Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP - for the plaintiffs since 1972

Our Firm

© 2008 Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP | Contact Us
URL: http://www.lieffcabraser.com/ourfirm.htm

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 human and civil 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.

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.

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 five consecutive years.

Successful Trials and Settlements

Lieff Cabraser has participated in some of the most important civil trials in the United States over the last fifteen years. 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 Massachusetts, the Attorneys General of several states and 18 California cities and counties in the landmark anti-tobacco litigation against Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds and other cigarette manufacturers. This litigation resulted in a $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.

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.

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 exhorbitant prices for medical care.

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 including prescription drugs, polypropylene carpets, compact discs, linerboard, carbon fiber, plastic laminates, flat glass, industrial pigments and vitamins. We have also 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.

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 Asociation 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.

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.

Our offices

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
780 Third Avenue
48th Floor
New York, NY 10017-2024
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

Copyright © 2008 Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP