Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein

Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein
Headquarters San Francisco
No. of offices 3
No. of attorneys 60+
Revenue N/A
Date founded 1972 (San Francisco)
Company type LLP
Website
www.lieffcabraser.com

Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP is a national plaintiffs' law firm with offices in San Francisco,[1] New York, Nashville, and Seattle. Since its founding in 1972, the firm has assisted its clients in recovering over $85 billion in verdicts and settlements in class action and individual lawsuits.

Practice Areas

Lieff Cabraser represents plaintiffs in individual, class and group cases in the fields of law of antitrust and intellectual property, aviation, business, civil rights, consumer protection, defective products, employment discrimination and unfair employment practices, environmental and toxic exposure, False Claims Act and whistleblower claims, personal injury and mass torts, and securities and investor fraud. The firm is one of the largest in the United States that represents only plaintiffs.

Reputation and Recognition

Rated as an AV[2] law firm, Lieff Cabraser has been described by The American Lawyer as "one of the nation's premier plaintiffs firms."[3] In 2004, The American Lawyer recognized Lieff Cabraser as one of "the most successful plaintiffs firms in the land."[4]

In the 2012 edition of its annual list of the top plaintiffs' law firms in the U.S., The National Law Journal selected Lieff Cabraser.[5] In compiling the list, The National Law Journal examined recent verdicts and settlements and looked for firms "representing the best qualities of the plaintiffs' bar and that demonstrated unusual dedication and creativity." This is the tenth consecutive year since 2003 that Lieff Cabraser has received this honor.[6]

Prominent Cases

De Beers Diamonds Antitrust Litigation: The nationwide class action settlement approved by the District Court in May 2008 brought to end an alleged 60-year global conspiracy by the De Beers group of companies to monopolize the sale of rough diamonds.[7][8]

Multi-State Tobacco Litigation: Lieff Cabraser represented the Attorneys' General of Massachusetts, Louisiana and Illinois, several additional states, and 21 cities and counties in California, in litigation against U.S. cigarette manufacturers. The suits were part of the landmark $206 billion Master Settlement Agreement announced in November 1998 between the tobacco industry and the states' attorneys general. Lieff Cabraser's work led to the disclosure by R.J. Reynolds of the notorious "Project SCUM" marketing plan.

California Uninsured Patient Hospital Pricing Litigation: In a series of class action lawsuits, uninsured patients alleged that several of California's largest hospital chains imposed exorbitant fees for medical care and engaged in price gouging. Under settlements reached in cases in 2006-2008, almost a million patients received refunds or bill adjustments, and millions more benefited from reduced prices for future medical care. These hospital cases returned almost $1 billion to patients.[9][10]

Gonzalez v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores: In April 2005, the Court approved a settlement which required the retail clothing giant Abercrombie & Fitch to provide monetary benefits of $50 million to Latino, African American, Asian American, and female applicants and employees who charged the company with discrimination. The settlement also required the company to institute through 2011 a range of policies and programs to promote diversity among its workforce and to prevent discrimination based on race or gender.[11][12][13]

Mraz v. DaimlerChrysler: In March 2007, a California state jury returned a $54.4 million verdict for a family of Richard Mraz, whose Dodge Dakota pickup jumped from park to reverse, backing over and killing him. The jury found that a defect in the Dodge Dakota's automatic transmission led to Mr. Mraz's death.[14][15][16][17]

September 11th Victim Compensation Fund: Lieff Cabraser represented pro bono seven victims and their decedents in hearings before the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund and obtained awards totaling over $5 million. Lieff Cabraser represented clients independently and through the auspices of Trial Lawyers Care, a non-profit corporation set up by volunteer trial lawyers and the Association of Trial Lawyers (now known as the American Association for Justice) to provide free legal services to the victims of the 9/11 attacks.[18]

Swiss Banks Holocaust Litigation: Lieff Cabraser served as Settlement Class Counsel for Holocaust survivors and their families who alleged that Swiss banks had blocked their efforts to reclaim money that they deposited in the banks or that the Nazis had looted and stored in the banks. In 2000, the federal court approved a $1.25 billion settlement of the action. Lieff Cabraser donated its attorneys' fee award in the Swiss Banks case in the amount of $1.5 million to endow a Clinical Professorship in Human Rights Law at Columbia Law School to train future lawyers to help victims of human rights abuses.[19][20][21]

In November 2014 Sony Pictures Entertainment suffered a data breach.[22] Employees of Sony have filed a class action lawsuit against their employer claiming that Sony failed to take necessary actions to secure its employees personal information leading to potential identity theft.[23] The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in California by Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein.

