purchase the company's seeds. Joseph Saveri, a partner at San Francisco's Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, said the suit against Monsanto may assert claims of misrepresentation and antitrust violations.

"There are concerns about competition and whether companies have too much market power or are abusing market power," said Saveri.

The San Francisco Examiner, "Class-Action Suits May Put Microsoft in Mood To Go All Out In Legal Defense"

San Francisco law firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, filed suit in San Francisco Superior Court, alleging that Microsoft engaged in "predatory and anti-competitive conduct" by the pricing of its Windows 95 and Windows 98 operating systems.

The suit is one of several legal actions taken against Microsoft this week. It was filed on behalf of Nanette Fisher, a Stockton paralegal, and other as-yet-unnamed purchasers of Windows.  The lawsuit asks the court to grant the case class-action status."From our perspective, San Francisco is just about the best place in the state for this litigation," said Joseph Saveri, a Lieff Cabraser attorney. "The judges are sophisticated, and most lawyers and plaintiffs now involved in this litigation are from this state."

Post-Newsweek, "More Class Action Lawsuits Plague Microsoft"

Attorneys in California as well as Florida have become the latest legal eagles to file class-action lawsuits against the gigantic software company, joining their friends in Louisiana, Alabama, Ohio and other states. The California action was filed by attorney Joseph Saveri of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP, and seeks relief in San Francisco Superior Court for all customers who bought Windows 95 and 98 operating systems from Microsoft between August 1, 1995 and the present.

"As alleged in the complaint, Microsoft's suppression of competition and other misconduct forced consumers in California to pay substantially more for the Windows 95 and 98 operating systems than they would have had to pay in a competitive marketplace," said Saveri.

Business Week, "State Farm:  Judges and Juries Have Found the Insurer Guilty of Serious Misconduct"

State Farm has quietly gotten itself into more hot water than any insurer since Prudential Insurance Co. While the legal judgments aren't an economic threat to State Farm, which has a policyholders' surplus of nearly $45 billion, they do raise questions about whether something has gone awry inside the nation's largest property insurer.

In the auto case, the judge and jury were both troubled by internal memos that indicated that State Farm knew generic parts were inferior -- but told customers the opposite.

The Los Angeles Times, "Judge Hits State Farm In Parts Case"

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., already reeling from a $456-million jury verdict earlier this week -- the largest single award ever against an insurance firm -- was hit Friday with an additional $730-million award by an Illinois judge who found that the company deliberately defrauded policyholders by requiring body shops to use inferior crash parts to repair their wrecked vehicles.

The combined award totals $1.18 billion. Because State Farm plans to appeal, it could be years before policyholders included in the class action see any money, even if the award stands. In a 13-page decision, Williamson County Judge John Speroni cited State Farm's internal company documents that reveal how the insurer knew it was shortchanging its customers. Judge Speroni said, "State Farm occupies a position of trust with its policyholders who pay the required premiums and are entitled to receive all the benefits the insurer promises to provide in its insurance contract.  State Farm violated this trust."

Lieff Cabraser partner Elizabeth Cabraser said the damage award will force generic parts manufacturers, most of whom are in Taiwan, to improve the quality of their products.  "Competition is good, but quality and choice are most important for consumers," Cabraser said.

The New York Times, "State Farm is Told to Pay Policyholders $456 Million in Auto-Parts Case"

An Illinois jury ruled yesterday that State Farm, the nation's largest auto insurer, had breached its contract with policyholders by requiring body shops to use lower-priced generic parts for crash repairs, rather than parts made by auto manufacturers. Under the class-action verdict, which could have a wide impact on the insurance business, State Farm must pay $456 million as compensation to policyholders who filed a total of about 4.7 million claims.

These parts -- frequently called "after market" parts, since they do not come from the manufacturer -- often sell for significantly less than those offered by auto companies.  Lawyers for the plaintiffs said that the generic parts often did not fit right and that they reduced the appearance, functioning and resale value of a car. "They're not made to the same standards and specifications," said Lieff Cabraser partner Elizabeth Cabraser. "They don't have quality control, and they're not crash-tested."

Los Angeles Times, "Jury Slams State Farm on Generic Auto Parts"

In a major setback for the auto insurance industry, a jury in Illinois yesterday ordered the nation’s largest car insurer to pay $456 million for cheating millions of customers by ordering body shops to fix their cars with low-cost generic replacement parts. The verdict is the largest in State Farm’s 77-year history and the largest single award ever against any insurance company, according to the American Insurance Association, a trade group.

