Class Action Lawsuits

Companies like to be in the black and if they can, they like to make history. For example, the first company ever to make a third party iPhone app or the first company to give all employees vacations to Bermuda is something to brag about.

One history setting item that’s probably not on the list for company executives, is boasting the largest class-action employment lawsuit in U.S. history.

That’s the case for embattled blue collar brand WalMart, who is in the middle of a lengthy dispute over alleged gender bias in pay and promotions.

A federal appeals court was divided 6-5, but  ultimately allowed the combined multiparty litigation to move ahead to trial. The end result of which could force a decision against the company that might equate to billions in damages. WalMart has the option of appealing the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court for review.  Read more….

What are class action lawsuits? Such suits are filed for a group of people who have been injured in one way or another by a company’s actions. Commonly, these lawsuits may be filed by company members if practices regarding hiring or salary are illegal; another type of class action lawsuit is filed when a company causes injury or death or some type of physical damage to a group of people, such as in the case of a drug company that made claims about their product that’s illegal, harming those who ended up taking those drugs.

Usually, when an individual joins a class action suit, he or she must sign papers that forfeits the right to sue the company individually. If the lawsuit is successful, then damages are awarded to the plaintiffs with regard to those who suffered the most damage. Not all members of the suit share in the compensation equally.

Attorneys will work on such cases on contingency, receiving a part of the award, but with the knowledge that if they don’t succeed, they won’t charge their group of clients any fees. In this instance, the attorneys may receive as much as thirty or fifty percent of the entire award.

If you’ve joined a class action lawsuit, you’ll find that the awards may be split into two different types: compensatory and punitive damages. Compensatory damages addresses the defendants (the companies being sued) and the direct damage they’ve caused. The monies here are intended to help compensate for illness or loss of life, attempting as much as possible to make whole the individuals who have suffered. Punitive damages, as the name implies, intends to punish the companies, a cost which may be extremely high, in order to discourage the company or other companies from having the same reckless disregard for either the plaintiff’s safety, health, or well-being.

Did you know that millions and millions of dollars of settlements from class action suits have been unclaimed by the plaintiffs, consumers, small businesses, investors and the general public? Hundreds of millions of dollars get reverted back to the same companies that were found to be in the wrong or who agreed to settle the cases out of court.

The reason why so much settlement money goes unclaimed is the majority of people who are entitled to the settlement money simply don’t know it, or they never receive official notification in the mail, never opened the mail, or they died, or because they really didn’t want to fill out the very long, complex legal documents required in order to claim the funds. For these reasons, a significant amount of people do not take advantage of their personal legal rights. Basically, they are being denied justice.

Unclaimed settlement money is a complete irritant to the courts, because unclaimed money is an issue for the claim administrators and disbursing agents who are in charge of the distributing class action settlement money to harmed individuals. As each year passes, the aggregated total of unclaimed cash, which was earmarked for distribution from class action settlement funds, escrow accounts increases.

In the early 80’s, many lawyers began to appeal to the courts to not give the unclaimed money back to the wrongful defendants, but use the Cy Pres doctrine, which translates to ‘as nearly as possible’. Meaning, the lawyers said the unclaimed money should be dispersed to projects that are as close to the original intention as possible. Mostly, all unclaimed settlement money now goes to help the community as a whole, for instance to help lower income families, to charities and to other organizations that help improve the quality of life for all concerned. Currently, many class action law firms are now requesting, before a settlement is agreed upon, that the defendant in the case agrees to allow unclaimed settlement money to be given to charities.

Class action law suits are certainly more in the news today than they ever were. There’s always been a lot of public interest in class action, because the nature of the suit does have a kind of sensational nature at its core. But perhaps more importantly, the reason they’re interesting these days is because they serve as a kind of pie in the sky hope for a lot of people. The idea that anyone could have been wronged by a large corporation and entitled to a sizable cash settlement is a dream that’s almost as common as winning the lottery, and it might be as unlikely, too. What exactly is a class action suit, then?

