Successes
2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003
2002 and earlier
Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP is a sixty-plus attorney law firm with offices in San Francisco,
New York and Nashville. Our lawyers represent plaintiffs in individual lawsuits
and class actions across America in cases involving dangerous or defective
products; consumer, securities and investment fraud; employment discrimination;
overtime pay and ERISA violations; environmental damage and toxic exposures;
antitrust violations; aviation disasters; and the abuse of civil and human
rights.
For the past seven years, The National Law Journal has selected Lieff Cabraser
as one of the top plaintiffs' law firms in the nation. The National Law
Journal examined recent verdicts and settlements in class actions and individual lawsuits.
The editors also contacted plaintiff and defense counsel, as well as dozens
of corporate general counsel, asking them for the names of plaintiffs' litigation
firms that they would use and recommend.
The following is a summary of the outcomes of recent Lieff Cabraser cases.
For a comprehensive listing of our prominent cases, please see our firm
resume.
2007
Mraz v. DaimlerChrysler
In March 2007 in Mraz v. DaimlerChrysler, Lieff Cabraser attorneys Robert
J. Nelson and Scott P. Nealey obtained a $54.4 million verdict, including
$50 million in punitive damages, against DaimlerChrysler for intentionally
failing to cure a known defect in millions of its vehicles that led to
the death of Richard Mraz, a young father. Mr. Mraz suffered fatal head
injuries when the 1992 Dodge Dakota pickup truck he had been driving at
his work site ran him over after he exited the vehicle believing it was
in park. The jury found that a defect in the Dodge Dakota's automatic transmission,
called a park-to-reverse defect, played a substantial factor in Mr. Mraz's
death. The jury also found that DaimlerChrysler was negligent in the design
of the vehicle for failing to warn of the defect and then for failing to
adequately recall or retrofit the vehicle.
DaimlerChrysler's ongoing indifference to public safety was what prompted
the jury to find that DaimlerChrysler acted with malice and with a conscious
disregard for the health and safety of others. Mraz was not the first person
to die from this defect, but likely the 13th person. There have been hundreds
of accidents where people suffered debilitating physical injuries when
the DaimlerChrysler vehicles they were driving moved into reverse when
the driver believed that he or she had placed the shift selector of the
vehicle in the park position.
Mraz was the first case involving the part-to-reverse defect on a DaimlerChrysler
vehicle to be tried and first to result in a jury verdict. The trial court
denied DaimlerChrysler's motion for new trial and the case is on appeal.
For their success in the Mraz case, the Consumer Attorneys of California
selected Lieff Cabraser attorneys Robert J. Nelson and Scott
P. Nealey as 2007 trial lawyer of the year finalists.
Catholic Healthcare West Cases
Plaintiff alleged that Catholic Healthcare West ("CHW") charged
uninsured patients excessive fees for treatment and services, at rates
far higher than the rates charged to patients with private insurance or
on Medicare. In January 2007, the Court approved a settlement that provides
discounts, refunds and other benefits for CHW patients valued at $423 million.
The settlement requires that CHW lower its charges and end price discrimination
against all uninsured patients, maintain generous charity case policies
allowing low-income uninsureds to receive free or heavily discounted care,
and protect uninsured patients from unfair collections practices.
Lieff Cabraser served as Lead Counsel in the coordinated action, and partner Kelly M. Dermody supervised the litigation. California Lawyer magazine
recognized Ms. Dermody with a 2007 CLAY award (California Lawyer of the
Year) for her success in this case.
Azizian v. Federated Department Stores
On August 23, 2007, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district
court's settlement of an antitrust class action lawsuit against numerous
department store cosmetics manufacturers and retailers. The settlement
is valued at $175 million and includes significant injunctive relief, for
the benefit of a nationwide class of consumers of department store cosmetics.
The complaint alleged the manufacturers and retailers violated antitrust
law by engaging in anticompetitive practices to prevent discounting of
department store cosmetics.