After deliberating for three days, jurors decided that during the last 11 years, State Farm broke its contractual promise with 5 million policyholders to repair their vehicles with parts of like kind and quality. Lieff Cabraser partner Morris Ratner said consumers should be given the option of paying lower premiums for generic parts. "Consumers should be allowed to make informed decisions but, in this case, people simply didn’t bargain for imitation," Ratner observed.

The Recorder, "Chevron Sued Over Explosion"

Twenty local plaintiffs firms have banned together to file a class action against Chevron Corp. over the March 25, 1999, explosion at the oil giant’s Richmond refinery. According to the complaint, more than 1,000 people were hospitalized in the wake of the explosion, and thousands more were warned by the county health department to remain in their homes with the windows shut.

Donald Arbitblit, a partner at Lieff Cabraser, one of the firms representing plaintiffs in the case, said the suit was filed to force Chevron to improve its safety compliance record. "The company should not be exposing the community to toxic events on a repeated basis," Arbitblit said. "It’s not good enough to say accidents will happen. They shouldn’t happen as often as they do."

San Francisco Chronicle, "California Set for Tobacco Settlement Checks"

California is poised to begin collecting $1 billion a year in money from the $206 billion settlement of a lawsuit against the tobacco industry, Attorney General Bill Lockyer announced yesterday."This represents a historic conclusion to a major victory in the fight against smoking," Lockyer told reporters. "The settlement holds the industry accountable for decades of deceitful or illegal marketing."

Note: Lieff Cabraser served as co-counsel for cities and counties in California that sued the tobacco industry and the State of California’s action was coordinated with the cities and counties’ action.

San Francisco Chronicle, "Suit Decries State Farm Repair Plan"

Next week, a jury will begin hearing dozens of complaints as it considers a class action lawsuit that fundamentally could change the way insurance companies pay for car repairs. Plaintiffs contend that State Farm breached its contract with customers and violated Illinois consumer fraud laws when it required cars be fixed with parts that don't return the vehicles to the "preloss condition" called for in its policies.

The suit, filed on behalf of 5.5 million current and former State Farm auto insurance customers, could cost State Farm more than $2 billion and force the nation's largest auto insurer to drop its policy of insisting on cheaper replacement parts. Lieff Cabraser serves as co-counsel in this case.

Contra Costa County Times, "Lawsuit Accuses BofA of Illegal Escrow Profits"

Bank of America has landed in the middle of an intensifying legal face-off over whether illegal profits are being harvested from the escrow accounts of home buyers. A lawsuit filed in a San Francisco federal court last Friday alleges that BofA breached its fiduciary duty by paying kickbacks to title insurance companies that brought the bank temporary deposits that eventually were released to pay for home purchases. The suit seeks to represent potentially millions of consumers in real estate transactions dating back to 1980.

Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, a "prominent law firm" behind the complaint against BofA, indicated that more banks will be sued in the upcoming weeks. "Based on the information that we have, BofA is not the only bank that engaged in these kinds of practices," said Lieff Cabraser partner Barry R. Himmelstein, who is overseeing the litigation.

California Lawyer, "The Prime of Ms. Louise Renne"

In an article profiling San Francisco City Attorney Louise Renne and how she has changed the role of a public sector attorney, it was noted that Renne hired the "nationally recognized plaintiffs firm" of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein to assist her office in litigation against the tobacco and gun industries.

The Recorder, "Plaintiffs Still Banking on Providian Lawsuits"

The litigation will continue after a promise from Providian Financial, a credit card company, to set aside $20 million for customers who were overcharged. The credit card giant announced a refund and claimed that a computer error was to blame for the overbilling of hundreds of thousands of customers.
          
Plaintiffs' attorneys, however, believe this gesture to be too late and will continue with the litigation. According to Lieff Cabraser partner Kelly Dermody, "The $20 million doesn't address a large number of practices with respect to payment processing.  The actions of Providian in setting aside $20 million to deal with accounting glitches demonstrate that the lawsuits brought by cardholders have had a positive impact."

Reuters, "Judge Okays Denny's Managers' Class Action Suit"

A California judge ruled Monday that managers of Denny's restaurants could proceed with a class-action lawsuit alleging that two private operators of Denny's in California wrongfully withheld millions in overtime wages. The ruling opens the way for a trial on behalf of more than 1,500 managers and general managers employed at the 214 company-owned Denny's restaurants in California since September 1994. 