A class action suit is where a large number of people have been wronged by a corporation or business, usually, or some kind of body that is difficult for most ordinary people to contend with. The character of the wrong is usually based in some kind of physical harm. The most commonly referenced class action, for purposes of an example, involves the many suits filed against the asbestos companies, and asbestos mines. In those cases, working people were exposed to a very dangerous chemical over a prolonged period. The risks of exposure to asbestos could lead to sickness and even cancers. The nature of the risks were not unknown to the companies, either, so that when the class actions went to trial, there was very little they could do to deny that they had put their employees at risk.

From this example, then, we can see that a class action is something that’s on a fairly large scale, where the threat to health is very grave. Groups of people will usually file these together, because the defendant in these is never an individual, but a body of people who have been harmed. This also offers a kind of safety in numbers, where it might be possible to have more people come forward when they have a more reasonable suspicion that some good would come out of it, rather than further injustice. Class action suits appeal to the sympathy we all have for the underdog, and they play into all the elements of that classic myth.

A Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) is a procedure utilized in the federal court system to transfer to one federal judge all pending civil cases of a similar type filed throughout the United States. A Class Action Lawsuit is a lawsuit where a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court and where a class of defendants are sued. The difference is that a class action lawsuit can be transferred to a MDL where a Judicial Panel was created by legislation in 1968 in response to the complexity among the courts to coordinate almost 2,000 related cases that were pending in a total of 36 districts around the country that alleged a nationwide antitrust conspiracy among electrical equipment manufacturers.

The Judicial Panel on MDL, which consists of seven judges presided over by a chairman, was needed to coordinate the difficult cases filed in multiple districts. The duties of each Judicial Panel member is the same with respect of deciding cases. However, the chairman of the panel has additional responsibilities because the chairman is responsible for the oversight of the panel’s office, the staff of 20 employees, and the budget. Plus, the chairman will handle any necessary contact’s with the transferee districts.

The decision whether cases should be transferred is made by the panel of seven federal judges, these judges are appointed by the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. The Judicial Panel on MDL meet, on a periodic basis, to review requests that cases be consolidated for pretrial matters pursuant to the law passed by Congress. Even though the panel meets in various cities throughout the U.S., the Clerk of the Panel is permanently stationed in Washington D.C. The judge who has all the federal cases assigned is known as the ‘transferee judge.’ The judges, who are throughout the U.S., send cases to the MDL judge and are known as the ‘transferor judges’ or the ‘transferor courts.’

Class actions are rather interesting for students of law, and anyone else that might be interested in the legal system in general. They point out general inequities and wrong-doing on a large scale, and some of the most exciting lawsuits revolve around class action. There is something of the underdog myth at work here, where the average worker goes up against the big corporation and sometimes wins. This underdog myth can become even more marked when it comes to play in the field of unions. So what, exactly, constitutes class action in a union grievance?

Class actions are distinguished from other general wrong-doings because of their scale. In a class action, a large group of people have had an injustice done to them, and they have decided to take it up with the wrong-doers in a legal forum. These cases appeal to the general population because there are usually real people involved, actively fighting a system that is usually known for ignoring the people. It’s a pretty classic tale, and the cinemas are filled with these kinds of stories. When there is a verdict on the side of those filing the class action, there is a sense that the verdict speaks for everyone. When it’s lost, there’s still a sense of justice being served, fighting the law and the law wins.

In unions generally, when an individual feels that there is a rule that has been broken, such as overtime without pay, they can file a grievance. Grievances have a very particular code in unions, and they go through a very specific process, and usually very quickly.

Oftentimes, when more than one individual feels wronged, the grievance process can take care of the problems quickly and efficiently. However, when there seems to be larger battle at hand, and something the union might see as a more difficult fight, and there are enough individuals who have suffered under the same discrepancy, they can take it the level of class action. When this happens, it becomes more serious, and there is a decision to put it at the level of us vs. them, rather than trying to settle it in a more inconspicuous way.

