Our Firm
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Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein,
LLP is a fifty-plus attorney law firm that has represented
plaintiffs nationwide since 1972. We have offices
in San Francisco, New York and Nashville.
We have also represented clients
worldwide in cases filed in the United States. For Canadian
cases, we are associated with the Toronto, Ontario law
firm of Rochon
Genova, which represents plaintiffs in a wide range
of civil cases.
Our Practice
Lieff Cabraser has a comprehensive
and diverse practice that is unique among law firms that
represent only plaintiffs. Our cases typically involve
dangerous or defective products, securities and investment
fraud, antitrust violations, employment discrimination
and unlawful employment practices, consumer fraud and false
advertising, aviation disasters,
environmental damage and toxic exposures, and the abuse
of civil and human rights.
We represent plaintiffs in
class and group actions and in individual lawsuits in cases
of serious personal injury or death. Our practice also
includes the representation of individuals, private corporations
and public institutions in public health and securities
matters.
Lieff Cabraser is among the
largest law firms in the United States that represents
only plaintiffs. Described by The American Lawyer as
"one of the nation's premiere plaintiffs firms," we
enjoy a national reputation for professional integrity
and the efficient and responsible prosecution of our clients'
claims.
Since 2003, the National
Law Journal has
selected Lieff Cabraser as one of the top plaintiffs'
law firms in the nation. In compiling the list, the National
Law Journal examined recent verdicts and settlements
in addition to overall track records. Lieff Cabraser
is one of only two plaintiffs' law firms in the United
States to receive this honor for the last six consecutive
years.
Successful
Trials and Settlements
Lieff Cabraser possesses sophisticated
legal skills and the financial resources necessary for
the handling of large, complex cases. We take great pride
in our innovative approach to the practice of law and our
firm's leadership role in cases resulting in landmark decisions
and precedent-setting rulings.
Lieff Cabraser has participated in some
of the most important civil trials in the United States
in the last two decades. We served as co-counsel on
behalf of 32,000 commercial fishermen, food processors
and Alaska natives in litigation arising out of the Exxon
Valdez oil disaster.
In 2006, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
set a punitive damages award of $2.5 billion against Exxon for devastating the
area ecosystem and local fishing industry. The case is currently pending review
by the U.S. Supreme Court.
We represented California, Massachusetts, and the Attorneys
General of several additional states in the litigation against Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds and other cigarette
manufacturers. This litigation resulted in a landmark $206 billion settlement in 1998. As part of the
settlement, the tobacco industry was required to undertake
extensive modifications of its marketing
and promotion activities in order to reduce teenage
smoking.
We played a leading role in the litigation
to recover assets taken from, and insurance benefits never paid to, Holocaust
victims and survivors. As part of this effort, we served
as one of ten members of a Plaintiffs' Executive Committee
that prosecuted and settled the case against Swiss banks. We
were also instrumental in prosecuting Holocaust-era cases
against German private enterprise for using slave and forced
labor, and against German (and other) banks and financial
institutions for "aryanizing" the property of
victims of Nazi persecution. The settlements in these
cases totaled over $6.3 billion. In the Swiss banks case,
we donated our attorneys' fees, in the amount of $1.5 million,
to Columbia Law School to endow a chair in support of the
school's human rights legal training programs.
In
2002, Richard M. Heimann conducted the trial for plaintiffs in Claghorn v. Edsaco,
Ltd., a federal securities fraud class action lawsuit.
The jury found for the plaintiffs and returned a $171 million
verdict, one of the largest jury verdicts in the U.S. in
2002. Subsequently, the parties reached a settlement of
the action on favorable monetary terms to the class, which
included Edsaco's relinquishment of its right to appeal
and plaintiffs' agreement to vacate the jury verdict.
Our
firm is also committed to protecting the rights of employees
nationwide to equitable treatment and fair wages. In
2005,
the court granted final approval to a novel, precedent-setting
settlement in a class action suit against Abercrombie
& Fitch. The settlement required the retail clothing
giant to pay $40 million to Latino, African-American, Asian-American and female
applicants and employees who charged the company with discrimination. In addition,
Abercrombie was required to promote diversity among its
workforce and to prevent discrimination based on race
or gender.
In the field of antitrust law, Lieff Cabraser
has played a prominent role in federal litigation under
the Sherman Act on behalf of businesses in numerous markets. We successfully
litigated antitrust claims against Microsoft
Corporation for monopolistic practices, El
Paso Gas Co. and other energy
companies for allegedly manipulating the price of electricity
in California, and against the cosmetics
industry for engaging
in anticompetitive practices to prevent discounting of
department store cosmetics.