"Each of our clients has lost thousands of dollars for every year they worked at Denny's, and we intend to ensure that Denny's pays them what they are owed, and to force Denny's to comply with the California law in the future," said William Hirsch of Lieff Cabraser.

The American Law Institute Press Release, "Elizabeth Cabraser Elected to American Law Institute Council"

Elizabeth J. Cabraser of the San Francisco bar was elected to the Council of The American Law Institute (ALI) at the Institute's 76th Annual Meeting in San Francisco. The Council, a group of 60 prominent lawyers, is the governing body of the Institute.

The Institute, founded in 1923, drafts and publishes restatements of the law, model codes, and other proposals for legal reform.  Its membership consists of judges, practicing lawyers, and legal scholars from all areas of the United States as well as some foreign countries, selected on the basis of professional achievement and demonstrated interest in the improvement of the law.

Bloomberg News, "Fidelity National Sued Over Billing and Escrow Practices"

In a class-action suit filed against Fidelity National Financial Inc., it is alleged that the company withheld interest and billed for services never rendered. The lawsuit charges that the California based insurance and real estate services company improperly kept interest on customer escrow funds that could range from $25 million to $500 million for California customers on any given day.

The Philadelphia Enquirer, "Camden, N.J., to Sue Makers of Guns"

Camden, New Jersey Mayor Milton Milan said the city intended to file a lawsuit against firearms manufacturers to stem the flow of guns in Camden City. The city's suit, the mayor noted, would draw on a group of high-powered private attorneys, including Lieff Cabraser, as well as a myriad of national and local organizations, including the National Council of La Raza, the nation's largest Hispanic civil-rights group.

New York Times, "Breast Implant Deal Is Approved"

The Dow Corning Corporation reached a $3.2 billion settlement with women who argue silicone breast implants made them sick or want the implants removed. Approximately 96% of the 112,774 women who cast ballots approved the plan. On June 28th the settlement will go back to U.S. Bankruptcy Court where the judge will hear arguments from creditors. 

If the settlement is approved by the Court claimants could begin receiving payments by the end of 1999. An estimated one to two million women in the United States have received implants for enlargement or for restoration after cancer surgery.

Tobacco Industry Litigation Reporter, "NY Suit Proposes Nationwide Class of Injured Smokers"

Seven tobacco companies have been named in a product liability class action filed in the Eastern District of New York on behalf of all residents of the United States who claim personal injuries from cigarettes. The first attempt to have a nationwide class of smokers certified was rejected by the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Castano v. American Tobacco Co. in 1996. The suit, filed by Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein and two other law firms, asserts seven causes of action, including product liability, negligence, and fraudulent concealment.

New York Times, "Suits Hold Microscope Over Gun Makers"

When Los Angeles and San Francisco filed lawsuits against the gun industry, the growing legal assault on gun makers gained it's best opportunity to subject the industry to a wide-ranging investigation that might reveal damaging internal documents similar to those that led tobacco companies to settle with the states. 

The sheer size of the populations involved in these suits gives California an added advantage of more financial resources to litigate and more basis to win damages. The same prominent law firms that had won suits against the tobacco industry were hired in this suit, including Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein.

San Jose Mercury News, "Informix Settles Fraud Suit"

Investors won a $142 million settlement Wednesday from Informix Corp., two years after accusing the Menlo Park software firm, its executives and its accountants with falsifying financial statements and engaging in insider trading.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs said the settlement was the largest securities fraud case ever in Silicon Valley and demonstrated the importance of protections for shareholders in the volatile environment of high-tech trading.

The Boston Globe, "Boston Prepares Anti-Gun Lawsuit"

The city of Boston will hire three prominent law firms, including Lieff Cabraser, to file a $100 million lawsuit against gun manufacturers. Utilizing legal theories first put forth in Chicago and New Orleans, Boston will argue that the gun industry has been negligent in the marketing and distribution of unsafe products. This loose distribution has created a public nuisance, costing the city in extra police, hospital, and emergency room services as well as dwindling the quality of life and property values in crime-ridden neighborhoods.

San Francisco Daily Journal, "Cities Could Be Facing 'Uphill Battle' in Gun Suits"

City attorneys of San Francisco and Los Angeles, Louise Renne and James K. Hahn, Tuesday launched coordinated suits against 28 weapons manufacturers, six gun distributors and three trade associations. The Renne suite, filed in San Francisco Superior Court, is California v. Arcadia Machine & Tool, Inc., 303753.

