Associated Press, "Judge Approves Settlement in Lawsuit Over Home Siding"

A judge on Friday approved a settlement that clears the way for Weyerhaeuser Co. to begin paying claims from people who had defective siding installed on their homes. Under the settlement, first presented in July, Weyerhaeuser will pay to replace swollen, warped, split and rotted siding made from compressed wood chips, fiber, resin and wax.

San Francisco Superior Court Judge Alfred Chiantelli's approval means independent inspectors will begin inspecting claims, lawyers in the class-action suit said Friday. They said hundreds of thousands of people around the country could be compensated. "This settlement is a tremendous victory for homeowners," said attorney Jonathan Selbin. "It provides real and immediate relief."

San Jose Mercury News, "Large Law Firms Vow to Assist Poor"

In response to a growing concern that law firms are scrimping on free services to the poor, several of the city's largest firms Thursday pledged to do more pro bono work.

Under the agreement, attorneys would donate a minimum of 3 to 5 percent of their total billable hours to free service, which amounts to 60 to 100 hours per attorney a year.

New York Times, "Complaints Link More Deaths to Firestone Tire Failures"

Government investigators have received complaints linking 29 more deaths to failures of Firestone tires, including four people killed since Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. announced a huge recall four months ago, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported today.

The agency said it now has reports of 148 fatalities involving tire-tread separations, up from the 119 it reported on Oct. 17, the last time it updated the figures. As of today, there have been more than 4,300 complaints about the tires, involving 525 injuries, the agency said.

New York Times, "New Bowel Drug Ordered Off Shelves"

The Food and Drug Administration yesterday asked the maker of Lotronex®, a treatment for irritable bowel syndrome, to take the drug off pharmacy shelves after dozens of patients suffered serious side effects and at least three died. The manufacturer, Glaxo Wellcome, a British drug company, said it would immediately comply.

The drug, which had been recommended for use by women with chronic diarrhea, had been on the market for fewer than 10 months. Officials yesterday said five patients taking Lotronex® had died, but they explained that a review of those cases showed that the drug may have contributed to only three of those deaths. About 70 other patients have suffered from severe constipation or ischemic colitis, a lack of blood flow to the colon, which can cause tissue to die, officials said.

Reuters, "New York Judge Moves Tobacco Lawsuit Closer to Trial"

A United States District court judge on Monday took the first step in certifying a potential multi-million dollar class action lawsuit against tobacco companies. The decision, released by Senior U.S. District Judge Jack Weinstein, certifies one of four requirements necessary to move forward with a trial, affirming that New York state fraud laws apply to the case.

If the other phases of the class action known as Simon are certified, a trial in New York could include complaints from thousands of tobacco customers across the country, who claim deceptive marketing practices by the industry led to their addiction. Plaintiffs qualifying for the class action lawsuit have smoked at least one pack of cigarettes daily for 20 years and are seeking compensatory funds from major tobacco companies. The defendants include tobacco giants Philip Morris Cos. Inc, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc. and Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., a unit of British American Tobacco Plc., among others.

The Associated Press, "Judge Acts Swiftly in Consolidated Bridgestone/Firestone Case"

The federal judge assigned to oversee dozens of lawsuits filed against Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. over its recalled tires has acted swiftly to exercise control over the cases. Legal observers say U.S. District Judge Sarah Evan Barker's action Thursday -- the day she officially received the case -- to halt discovery in the cases demonstrates how she will handle the litigation.

Barker's order stopping the discovery makes sense, said Elizabeth Cabraser, a San Francisco attorney representing more than 160 clients who want the tire recall expanded. It was for Cabraser's case that Lampe was being deposed Thursday. More than 30 depositions already have been taken in the case. While Cabraser was miffed attorneys for Firestone sought to stop Thursday's deposition without letting opposing attorneys know about it, she doesn't fault Barker for granting the request. "It's an indication that this is a court that's going to act quickly," Cabraser said.

USA Today, "18 More Tire Deaths Reported"

Eighteen more deaths have been reported to federal regulators investigating the Firestone recall, bringing the death toll to 119 from accidents involving the tires, authorities said Tuesday.

More than 3,500 people have complained to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about tread separations, blowouts and other problems with certain Firestone tires. The complaints include reports of more than 500 injuries, according to a NHTSA official who did not want to be identified.