Commitment to the Community

From 1991 through the end of 2011, Lieff Cabraser underwrote 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 opinions on a broad spectrum of contemporary issues.[24] The firm continues to provide financial support for programs on KQED-FM.

In 2007, Lieff Cabraser attorneys assisted in the launching of the Carver HEARTS Project. The project is a partnership between interested community members, San Francisco's 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.[25]

Notable alumni

Joshua Davis, Professor of Law, University of San Francisco School of Law

Barnaby J. Feder, medical reporter, The New York Times

Chimène Keitner, Professor of Law, UC Hastings College of the Law

David W. Marcus, Professor of Law, University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law

References

  1. ↑ "Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP". Lawyer.com. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
  2. ↑ AV is a registered certification mark of Reed Elsevier Properties, Inc., used in accordance with the LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies. Lieff Cabraser's Martindale-Hubbell profile can be read here.
  3. ↑ American Lawyer, Vol. 28, No. 12, December 2006.
  4. ↑ American Lawyer, Vol. 26, No. 10, October 2004.
  5. ↑ "The Plaintiffs' Hot List", National Law Journal (Oct. 4, 2010) at 13
  6. ↑
    R. Acello, "The Plaintiffs' Hot List", National Law Journal (Oct. 4, 2010), at 13; M. Moline, "The Plaintiffs' Hot List", National Law Journal (Oct. 5, 2009); M. Moline, "The Plaintiffs' Hot List", National Law Journal (Oct., 2008); M. Moline, "The Plaintiffs' Hot List", National Law Journal (Oct. 22, 2007), at S-2; M. Moline, "The Plaintiffs' Hot List", National Law Journal (Oct. 9, 2006), at S-3; M. Moline, "The Plaintiffs' Hot List", National Law Journal (Oct. 10, 2005), at S-3; D. Hechler, "The Plaintiffs' Hot List", National Law Journal (Jul. 26, 2004), at S-8; D. Hechler, "The Plaintiffs' Hot List", National Law Journal (Jul. 21, 2003), at S-2.
  7. ↑ Information website for DeBeers Diamond Class Action Settlement
  8. ↑ "Global diamond cartel is cut down to size," Special to the National Law Journal, Oct. 6, 2008.
  9. ↑ "Scripps to settle uninsured billing suit," San Diego Tribune, Feb. 1, 2008
  10. ↑ "Lawsuit over Scripps' billing of uninsured a class action," San Diego Tribune, June 29, 2007
  11. ↑ CBS 60 Minutes piece on Gonzalez case, Dec. 5, 2003
  12. ↑ "Abercrombie & Fitch Bias Case is Settled," New York Times, Nov. 17, 2004
  13. ↑ "Abercrombie settles 3 bias suits," San Francisco Chronicle, Nov. 16, 2004, at E-1.
  14. ↑ Case profile video on YouTube, June 2008
  15. ↑ "Jury finds DaimlerChrysler negligent in alleged park-to-reverse death," Long Beach Press-Telegram, Mar. 8, 2007.
  16. ↑ "LA Jury Returns Verdict Against Car Maker," The Associated Press, Mar. 9, 2007.
  17. ↑ "DaimlerChrysler hit with $50 million punitive verdict," Law.com, Mar. 12, 2007.
  18. ↑ TLC: Trial Lawyers Care, American Association for Justice.
  19. ↑ "Building on Strength," Columbia Law School, International Law Communications, Fall 2003.
  20. ↑ "Swiss Banks Reach Holocaust Accord," The New York Times, Aug. 13, 1998 at A-1.
  21. ↑ "Bulletin Board; Human Rights Law at Work," The New York Times, Oct. 9, 2002 at B-8.
  22. ↑ http://www.tomsguide.com/us/sony-pictures-hack-identity-theft,news-19979.html
  23. ↑ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/12/19/lawsuits-against-sony-pictures-could-test-employer-responsibility-for-data-breaches/
  24. ↑ KQED-FM San Francisco, Perspectives.
  25. ↑ Carver HEARTS provides a therapist skilled in treating trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on-site at Carver Elementary School in San Francisco.

External links

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