About a dozen other California cities and counties joined as plaintiffs, asserting under the Unfair Competition Law that the industry has saturated the legitimate market with weapons lacking available safety features. The industry practices unfairly promote a secondary black market in which guns are readily available to unauthorized users like children and criminals, the suit contends.

"The gun industry has created a domestic arms race," Renne charged. "They have shown a deliberate indifference to what happens to their weapons after they leave the factory. We intend to achieve fundamental industry reform." On the case with the government lawyers are private litigators Richard M. Heimann and Robert J. Nelson from Lieff Cabraser.

Natural Investor.com, "Fallout Continues From Vitamin Pricing Scandal"

An almost decade long collusion of vitamin price fixing has been halted by the U.S. Justice Department. F. Hoffman-LaRoche Ltd. of Switzerland agreed to pay a fine of $500 million, and BASF AG of Germany $225 million, for their role in a decade-long worldwide scheme to artificially boost vitamin prices.

Joseph Saveri of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP said the costs for the implicated companies could go higher. Saveri is counsel for direct purchasers [manufacturers] of vitamins A, B complex and vitamin E sold in bulk. "If the cases go to trial and are settled," Saveri says, "manufacturers could be entitled to a portion of that recovery."

Wireless Week, "WCA Says 'Dead Zones' Industry's Achilles' Heel"

In an article describing a campaign by the Wireless Consumers Alliance to improve the 911 emergency service offered by the wireless telephone carriers and halt alleged false advertising concerning the extent of coverage provided, Stephen Cassidy of Lieff Cabraser expressed concern over vague disclaimers in wireless telephone service contracts that may not adequately disclose gaps in the provider's calling area.

5:00 p.m., KING 5/NBC News, Seattle, Washington

KING 5/NBC News, Seattle, Washington, investigated the growing number of consumer complaints about the performance of Weyerhaeuser hardboard siding on homes in the Pacific Northwest. For more information about Lieff Cabraser's Weyerhaueser hardboard siding cases, click here.

The National Law Journal, "Earth shakers:  California's Top 10 Litigators"

Elizabeth J. Cabraser was described as "one of the nation's most prominent plaintiffs' attorneys, specializing in complex civil litigation, including mass torts, environmental disaster, products liability and various multiplaintiff actions."

San Francisco Examiner, "Drug Settlement To Aid State's Clinics For Poor"

Yesterday, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Alfred G. Chiantelli approved a settlement with pharmaceutical makers accused of overcharging retail pharmacies that will provide $148 million in free prescription drugs to health agencies that serve California's poor and uninsured. William Bernstein of Lieff Cabraser explained that giving drugs to public health agencies, instead of trying to track down individual purchasers who were overcharged, was the most efficient means of assisting the persons who were overcharged in the first place.

Greg Hayner, chief pharmacist for the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic, commented that the price of certain medications are rising "through the roof," and the settlement is "going to benefit a lot of community health organizations. I'm very excited."

Employment Discrimination Report, "Court Approves $12.1 Million Settlement Of Black Workers' Class Claims Against UPS"

A federal judge April 9 approved a $12.1 million settlement of a race discrimination suit against United Parcel Service that affects thousands of African American employees who work part time.

Contra Costa Times, "Judge OKs $8.2 Million for Part-Time UPS Workers"

An $8.2 million settlement got final approval on Friday, April 9, 1999 from U.S. District Court Judge Martin Jenkins, giving relief to thousands of UPS African American part-time employees. This settlement also calls for UPS to provide more detailed information on job advancement opportunities for all employees.

Associated Press, "Tentative Settlement In Radiation Lawsuit"

U.S. District Judge Sandra Beckwith, in Cincinnati, Ohio, signed a tentative $5 million settlement of a lawsuit charging that cancer patients were unknowingly subjected to military-sponsored radiation experiments in the 1960s and '70s. The families that filed the class-action lawsuit claimed high-dose radiation hastened the deaths and increased the suffering of patients, making them, in effect, casualties of the Cold War.

Robert J. Nelson of Lieff Cabraser served as one of the lead attorneys for plaintiffs.

San Francisco Daily Journal, "Davis Joins in Suits For Restitution for Holocaust Victims"

German and American companies that allegedly took money from Jews or used them as slave laborers during the Nazi regime should now pay back survivors of the Holocaust, according to a lawsuit filed in San Francisco Superior Court. A group of ex-slave laborers, Gov. Gray Davis and representatives of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles brought the suit against four German companies with subsidiaries in San Francisco. Also named as defendants are General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., which, according to the suit, had subsidiaries in Germany during World War II and used slave labor to boost profits.