Associated Press, "Exxon Mobil Must Pay Valdez Damages"

The Supreme Court refused to free Exxon Mobil Corp. from having to pay $5 billion in damages for the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, the nation's worst ever.

The oil company still has a variety of other appeals pending, and the high court ruling does not obligate the company to pay anything right away. In this appeal, lawyers for Exxon Mobil had urged the justices to throw out the punitive-damages award on grounds of irregularities during jury deliberations.

Note: Lieff Cabraser serves as co-counsel for the plaintiffs against Exxon.

The Recorder, "Group to Forge New Gay Rights Advocates"

The Pride Law Fund, a San Francisco-based group devoted to gay civil rights, has created a year-long fellowship to further its work. It will be seeking applicants from law schools throughout the country beginning this fall.

"We hope this fellow will be a person who will embrace an issue that will benefit our community and have an impact throughout the country," said attorney Kelly Dermody, co-chairwoman of the pride fund. Dermody, a Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein partner, said the endowment goal for the fellowship is $500,000.

Reuters, "Two deaths linked to Wilderness tires not in recall"

At least two of the 101 deaths on U.S. highways linked to defective Firestone tires involved tires not covered by the current recall, according to federal data released this week.

The two fatalities involved Firestone Wilderness tires made in the company's plant in Wilson, North Carolina.   Firestone's recall includes only those Wilderness tires made at its troubled Decatur, Illinois plant. In addition to the two deaths, Wilson Wilderness tires were also linked to 23 injuries, but Wilderness tires from Decatur were far more deadly, involving 25 fatalities and 20 injuries.

New York Times, "Officials Link 26 More Deaths to Defective Firestone Tires"

Federal regulators announced today that they had linked defective Firestone tires with 26 additional deaths, as the chief executive of Ford Motor Company defended the corporation's handling of the problem.

The new figure brings to 88 the number of deaths investigators believe were caused by accidents involving defective Firestone tires. Most of the deaths have occurred on Ford Explorers equipped with Firestone tires.

San Francisco Chronicle, "Ex-CEO Pleads Guilty in Tech Fraud"

In one of the largest securities fraud cases in Silicon Valley history, the former chief executive of a Fremont technology company has pleaded guilty to bilking investors out of millions of dollars, the U.S. attorney's office said yesterday.

Paul Jain of Berkeley admits that he and other executives at Media Vision Technology defrauded investors by creating bogus inventory and hiding millions of dollars in product returns. Media Vision, a maker of multimedia products, went belly-up in 1994 after allegedly falsifying records to inflate its financial performance. The case illustrates the darker side of Silicon Valley, where cases of fraud and stock manipulation largely have been overlooked by the media and law enforcement. For more information on this case, click here.

The Wall Street Journal, "Judge Backs AHP Plan for Diet-Drug Settlement"

A federal judge backed American Home Products Corp.'s plan to pay as much as $4.75 billion to settle injury claims over its once-popular diet pills. The ruling, which is likely to be appealed, gives at least some temporary relief to American Home, which has been mired in suits over the diet pills since pulling two of the drugs from the market three years ago.

For the drugs' users, the deal would provide refunds, medical screening and cash payments, depending on the extent of their injuries."The benefits provided by the Settlement Agreement will significantly contribute to the protection and advancement of the public health." U.S. District Judge Louis Bechtle, of Philadelphia, ruled.

Reuters, "Firestone, Ford under pressure on tire recall"

Pressure increased on Firestone and Ford Motor Co. on Thursday as Congress called for a closer look at the company's recall of an estimated 6.5 million tires and Firestone's hourly workers moved closer to a strike.

A Senate panel will call top officials of Firestone, Ford, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to testify about the tires, a congressional aide said. The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing on Sept. 6 to ascertain how NHTSA looks for defects, how the auto industry reports to federal regulators and determine whether more legislation or financial resources are needed, the aide said.

bankrate.com, "Angry consumers tell credit card issuers, 'See you in court'"

Credit card customers have had enough. They're tired of wrangling with issuers over dubious late fees. They're tired of being charged for services they didn't want or order. And they're ready to have it out in court. In May, a consumer protection lawsuit was filed against Direct Merchants Bank, the credit card unit of Metris Cos. The company is accused of charging customers for unwanted services and tagging on-time payments as late.