There has been a settlement in a class-action lawsuit that will guarantee Medicaid beneficiaries to continue purchasing prescription drugs at a minimal cost when they become eligible for Medicare. The class action lawsuit, filed in 2007 by the Center of Medicare Advocacy and the National Senior Citizens Law Center in the United States District Court in San Francisco, on behalf of the 6.2 million Medicaid beneficiaries who alleged they were overcharged for drugs or even turned away from pharmacies due to processing delays of Medicare enrollment.

Medicare law states that people enrolled in both Medicaid and Medicare are to receive any assistance with purchasing prescription drugs and the beneficiaries who are eligible, will only have a co-pay as low as $1.05 to $3.10 for brand-name drugs. But, it was alleged that the beneficiaries were charged as much as $35 to $75 dollars. Evidence shows that their low-income status was not properly shared by government agencies, pharmacies and insurers.

The attorney for the plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit, claim that the delays have shortened since the Medicare prescription drug benefit took effect back in 2006. But, the average wait time currently is five to six weeks before tens of thousands of Medicaid beneficiaries who transfer to Medicare every month can begin receiving prescription drug benefits.

The settlement will make the Government change its computer system, which will allow states to submit names of new low-income Medicare beneficiaries more than once a month. Government officials will be required to process the submissions within one day. Insurers that deliver drug benefits, must also provide drugs at a minimal costs of all low-income Medicare beneficiaries who have qualified for additional assistance. Plus, if a beneficiary claims eligibility, but doesn’t have the proper documentation, or is soon to run out of medication, federal officials are required to immediately contact the state Medicaid agency to confirm their eligibility.

The settlement agreement is a great win for many of the United States most vulnerable citizens who face life-threatening delays in obtaining vital medications. Because of the class action lawsuit, it is now easier for the poorest beneficiaries to navigate Medicare Part D.

Class action lawsuits are more common and issue inclusive than what many people realize. Many major Supreme Court cases have their origins in class action law, and the abortion issue is just one of them. One of the largest and most socially impacting pieces of legislation to be written in this country began as a class action suit that challenged the abortion issue. One of the most fundamental class actions suits related to abortion dealt with legislation involved with the 1973 Roe vs Wade Supreme Court case. The origins of this situation would not only become a class action suit be go on to manifest one of the most important and continually protested progressive legal outcomes in this country.

This original situation was based on a woman in Texas, Norma McCorvey, who became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion. During the 1960s many states across the country had begun to legalize abortion, while others, such as Texas, kept it illegal except in the case where it would threaten the life of the mother. Many women who became pregnant in these states would travel to an abortion providing state to secure their services. However, in the case of McCorvey, she became pregnant, wished to terminate it and did not have the financial resources to go to a state that could provide the abortion. This was a common situation faced by many women in abortion-restricted states. McCorvey was referred to an attorney in Dallas and her case was combined with that of a married couple. This couple had declared that abortion interfered with their marital relations because the wife could not use birth control for medical reasons.

These two cases formed the base of the class action suit that would eventually reach the Supreme Court and become the landmark legislation that gives women across the country the uninhibited right to legal physical autonomy. Abortion has been an extremely heated and frequently controversial political and social issue in this country every since it was originally transferred into the mainstream medical system. In addition to the numerous ongoing legislation battles over the issue there have also been a large number of lawsuits and various health care and social service providers have been involved. There has also been multiple class action lawsuits established that relate to the abortion issue.

Google is now facing a separate class action lawsuit over their reproduction of books online. Photographers and illustrators today filed suit claiming Google displays copyrighted images without compensating the artists who created them.

The 2005 lawsuit filed by authors and publishers is expected to be settled soon. Visual artists were excluded from participating in that case.  The new lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in New York.  You can read more on CNN’s SciTechBlog.

Class action lawsuits can be pretty involved cases, and some of them can take years to resolve. It gets even more complicated when there is more money involved, not necessarily because those cases are more important. Usually they bring in more heavy-hitters on the litigation teams, and this can escalate the legal arguments exponentially. For law students, these can be some of the most fascinating cases, and for others, they are simply bewildering. Looking at something like bankruptcy, and how that affects a securities class action, can lead to some interesting legal questions.