Gov. Gray Davis joined the lawsuit, as a California resident, stating, "Common decency demands that those who were made slaves by the hateful Nazi regime should be compensated for the labor stolen from them." Morris A. Ratner, a partner with Lieff Cabraser, said this case relies on California's Unfair Competition Act.

The Recorder, "Lieff Files Holocaust Claim in State Court"

Furthering its efforts on behalf of Holocaust victims, Lieff Cabraser filed a so-called private attorney general action in San Francisco Superior Court against French banks and other major financial institutions that allegedly assisted in the "aryanization" of Jewish assets during World War II. Lieff Cabraser represents Lily Mayer, a holocaust survivor who lived through the Nazi occupation of France. The novel case was filed the same day that the named French banks unveiled steps they would take to return seized bank accounts to heirs of victims.

The Wall Street Journal, "U.S. Vitamin Price-Fixing Probe Yields Guilty Pleas From Executives, One Firm"

Swiss vitamin maker Lonza AG and five U.S.-based executives of two other companies pleaded guilty to federal charges they conspired to fix prices in the international vitamin industry, the U.S. Department of Justice said. The pleas were the first in a widening probe of alleged price fixing and market conspiracies in the sale of common vitamins such as A, B, C and E. The investigation includes some of the world's largest chemicals companies.

Last year federal authorities issued subpoenas to the U.S. operations of European giants BASF AG, Rhone-Poulenc SA, DeGussa AG and Roche Holdings Ltd., among others.  DuCoa and Nepera Inc., a unit of Cambrex Corp., based East Rutherford, N.J., were also subpoenaed. The global wholesale vitamin market is dominated by Roche, with about 40% of the market, BASF, with about 20%, and Rhone-Poulenc with 15%.

The Wall Street Journal, "Drug Firms Agree To Settle Lawsuit For $176 Million"

Approximately $148 million worth of drugs will be provided to non-profit medical clinics in California as a result of a proposed settlement between plaintiffs and nineteen pharmaceutical companies. The companies have agreed to pay $176 million to settle allegations that they overcharged California consumers for drugs purchased at smaller drug stores and pharmacies while giving large discounts to big purchasers such as managed-care companies.

William Bernstein, partner at lead counsel Lieff Cabraser, felt that the deal will help lower the state's health care bill. "We feel this is a very substantial settlement -- very much in the public interest." The class-action suit will proceed against the seven drug companies that chose not to settle.

The Recorder, "Bitter Pill for Drug Companies"

Plaintiffs' attorneys are waiting for the judge to give final approval of a $176 million settlement in a pharmaceutical price-gouging case.  The terms of the agreement provide $148 million worth of pharmaceuticals to various nonprofit medical clinics in California. According to Lieff Cabraser partner William Bernstein, the cost of administering a settlement refund to a class of 32 million individuals would have been excessive. "We felt that we could do much more with this kind of settlement."

The Advocate Report, "Gays Included in Reparation Settlement"

The Swiss Bank 1.25 billion dollar settlement may be signed as early as February 1999 and will include gays and lesbians. Morris A. Ratner, of Lieff Cabraser, does not expect to see many claims from gays but does feel that "heirless assets" may be turned over to organizations that serve gays and lesbians in remembrance for those who died in the Holocaust. It will be up to the court to decide how these funds will be distributed. Lieff Cabraser is representing survivors and heirs against Swiss Banks in US District Court.

The Recorder, "Big Deals Big Suits"

United Parcel Services Inc., will pay $12.14 million dollars to settle a class action employment discrimination suit brought by part-time employees. The plaintiffs were represented by Lieff Cabraser partners James Finberg, Kelly Dermody and Joshua Davis. The 1997 suit Buttram v. United Parcel Sevices involves approximately 12,000 African Americans who allege that white employees were promoted to higher paying supervisory and driver positions more frequently than their African-American counterparts within UPS, and were given more opportunities to receive overtime pay. Along with a monetary settlement UPS has agreed to monitor the rate at which African Americans are promoted and also give better detailed information about job opportunities.

San Francisco Examiner, "UPS Settles Employees' Bias Suit"

United Parcel Services Inc., will pay $12.1 million dollars to settle a class action employment discrimination suit brought by seven part-time employees.