And let's not forget about Providian's highly publicized spanking from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. In June, Providian agreed to reimburse at least $300 million to customers who were victims of misleading sales pitches and were charged for products that they did not want.  This record-breaking settlement was the result of a year-long investigation by the OCC and the San Francisco District Attorney.  Additional consumer lawsuits against Providian are pending. "Lawyers are getting more calls from consumers saying, 'This doesn't seem right.  Is this legal?'" says Kelly Dermody, a partner at Lieff Cabraser Heimann and Bernstein in San Francisco, who is working on the lawsuit against Direct Merchants Bank.

The L.A. Times, "Safety Agency Takes Heat Over Firestone Tire Recall"

The federal agency in charge of auto safety faces growing criticism and calls for reform as consumer groups and lawmakers examine why the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration did not realize more quickly that certain Firestone tires on sport utility vehicles were failing catastrophically.

A review of the NHTSA's response to the problems with Firestone ATX, ATXII and Wilderness tires shows that the agency was hindered by outmoded testing procedures, a heavy reliance on manufacturers to voluntarily supply safety information and method of keeping statistics that masked potential dangers to drivers.

The L.A. Times, "FDA's Approval and Delay in Withdrawing Rezulin Probed"

Federal prosecutors are examining aspects of the government's rapid approval and delayed withdrawal of Rezulin, the blockbuster diabetes drug linked to 63 liver-failure deaths. The prosecutors are exploring the conduct of both the manufacturer of Rezulin and FDA administrators, according to witnesses. After a $90-billion merger in June, operations of the pill's manufacturer, Warner-Lambert Co., have been assumed by a rival pharmaceutical firm, Pfizer, Inc.

Witnesses have been asked about representations concerning liver toxicity that Warner-Lambert made to the FDA while winning approval for Rezulin and opposing its withdrawal.  The FDA granted "fast-track" approval to Rezulin in January 1997. Citing safety concerns, the FDA on March 21 of this year announced that Warner-Lambert would withdraw it.

Note: Lieff Cabraser is representing persons who suffered injuries allegedly caused by Rezulin. For more information, please contact attorney Paulina do Amaral.

The Seattle Times, "Claims start in siding settlement"

Homeowners with failed Weyerhaeuser hardboard siding installed in the past 18 years could receive $3 to $7 a square foot if terms of a tentative settlement are approved in December, an attorney for the plaintiffs says. Yesterday, Weyerhaeuser started the claims process in the case.

The settlement requires Weyerhaeuser to place full-page legal notices in three newspapers in Washington, national magazines such as Newsweek and Time, and in newspapers in 10 other states. The amount of compensation will be based on where a home is. In previous cases, the average compensation for faulty siding was $3 to $7 a square foot, said Jonathan Selbin of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein.

If a San Francisco court approves the final settlement, there will be neither a cap on the total number of claims allowed nor a maximum that homeowners can be paid. The later the siding was installed, the longer the owner has to file a claim.  Certain exceptions may apply, but all Weyerhaeuser hardboard siding installed from January 1, 1981 to December 31, 1999 is included in the settlement.

Note: for more information on this case, please click here or visit the official Weyerhaeuser Settlement website.

The Wall Street Journal, "Ford Steps Up Recall Without Firestone"

Increasingly annoyed with Bridgestone/Firestone Inc.'s handling of a massive tire recall, Ford Motor Co. is attempting to more clearly explain the logic behind the recall. This morning, Ford was expected to release a detailed account of the statistical detective work that led to the recall.  The analysis traces the highest defect rates among the suspect tires to those produced at the company's Decatur, Ill., factory from 1994 to 1996. That plan was troubled by labor unrest during the period and staffed by hundreds of replacement workers.

Ford's moves underscore a troublesome rift with Firestone, a unit of Japan's Bridgestone Corp. Supplier and customer had clashed even before the announcement last week that Firestone was recalling 6.5 million of its ATX, ATX II and Wilderness AT tires because of spreading reports of accidents attributed to the tread peeling off the tires. Federal authorities are investigating 46 deaths and more than 300 incidents involving the tires, which were installed mostly on Ford's popular Explorer sport-utility vehicles and other light trucks.