First, a securities class action is one where there is an accusation of some kind of gross misconduct on the part of an individual or corporation, where large amounts of money have been misused. Generally, there are investments involved, and money is used inappropriately. An example of this would be a company who uses their workers’ pensions for their own investment purposes, then lose the investments, and hence lose the pension that the workers have already earned. In these cases, the class action is begun to get this money back, because it is what is legally, and morally, the workers’ money to begin with.

That example works, but may not be the most interesting, because there is clearly a right and wrong side in the case. More often, the class action will reveal more ambiguities on both sides as the case goes on. There are, as one might imagine, many instances where the one being sued will declare bankruptcy, and file for bankruptcy protection. The law is clear on most of these matters, but very good lawyers can find ways of making it more complex and nuanced. Usually bankruptcy in these cases make any further action impossible, but there are many loopholes. One option, and a very good one, is to start making claims against individuals once the corporation has declared bankruptcy, and that begins another cycle of more legal proceedings.

John O’Quinn is not around to defend himself, but if he was, he’d still be fighting for a settlement on behalf of his approximately 3,500 clients. After O’Quinn’s untimely death in an auto accident in October, his estate lawyers have agreed to pay $46.5 million to settle a case that Terry Scarborough has been pursuing for a decade for the silicon implant class-action lawsuit case to reimburse the women involved.

The issue in the litigation process is whether O’Quinn’s law firm had a right to deduct the standard fee amount from the clients’ settlements of their share of the expert studies and costs that benefited the underlying tort case dealing with the plaintiffs claim over breast implants. Scarborough has claimed that the deduction wasn’t permitted for reasons that these fees were not a provision in O’Quinns representation agreement, which an arbitration panel agreed, stating that O’Quinn was indeed in breach of his fiduciary duties.

O’Quinn appealed the arbitration, and requested a full briefing on the merits of the amount required by the security bond in the amount of $45 million dollars that was order and signed by Judge Gossett. Just before O’Quinn’s death, the Texas Supreme Court upheld Gossetts ruling. Also, after O’Quinns death, Gerald Treece, his estate lawyer, proclaimed that after studying and analyzing of the law that the case would likely have ended in a loss for O’Quinn’s’ Law Firm and it would be best to settle now rather than watching the interest required by the security bond to continue to grow. Treece finally said that the settlement was the right thing to do and that is was time all the women in the breast-implant lawsuit get whatever is due to them. As of today, with the original security bond amount of $45 million dollars, plus the interest earned up to the settlement date, the O’Quinn’s’ estate will pay out $49 million dollars.

In class action lawsuits, there are many stages that each case has to go through until the settlement has been reached. It’s a very reasonable question, then, concerning what actually happens at the fairness hearing. By the time it does reach that stage, most of the nitty-gritty has already been resolved and decided. It would have been determined that there has been a wrong committed against a group of people, and usually it’s a large company or corporation that is at fault.

As with any of the stages, if you are involved, then you do have certain rights, and there are some limitations to these rights. So it’s a wise idea to understand the process so you know ahead of time what to expect when the time for the fairness hearing is at hand.

Before the hearing, a memorandum of understanding has been signed, and there is usually a preliminary settlement that all the parties agree to. The fairness hearing is that stage when the court decides that the settlement is agreed upon as reasonable and fair. Perhaps more importantly, this is also where the attorneys’ fees are on the table. Any member of the class action suit has the right to contest the amount of the settlement and the fees at the hearing.

Members of the suit are not always contacted individually before the fairness hearing. In fact, most of the communication at this point is issues through a press release. This means that you would need to follow the suit closely, especially if you have significant concerns about the settlement fees. The reason that not every member is contacted individually is because, for one thing, it would be very time-consuming, especially in the larger cases when there is a large number of people involved in the class action. Secondly, if every member of the suit were given an open opportunity to speak in court, it could tie things up considerably, and that wouldn’t benefit everyone.