Our practice includes the representation of individuals
in personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits. In 2007, Robert
J. Nelson served
as lead trial counsel in a wrongful death suit against DaimlerChrysler for
failing to correct a known defect in the transmission of its vehicles. The
jury returned a $50
million punitive damages verdict against DaimlerChrysler,
finding the corporation acted with malice. The award constituted the fourth
largest verdict in California last year.
For their outstanding service
to their clients and advancing the rights of all persons
injured by defective products in Mraz v. DaimlerChrysler,
Lieff Cabraser partners Robert J. Nelson and Scott P. Nealey
received the 2008 California Lawyer of the Year (CLAY)
Award in the field of personal injury law, and were also
selected as finalists for attorney of the year by the Consumer
Attorneys of California and the San Francisco Trial Lawyers
Association.
Litigation
with a Social Purpose
Since our founding thirty-five
years ago, Lieff Cabraser has been committed to achieving justice
for investors, consumers, employees,
and patients, promoting
safer products and fair competition, protecting
our environment and remedying
violations of the civil rights of citizens worldwide.
As
part of our long standing objective of advancing consumer
rights, we spearheaded litigation intended to halt
alleged illegal and deceptive business practices -- often
targeted at persons of low income or having poor credit
histories -- by leading credit card
and mortgage loan servicing companies. We are also at the forefront of litigation
against California health care systems for charging uninsured patients exorbitant
prices for medical care.
We
continue to represent employees across America seeking
to vindicate their rights in cases involving discrimination, wage and hour law
violations, and the mishandling of their funds in pension and 401k plans, including
class action lawsuits against Wal-Mart. Plaintiffs, current and former Wall Mart
employees, allege that Wal-Mart forces employees to work through breaks and to
work without pay after they have clocked out in violation of state wage and hour
laws.
Our
Commitment to the Community
Lieff
Cabraser proudly supports the goals of civil rights, human
rights, increased access to legal services, and initiatives
by the legal community to improve civil justice.
Lieff Cabraser sponsors the
Bay Area Minority Law Student Scholarship Program conducted
by the Bar
Association of San Francisco (BASF). We have been
honored to receive the 2005 AIDS Legal Referral Panel "Firm
of the Year" award
and the 1998 Navigator of Civil Rights Award
presented by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational
Fund.
We also support
the National Association for Public Interest Law fellowship
program. Fellowships made possible by Lieff Cabraser's
sponsorship have included work at the East Bay Community
Law Center in Oakland, California, the Employment
Law Center in San Francisco, California, and the NOW
Legal Defense in New York, New York.
In
addition to BASF, Lieff Cabraser supports the following
groups:
Since 1991, we have
underwritten the radio series, "Perspectives," airing
on the public broadcasting station KQED-FM in the San Francisco Bay Area. The series offers listeners
social and political opinion on a broad spectrum of contemporary
issues.
In 2007, Lieff Cabraser attorneys assisted in the launching of the Carver HEARTS Project. The project is a partnership between interested community members, George Washington
Carver Elementary School, and UCSF’s Department of Infant, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry to provide a therapist skilled in treating trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on-site at Carver Elementary School.
Contact Lieff Cabraser
Many of our cases start as the result
of a complaint by one or a handful of persons. If
you have been harmed by a fraud or deceptive practice,
please feel free to contact
us for a no-obligation, no-charge review of your case.
|
San
Francisco
Embarcadero Center West
275 Battery St., Ste 3000
San Francisco, CA
94111-3339
Tel. (415) 956-1000
Fax. (415) 956-1008 |
New
York
250 Hudson Street
8th Floor
New York, NY
10013-1413
Tel. (212) 355-9500
Fax. (212) 355-9592 |
|
Nashville
One Nashville Place
150 4th Ave N., Ste 1650
Nashville, TN 37219-2423
Tel. (615) 313-9000
Fax. (615) 313-9965 |
About Lieff Cabraser
Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP is a fifty-plus attorney law firm that has represented plaintiffs nationwide since 1972. We have offices in San Francisco, New York and Nashville. We represent plaintiffs in class and group actions and in individual lawsuits in cases involving substantial losses. For the last six years, the National Law Journal has selected Lieff Cabraser as one of the top plaintiffs' law firms in the nation.
Notice
This website is sponsored by Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, a national plaintiffs' law firm.
Notice: Lieff Cabraser attorneys provide legal advice and practice law for clients in
federal courts throughout the United States and in state courts where we are
licensed to practice. Please read our disclaimer.
Copyright © 2009 Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein,
LLP.
No persons pictured on this website are clients of Lieff Cabraser.