Washington Telecom Newswire, "FCC Order Finds Wireless Carriers Not Immune From Certain Damages"

The FCC today issued an order clarifying that -- in general -- the Communications Act doesn't bar state courts from awarding monetary damages concerning consumer complaints against wireless carriers. But the agency noted that how Sec. 332 of the Act applies depends on the details of an individual case.

The Commission issued the order in response to a petition filed by the Wireless Consumers Alliance concerning pending litigation in the California Court of Appeals against L.A. Cellular. The lawsuit has centered on false ad allegations concerning the carrier promoting its "seamless" calling area.  The FCC order said consumer protection complaints leading to monetary damages do not necessarily cause state courts to step into the rate-making realm.

San Diego Union Tribune, "Siding Giant Settles; Claims Agreement is Good News for Local Homeowners"

Steven Rosefeld is convinced that if he tried to sell his spacious Escondido home right now, he probably would suffer a huge loss, which seems improbable in a booming market like today's. But look closely at the siding that covers the facade of his house, and the reason for his gloominess is apparent. The siding in several places has a swollen, bulging look to it, and some of it is marred by dry rot and termite infestation.

There is hope on the horizon, though, for Rosefeld and thousands of other homeowners throughout the nation whose homes have defective hardboard siding manufactured under the Weyerhaeuser Co. name. The Washington-based forest products giant has agreed to settle a major class-action lawsuit alleging that its siding product is defective and failed prematurely even under normal weather conditions.

Starting later this month, a massive court-ordered advertising program will get underway notifying consumers of the settlement, which was given preliminary approval last month in a San Francisco court. If final approval is granted in December, when a court hearing has been scheduled, homeowners will be able to begin pursuing claims shortly thereafter.

"It's a terrific settlement for homeowners," said attorney Jonathan Selbin, one of the lawyers involved in the class-action suit. "It entitles them to a substantial amount of compensation in a quick and efficient way. They'll get their homes inspected by independent inspectors and will be compensated for their damaged siding without paying attorney fees and without delay and risk of continued litigation."

Associated Press, "Holocaust Survivors Settlement OK'd"

A federal judge approved a historic $1.25 billion settlement Wednesday between Swiss banks and more than a half-million plaintiffs who alleged the banks hoarded money deposited by Holocaust victims.

The long-anticipated ruling by U.S. District Judge Edward Korman brings Holocaust victims and their heirs worldwide a step closer to collecting claims against the banks. Korman now must sign off on a plan, still in the works, for dividing and distributing the settlement -- the final phase of a painstaking global campaign to compensate roughly 600,000 claimants.

The San Jose Mercury News, "Earning what they deserve"

Advertising and recruitment giant TMP Worldwide, owner of the job search portal Monster.com, has agreed to pay $1.25 million to settle allegations that it cheated some 135 California employees out of overtime at its offices throughout California. Kelly Dermody, the San Francisco attorney representing the employees, attributed the flurry of lawsuits to an increasing awareness of employees’ rights.

TMP employees -- mostly entry-level workers right out of college and earning $20,000 to $35,000 a year -- charged that they worked unusually long hours to sell and place recruitment ads in the classifieds sections of local newspapers, including the Mercury News, Dermody said.

The Recorder, "Lieff Representing Banks -- You Heard It Here First"

If Edmond Safra hadn't been so paranoid, Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein might not be in the position it is today. When the billionaire banker died in a bizarre Monaco fire, so, purportedly, did a promise to cover $1 billion in losses suffered by Japanese banks invested in a commodities fund run by Martin Armstrong, a trade school-educated marketer with a predilection for gold Roman coins and a heretofore sterling reputation.

But like Rome's empire, so fell Armstrong's. He was indicted last year in New York, with prosecutors alleging what could possibly be history's largest Ponzi scheme. The indictment set in motion a series of events that led to an unusual and perhaps unprecedented attorney-client relationship. Lieff Cabraser, the count of class actions, the bane of banks everywhere, is representing three Japanese banks in a suit against Armstrong and Republic National Bank, formerly owned by Safra and the holder of Armstrong's lucrative account."We will litigate any case where entities have been defrauded, whether it's individuals or, in this case, banks," said Lieff, Cabraser partner Robert Nelson.

New York Times, "German Parliament Backs Fund for Nazis' Slave Workers"

The Parliament approved legislation today to govern a $5 billion fund for Nazi-era slave workers and other Holocaust-era victims. Although the German government has paid more than $50 billion in compensation to various groups and Israel since World War II, the vast majority of former forced laborers received nothing at all.