The usual procedure for these is to give the clients the opportunity to air concerns in written form. This means that you do not need to be present at the hearing itself for your voice to be heard. If you do wish to attend, however, it is usually at your own expense.

The Continental Can Company is just one of many large companies and corporations that have been on the defendant side of major class action lawsuits. The situation with Continental Can goes back generations and actually begins in 1970 when the suit was initiated. The entire situation began as a result of the company’s intent to cut costs in order to provide investors with higher returns. In an effort to slash their bottom line, the company began to take the pensions from workers who had devoted their entire lives and careers to the company. It was determined that the acts of Continental Cans were immoral and unethical in their attempts to raise profits for investors.

This suit represents one of the more unfortunate cases that occur every year. The company displayed actions that were not only intentionally damaging and destructive but they also took what was rightfully earned by faithful and responsible career long employees. In addition, Continental devised a special computer program to aid in their efforts. They created a tracking system, which was later realized to be called BELL and was actually an acronym that meant let’s limit employee benefits, that let the company know when a staff person was reaching retirement.

Part of the reason this plan was expected to work was due to the fact that employees were entitled to their well-deserved pension only if they fulfilled their entire career expectation. If they left the company prior to retirement the pension would be void. The computer program BELL calculated when an employee was reaching retirement and the company would then lay off or fire that employee to avoid paying the pension. The verdict against Continental Can in this situation was an extremely important outcome representing workers rights. Class action lawsuits can be one of the most valuable tools an individual has when there are other people in the same situation and they are up against large companies.

It’s been over 10 years since Houston lawyer John M. O’Quinn’s firm had a class-action lawsuit brought on by a group of former breast-implant clients who alleged that the firm overcharged them for expenses. It’s been almost 2 years since a 3 member arbitration panel ordered the O’Quinn’s firm to pay in total $41.5 million dollars in damages to the class action of Martha Wood vs John M O’Quinn, after finding that his firm had breached their fiduciary duties.

O’Quinn’s firm as appealed the judgment confirming the arbitration award with which the 4th District Judge, Clay Gossett of Rusk County, entered against O’Quinn individually; John M. O’Quinn P.C.; O’Quinn & Laminack; and John M. O’Quinn & Associates. The appeal made the defendants jointly put up a superseadeas bond in the amount of $25 million dollars in which they cite Rule 52 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code that puts a $25 million dollar cap on the amount required as security for a judgement.

The Plaintiffs allege that the bond should total $45 million dollars in order to cover the judgment, plus a year of interest. Judge Gossett signed an order back in February 2008 increasing the size of the security bond to the requested $45 million dollars. The 12th court of Appeals upheld Gossetts ruling in June 2009. Now, the O’Quinn defendants are seeking relief from the Texas Supreme Court with a petition for writ of mandamus. The O’Quinn defendants asked the court to request a full briefing on the merits and to order Judge Gossett to vacate his ruling requiring the $45 million dollars security bond. The said petition is still pending. In August 2009, the Texas Supreme Court stayed Judge Gossett’s ruling requiring the $45 million dollar security bond and asked the parties to provide a full briefing on the bond issue.

In December 2009, the estate of John O’Quinn, who was killed in a one-car accident in October, has agreed to pay out $46.5 million dollars to the 3,500 former breast-implant clients, ending the 10 year legal battle

In these days, where it seems as though there aren’t just one or two places with litigious societies, but it seems to be moving that direction everywhere, it’s sometimes easy to forget that there are genuine lawsuits as well. Some of the most important decisions in law have come about when there’s a wrong that’s been done to a large group of people. These cases are generally resolved through class action lawsuits, and if this is your case, then this article is for you.

Determining whether or not your case actually qualifies for class action is the first step, and it’s fairly cut and dry as to what might constitute such a case. The most important element here is really in numbers. If you’ve suffered because of some negligent or even malevolent actions from another body, usually a corporation, and you are not alone, then you have a start. If other people have suffered in the same way, from the same corporation, and in the same circumstances, then you’re probably ready to take it to the next step.

