The Daily Journal (subscription) has named Lieff Cabraser partners Elizabeth Cabraser and Richard Heimann to its annual listing of “Top Plaintiff Lawyers in California.” Elizabeth was recognized for her pioneering work in personal injury and environmental law, while Richard was acclaimed for his pivotal role as supervisor of Lieff Cabraser’s securities and financial fraud practice. The Top Plaintiffs Lawyer awards acknowledge attorneys’ active involvement in “significant cases that make a difference in California and the world.”
The Journal’s profile of Elizabeth Cabraser highlights her involvement in the National Prescription Opiate Litigation, which became an even more critical concern in 2020 as the Coronavirus pandemic magnified the severity of the crisis. “Opioid addictions and death numbers got worse,” noted Cabraser, who serves on the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee, the Settlement Committee, and the Tribal Committee in the litigation, representing municipalities, counties, and other government entities, as well as Native American tribes in the colossal lawsuit against manufacturers and distributors of opioids for their role in creating and perpetuating the ongoing crisis of opioid addiction nationwide. Plaintiffs allege the makers of opioid pain medication overstated the drugs’ benefits and grossly misrepresented the risks of long-term use of those drugs, and that distributors failed to properly monitor suspicious orders of opiates, all of which contributed to the current opioid epidemic.
The Journal’s coverage on Richard Heimann focuses on his work as the leader of Lieff Cabraser’s securities and financial fraud case team, recently winning $240 million for a class of shareholders in a settlement relating to Wells Fargo’s fake accounts scandal. Plaintiffs in the suit allege that since at least 2011, the Board and executive management of Wells Fargo knew or consciously disregarded that its employees were illicitly creating millions of costly deposit and credit card accounts for their customers, without those customers’ consent, in order to meet the banks’ aggressive sales goals. The complaint alleged that the scandal harmed shareholders by hurting the banks reputation and costing it millions in lost revenue.
“We expect the insurers to cough up in the next few weeks,” noted Heimann. “They’ve been waiting for the disposition of a couple of tag-along cases.”
The settlement represents the largest insurer-funded derivative settlement in history.
Congratulations to Elizabeth and Richard on this wonderful recognition!
About Elizabeth J. Cabraser
Elizabeth Cabraser is one of the nation’s leading class action litigators, possessing unparalleled expertise in complex civil litigation. She has served as court-appointed lead, co-lead, or class counsel in scores of federal multi-district and state coordinated proceedings, and currently serves in leadership positions in several of the nation’s highest profile civil cases, including a solo leadership role in the VW “Clean Diesel” Emissions case, and co-lead positions in the GM ignition switch defect and Takata defective airbag cases, the Fiat Chrysler Jeep Dodge diesel emissions fraud litigation, the Generic Drugs Pricing antitrust litigation, and the National Prescription Opiates litigation.
About Richard Heimann
Richard Heimann supervises Lieff Cabraser’s securities and financial fraud practice. He began his legal career as a deputy public defender and later served as an assistant district attorney. From this foundation, Richard has become one of the nation’s foremost trial attorneys and skilled negotiators, with unparalleled experience in complex securities and investor fraud, antitrust and intellectual property, consumer protection, and personal injury and mass torts cases. In its inaugural review of the nation’s top trial lawyers, Law360 selected Richard as a “Trial Ace.” Just one of 50 attorneys recognized, Richard was the only trial ace practicing at a law firm that represents solely plaintiffs. A Lawdragon 500 “Leading Lawyer in America” for 2019 and a “Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyer” for 2019, 2020, Richard was also named a “Top 100 Trial Lawyer in America” by Benchmark Litigation in 2017 and 2018.
Richard supervised the firm’s landmark litigation against the tobacco industry on behalf of Massachusetts, California, and several other states. The litigation was resolved in 1998 as part of a record $206 billion master settlement agreement with the state Attorneys General.
Richard has also successfully tried over 30 civil jury cases, highlighted by the FPI/Agretech and Edsaco securities class action trials, the Wells Fargo Bank overdraft fees consumer protection class action trial, and the LCDs antitrust class action.
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