German manufacturers argued that the Nazis had simply required them to use the forced workers. Under Chancellor Helmut Kohl, the government argued that it had already paid full compensation and would not pay more. The debate was changed by two factors. The first was a new wave of class-action suits in the United States, cases that could have potentially inflicted billions of dollars in liabilities on German companies. The second occurred when Gerhard Schröder succeeded Mr. Kohl in late 1998 and immediately began pushing for a resolution.

Corporate Legal Times, "In Securities Litigation Cases, Judges Are Proactively Selecting Plaintiffs, Counsel"

Five years after it was enacted, provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act are prompting district-level judges to take a more active role in selecting lead plaintiffs and lead plaintiffs' counsel. The judges for two cases, both arising from the Northern District of California, have appointed individual investors as lead plaintiff instead of institutional investors or some mish-mash of plaintiffs organized by wannabe lead plaintiffs' counsel.

"The whole point of the reform was to install a lead plaintiff with substantive decision-making ability and authority," wrote Judge William H. Alsup in a 28-page opinion. But that's not what is happening. The Nov. 28, 1999 order denied several law firms' efforts to pool investors together into a lead plaintiffs' group in a case against Network Associates Inc., a Santa Clara-based company that makes software to fight computer viruses. Robert A. Vatuone, who had lost about $28,500 during a months-long dive in Network Associates' stock price, was eventually appointed lead plaintiff by Judge Alsup, held a beauty contest of his own and appointed San Francisco's Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein as his lawyers.

Bloomberg News, "Providian in Talks to Settle Consumer Lawsuits in Two States"

Providian Financial Corp. is in talks to settle two lawsuits filed on behalf of up to 12 million consumers, which accuse the sixth-largest U.S. credit card issuer of deceptive business practices, lawyers said. Providian's $300 million agreement, the largest ever for the OCC, resolves federal and local charges that the company deceived credit-card holders about rates and fees.

The consumer suits pending in San Francisco and Philadelphia seek class-action status, and accuse Providian of practices that go beyond those covered by the settlements, said plaintiffs' attorney Kelly Dermody. The alleged practices include imposing unreasonable fees on credit-line increases, and charging exorbitant rates for credit insurance and other services automatically added to cardholders' bills."I think the government settlement sends the message it is possible, even from the company's perspective, that you can evaluate these practices on a wide scale," she said.

Daily Journal, "Deal Ends Providian Probe"

In a settlement billed as one of the nation's largest consumer recoveries, the San Francisco district attorney and federal banking regulators Wednesday announced a deal worth at least $300 million with embattled credit card giant Providian Financial Corporation. Providian for more than a year has been beset by accusations that its aggressive marketing campaign misled customers. The company is among a group of financial services providers known as "subprime" lenders specializing in borrowers with less-than-perfect credit histories.

The settlement does not affect as many as a dozen private lawsuits against Providian now coordinated before San Francisco Superior Court Judge Stuart Pollak, nor any other legal actions against the company nationwide."I think it's a good start -- we're encouraged," said San Francisco attorney Elizabeth Cabraser of Lieff Cabraser, who is helping to direct the private litigation against the company. In addition to the lawsuits in San Francisco, consumers have sued the company in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia.

The New York Times, "Credit Card Issuer Nears Settlement On Tactics"

The Providian Financial Corporation, which issues cards to consumers with tarnished credit, said today that it was close to reaching a settlement with regulators and law enforcement agencies over its sales and marketing tactics.

Providian, the sixth-largest credit card issuer, said it was in talks with the San Francisco district attorney and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to settle accusations that it had misled customers about rates and fees, changed rates without notice and delayed posting payments to accounts to generate late fees.

San Francisco Chronicle, "Providian Expected To Settle Fraud Case"

In one of the biggest local consumer fraud cases ever, San Francisco credit card giant Providian Financial Corp. is near an agreement to pay more than $300 million to settle charges it cheated customers, sources said. In addition to the huge payout, one of the largest ever recorded in a consumer case, the settlement with the San Francisco district attorney's office and federal bank regulators would require Providian to make a series of changes in the way it does business, the sources said.