Herra v. Toyota Motor Credit Corporation
For the past five years, Lieff Cabraser and co-counsel litigated against
several of the largest automobile finance companies in the country to compensate
victims of -- and stop future instances of -- racial discrimination in
the setting of interest rates in automobile finance contracts. The litigation
led to substantial changes in the way Toyota Motor Credit Corporation ("TMCC"),
American Honda Finance Corporation ("American Honda") and WFS
Financial, Inc., sell automobile finance contracts, limiting the discrimination
that can occur.
As background, TMCC, American Honda and WFS Financial allow independent
automobile dealers to add a discretionary markup (often several percentage
points) to the objective, credit-based interest rates determined by the
finance company. Plaintiffs charged that African-American and Latino customers
paid more in finance charges than similarly situated non-minority customers
due to the practice by TMCC, American Honda and WFS Financial of allowing
dealers to increase, or "mark up," a customer's Annual Percentage
Rate ("APR") on contracts. The discretionary markup amounts were
not based on objective credit-worthiness information, but were wholly subjective.
Statistical analyses showed that the discretionary markups had a disparate
impact on African American and Latino customers.
Natural Gas Antitrust Cases I-IV
In June 2007, the Court granted final approval to a $67.39 million settlement
of a series of class action lawsuits brought by California business and
residential consumers of natural gas against a group of natural gas suppliers,
Reliant Energy Services, Inc., Duke Energy Trading and Marketing LLC, CMS
Energy Resources Management Company, and Aquila Merchant Services, Inc.
In December 2006, the Court granted final approval to a $92 million partial
settlement of a series of class action lawsuits brought by California business
and residential consumers of natural gas against a group of natural gas
suppliers, Coral Energy Resources, L.P.; Dynegy Inc. and affiliates; EnCana
Corporation; WD Energy Services, Inc.; and The Williams Companies, Inc.
and affiliates.
Plaintiffs charged defendants with manipulating the price of natural gas
in California during the California energy crisis of 2000-2001 by a variety
of means, including falsely reporting the prices and quantities of natural
gas transactions to trade publications, which compiled daily and monthly
natural gas price indices; prearranged wash trading; and, in the case of
Reliant, "churning" on the Enron Online electronic trading platform,
which was facilitated by a secret netting agreement between Reliant and
Enron.
The 2006-2007 settlements follow a landmark $1.1 billion settlement of
class action litigation in 2003 against El Paso Natural Gas Co. for manipulating
the market for natural gas pipeline transmission capacity into California.
Rosenburg, et al. v. IBM
In July 2007, the Court granted final approval to a $65 million settlement
of a class action suit by current and former technical support workers
for IBM seeking unpaid overtime. The settlement constitutes a record amount
in litigation seeking overtime compensation for employees in the computer
industry. Plaintiffs alleged that IBM illegally misclassified its employees
who install or maintain computer hardware or software as "exempt" from
the overtime pay requirements of federal and state labor laws.
Satchell, et al. v. FedEx Express
In April 2007, the parties reached a $54.9 million settlement of the race
discrimination class action lawsuit by African American and Latino employees
of FedEx Express. The settlement requires FedEx to reform its promotion,
discipline, and pay practices. Under the settlement, FedEx will implement
multiple steps to promote equal employment opportunities, including making
its performance evaluation process less discretionary, discarding use of
the "Basic Skills Test" as a prerequisite to promotion into certain
desirable position, and submitting policy changes to demonstrate that its
revised practices do not continue to foster racial discrimination. The
settlement, covering 20,000 hourly employees and operations managers who
have worked in the western region of FedEx Express since October 1999,
was approved by the Court in August 2007.
Estate of Holman, et al. v. Noble Energy, Inc.
Lieff Cabraser served as Co-Lead Counsel for a class of royalty owners
with mineral interests in Colorado. Plaintiffs alleged that Noble Energy
and Patina, its predecessor company, underpaid Class members for natural
gas production royalties in violation of state law. In June 2007, the Court
granted preliminary approval to a $53 million settlement of the action.
The settlement also provided for a significant improvement in the calculation
of future royalty payments, which were estimated to benefit the Class an
additional $50 million.
About Lieff Cabraser
Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP is a sixty-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 seven 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 © 2010 Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein,
LLP.
No persons pictured on this website are clients of Lieff Cabraser.