Consumer groups such as the Better Business Bureau have characterized Providian as a virtual outlaw, selling consumers products they had not requested, not disclosing credit terms properly, charging late fees even when payments arrived on time and otherwise abusing customers to boost profits. Any agreement won't halt a series of private consumer lawsuits against the company filed after the district attorney's probe was disclosed.

The Recorder, "13 From Bay Area Make List of Top 100 Lawyers"

Thirteen Bay Area attorneys are among the 100 lawyers anointed the most influential in the United States by The National Law Journal.

Attorney Elizabeth Cabraser of San Francisco's Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, was chosen for her ability to turn a small firm into a national player in mass torts and other plaintiffs' litigation, as well as for her prominence and success in handling major class action suits.

The Wall Street Journal, "Philip Morris to End Advertising in Magazines with Young Readers"

Philip Morris Co., under fire for its ad practices, said it will pull ads for Marlboro and its other cigarette brands from 40 to 50 magazines with substantial numbers of young readers, including Rolling Stone and Sports Illustrated. Philip Morris said it will stop placing ads in magazines that have more than two million readers under 18 or whose teen readership is more than 15%, as measured by independent market-research firms. It said cigarette advertising in such magazines will be phased out by September.

The Wall Street Journal reported last month that a group of state attorneys general had began investigating tobacco makers' magazine advertising after a 1998 legal settlement between the industry and state governments. That deal banned cigarette ads from billboards and buses, and bars tobacco makers from targeting young people in the sale of their products.

Note: In our representation of states and local governments in suits against the tobacco industry, Lieff Cabraser investigated the relationship between the tobacco and magazine industries, and specifically how cigarette advertisements in magazines were aimed at teen readers.

Washington Post, "San Jose Close Youth Health Coverage Gap"

In a city where even middle class professionals struggle with the cost of living, San Jose is considering an ambitious and unprecedented plan that would use the national tobacco settlement to make sure every child in town has health insurance. San Jose is believed to be the first municipality to try to earmark its portion of the national settlement -- $10 million a year for 25 years -- for health insurance. The plan would cost $1.8 million to launch and about $6 million a year to maintain.

Note: Lieff Cabraser represented the City of San Jose in its lawsuit against the tobacco industry.

Minneapolis Star Tribune, "Lawsuit Accuses Metris of Illegal Practices"

A California customer filed the lawsuit against Metris and its credit-card arm, Direct Merchants Credit Card Bank, alleging that the company engages in deceptive and illegal practices when it persuades credit card customers to purchase services such as theft protection, warranty extension and appliance repairs.

The lawsuit contends that the benefits said to accompany the service are misleading and illusory. The lawsuit also charges that the credit card company assesses late fees on payments that are due on Saturdays or holidays but cannot be credited until the next business day.

Wall Street Journal, "Are Cigarette Ads in Magazines Angling for Teens?"

A group of state attorneys general is investigating a surge in cigarette advertising in magazines -- some with many teen readers. Cigarette advertising in magazines has increased significantly since a 1998 legal settlement between the big tobacco companies and state governments kicked cigarette ads off billboards and buses. Though it has no specific restrictions on magazine ads, the agreement does bar cigarette makers generally from taking "any action, directly or indirectly, to target youth" in selling smokes.

Philip Morris and Brown & Williamson, as well as other major tobacco companies, regularly advertise in magazines with a teen readership anywhere from 15% to more than 30%.

San Francisco Chronicle, "Million Mom Marchers Demand Stricter Laws"

Tens of thousands of people, many bearing pictures of their dead loved ones, gathered below the foot of the U.S. Capitol yesterday in the Million Mom March for tougher gun laws.

Million Mom March organizers called the protest to push for uniform national controls on gun use, including mandatory child safety locks and registration of all handguns with extensive background checks. Lieff Cabraser has taken a leading role in litigation by cities across America seeking to curb handgun violence.

Wall Street Journal, "Prices of CDs Likely to Drop, Thanks to FTC"

The Federal Trade Commission announced yesterday that five big record companies agreed to stop penalizing music retailers for selling music too cheaply. The practice -- imposing a "minimum advertised price" -- had illegally inflated the price of CDs for the past five years, the FTC ruled after a two-year investigation. Retailers that advertised prices below the set minimum risked losing millions of dollars a year in promotional payments from music companies.

Lieff Cabraser represents record stores and other direct purchasers in an ongoing class action litigation against the music industry for alleged price-fixing in the sale of compact music discs sold throughout the United States.

The National Law Journal, "A carton of new tobacco trials"

As a 2-year-old tobacco class action trial grinds toward a conclusion in Miami, Florida, a federal judge in Brooklyn is quietly pushing to trial a series of potentially multibillion-dollar tobacco cases, starting in June -- at a clip of one trial a month.

The cases include a national class action by lung cancer victims who smoked at least "20 pack-years," the equivalent of a pack a day for 20 years. Simon v. Philip Morris Inc.

San Francisco Chronicle, "Pac Bell Parent Sued by 18 Workers Over 401(k) Funds"

SBC Communications cost workers in California and Nevada $1.15 billion in lost profits after it bought Pacific Telesis three years ago and tinkered with employees' retirement plans, according to a lawsuit filed yesterday.

Eighteen of the 40,000 affected workers sued Texas' SBC in federal court in Los Angeles yesterday, alleging the company mishandled their 401(k) retirement funds by selling off their stock in AirTouch Communications and rolling the money into its own stock. Stock in AirTouch, later acquired by Vodafone in a bidding war with Bell Atlantic last year, tripled after SBC sold the stock in 1998, while SBC stock has been relatively flat, the lawsuit claimed.

The Wall Street Journal, "SBC Faces Suit Over Retirement Plans"

Employees of what was formerly known as Pacific Telesis Group filed suit yesterday alleging that SBC Communications Inc. improperly liquidated investments in their 401(k) accounts for corporate gain, the latest litigation challenging the pension practices of an acquiring company.

The lawsuit spotlights the retirement plan perils faced by companies and employees in an era of hot-and-heavy takeover activity. When companies acquire competitors, they pick up not only a new crop of workers, but also the fiduciary responsibility for retirement plans already in place. And American workers are growing more vigilant about watching over those plans amid all the corporate transactions to ensure their retirement accounts aren't undermined in the deals.

The New York Times, "SBC Communications Sued By Workers on Stock Sale"

California employees of SBC Communications, the nation's largest local telephone company, sued the company yesterday, accusing it of costing 45,000 employees and retirees $1.1 billion by selling shares of a lucrative investment that was in their company-controlled retirement accounts.

The suit is by far the largest in a growing number of cases involving possible conflicts between the self-interest of companies in how they invest their worker's retirement money and their duty under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act to operate the plans "solely in the interests of the participants and, beneficiaries and for the exclusive purpose of providing benefits."

The Wall Street Journal, "Judge Orders Start of Talks to End Major Tobacco Litigation in U.S."

A federal judge in New York ordered plaintiffs’ lawyers and tobacco companies to start sketching the framework for a global settlement to end in effect all major tobacco litigation in the nation. That settlement would include a class-action suit pending before the judge on behalf of all U.S. smokers with lung cancer.

Judge Weinstein, a force in crafting major settlements in mass-injury claims over asbestos and the herbicide Agent Orange, has six tobacco lawsuits pending before him. Aside from the class action, they include suits seeking billions of dollars in medical costs and smoking-linked personal-injury claims that are being sought by insurers, asbestos injury trust funds and health-benefit plans.

The Daily Journal, "Novel Approach to Picking Lead Plaintiff OK'd"

With a brief order, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week gave the green light to a groundbreaking selection process for choosing lead plaintiff under a new mechanism in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which gives trial judges broad discretion for appointment of lead counsel.

The new lead plaintiff selection system, supported by the Securities and Exchange Commission, is intended to help judges find the plaintiff most capable of managing class counsel while at the same time keeping down the cost of class lawyers. Under Alsup's selection system, the San Francisco firm of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP was picked as lead counsel following a sealed bid process in Moore v. Network Associates, Inc., C99-1729WHA. The change may be bad news for firms that aggregate thousands of small investor claims to present as a group with a larger aggregate loss than that of any single institutional investor.

The National Law Journal, "Who Wants to Be Lead Plaintiff?"

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently weighed in on a securities litigation case pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that will probably define exactly who can serve as a lead plaintiff and, additionally, who can serve as the lead counsel.

The Ninth Circuit last month agreed to review U.S. District Judge William Alsup's novel decision in a case against Network Associates Inc. to appoint as a lead plaintiff a small-time investor who had lost relatively little compared to several other plaintiffs, including two institutional investors alleging millions in losses. Going a step further, Judge Alsup ordered the lead plaintiff to put the lead counsel position out to bid, and subsequently appointed retired San Jose, Calif., lawyer Robert Vatuone to serve as lead plaintiff. And after interviewing and soliciting fee proposals from several firms, Mr. Vatuone chose San Francisco's Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP to lead the litigation.

The San Francisco Examiner, "Lawsuits Pile Up Against Chevron; Complaints from the '99 Fire that Spewed Smoke in East Bay"

The fire was still burning at Chevron's Richmond refinery last March when the first lawsuit against the oil company was stamped by a court clerk. Since then, more than 20 law firms have filed complaints against Chevron, claiming the company could have prevent the March 25, 1999 explosion that spewed a dense cloud of smoke and chemicals into the air.

As the anniversary of the accident approached, a judge last week ordered the cases to be tried in one court -- with at least the first leg of the marathon legal battle set for a San Francisco Courthouse.

The Recorder, "Gun Pact Gives Plaintiffs New Ammunition"

Just as the admission by the Liggett Group that nicotine is addictive sped settlements in tobacco litigation, an agreement announced Friday between Smith & Wesson and government agencies suing the gun industry could put pressure on other gun makers to settle.

The nation's biggest gun maker on Friday signed a 21-page, precedent-setting pact outlining the procedures to make guns safer and to take steps for keeping them out of the hands of criminals and children. San Francisco City Attorney Louise Renne, whose office has been in the forefront of litigation to impose reform measures on the gun industry, hailed the agreement but said it was only a first step.

Robert Nelson, whose firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP has assisted the city attorney's office in the litigation, said the Liggett company was the smallest of cigarette makers, but Smith & Wesson is the largest and oldest of American gun manufacturers. Its decision should send a clear message to the others."The importance was to break down that wall" that the gun makers have built around themselves, Nelson said.  "Here we're not getting documents as they did from Liggett, but we're getting the biggest gun company to fundamentally change how it does business."

The Recorder, "Pro Bono's Problem"

Washington D.C.-based National Association for Public Interest Law provides fellowships for about 200 lawyers, who receive an average salary of $30,000 and loan repayment assistance. The program is funded by law firms, corporations and private entities, whose contributions are matched by a multimillion-dollar grant from financier George Soros. Several Bay Area firms are sponsoring fellows, including Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP.

The Recorder, "Lieff Firm Takes on Montana Mine"

         W.R. Grace & Co. has been paraded into courtrooms as the target of a slew of asbestos-related individual and class actions in recent years. The string is expected to continue after Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein announced Monday it has joined Spokane, Wash.-based Lukins & Annis in a complaint alleging the company's Libby, Montana, mining operation poisoned workers and their families.
          The complaint is unusual because, if it goes to trial, Grace likely won't face the prospect of a hefty personal injury judgment.
          Instead, attorneys say in their complaint that they will ask a Montana judge to order the company to pay for a court-controlled medical program to identify and intervene in the early stages of lung cancer and asbestosis. Environmental remediation is also being sought.

Kiplinger's Personal Finance, "Billion-Dollar Verdict Puts the Brakes on Using Cheaper Parts to Fix Crash Damage"

          In October, 1999, a jury in Marion, Ill., delivered its verdict in the class-action case: State Farm was found guilty of breach of contract for its policy of not covering original equipment manufacturer's parts when Certified Automotive Parts Association-certified alternatives are available. The generic parts, the jury decided, were not of "like kind and quality" and didn't restore a car to its "pre-loss condition," as was promised in the insurance contract.
          The case has had an immediate and wide-ranging effect. "A lot of companies have backed down from their insistence on non-OEM parts," says Greg Kordsmeier, an auto repair shop owner. State Farm changed its rules soon after the verdict and now pays for original manufacturer's parts (at least temporarily). Farmers, too, announced a six-month suspension of its policy to use generic parts whenever possible. Liberty Mutual will pay for OEM parts unless the policyholder wants generic parts to lower his deductible or lives in a state, such as Massachusetts, that requires non-OEM parts for older cars. USAA pays for OEM parts until a car is two years old; damage to older cars may be repaired with generics.