It’s virtually impossible to get anywhere without a lawyer or a law firm, so that’s the next thing to do: find lawyers who specialize in this, and start interviewing them, giving the reasons you think your case qualifies for class action. By definition, these things are brought to trial by lawyers, who fight on behalf of a large number of people. It will certainly help your case, then, to get as many people on your case as possible. This can also help convince the lawyers to help you, because when there are larger numbers, it only increases your chances of winning, and this means more money for the lawyers.

Gather as much information as you can about the circumstances of the injury, and as much evidence to support your case. A good lawyer will certainly help you to get what you deserve, but it also helps to have all your ducks in a row. If the case is legitimate, the right lawyers will help take care of the rest of the details.

De Beers is the largest supplier of rough diamonds in the world. For years De Beers has pretty much held a monopoly over the diamond industry. Beginning in 2001, Plaintiffs throughout the country have filed lawsuits against De Beers in both state and federal courts alleging that De Beers unlawfully monopolized the supply of diamonds and planned to fix, raise, and control diamond prices, and gave out wrongful and disingenuous advertising. De Beers denies it violated any of the laws or did anything wrong and dishonest.
The Settlement Agreement provides that $22.5 Million be distributed to the Direct Purchaser Class, and that $272.5 Million will be distributed to the Indirect Purchaser Class. De Beers also agreed to avoid doing anything that would violate any federal and state antitrust laws and give in to the jurisdiction of the Court to enforce the Settlement.
Under the terms of the settlement if you bought diamonds from De Beers between January 1994 and March 2006 you may be eligible for a refund of up to 60% of the total cost. The refund is for purchases of engagement rings, various types of jewelry, and even jewelry mixed with other gemstones. In order to get the refund you will need to have your receipt available in order to provide a proof of purchase and you must have purchased the diamonds during that period of time stated earlier. The amount of money that De Beers has to refund will be very high however, there will be a limit to the amount available for them to refund. The amount will be a huge nine figure number but the company will not go over that amount in refunds. This is important because if you are not among the earlier people to go and get the refund then you may risk not getting the full amount possible.

On February 23rd, 2010, the United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Hertz Corporation vs. Friend class action lawsuit, adopting that a ‘Corporations’ principal place of business is where its executives work and not where its products are sold. The Court stated that it was adopting a single test among the numerous approaches previously employed by the lower federal courts. Now, a corporation is deemed a citizen both of the state of its incorporation’s and the State where it has its principal place of business. Prior to this decision, the lower courts had adopted a number of increasingly complex and divergent interpretations of the provision, leading to a variety of different tests for determining diversity jurisdiction. Basically, it creates a more uniform interpretation of the statutory phrase ‘Principal Place of Business.’ This ruling will make it harder for class action suits to be filed against out-of-state corporations in state courts, which are known to be friendlier to class-action lawsuits compared to federal courts.

The Supreme court ruled that a corporation’s place of business, or so called ‘nerve center’, is where its officers direct, coordinate and control its activities and not where the corporation has its largest amount of business. The ruling said if it finds that the corporation’s alleged ‘nerve center’ is nothing more than a mailbox or an empty office, then a court should determine the location of its actual principal place of business for purposes of determining the venue for a class action lawsuit.

Legal experts claim the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision will make it easier for parties of class action lawsuits in different states to move the suit to from state court to federal court. The Class Action Fairness Act of 2005, which was backed by businesses, held that they could get fairer hearings in federal courts rather than state courts, especially if they are not residence of a state.

Yes, class action lawsuit can be filed for financial damages. Basically, most class action lawsuits stem from financial damages in a variety of forms. For instance, there is a class action lawsuit alleging that Ameriloss of Florida overcharged clients with fee of 33.5% for adjusting claims related to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Florida state law limits fee to 10 percent.

Another example of a class action lawsuit filed because of financial damages is the suit brought against Heartland Payment Systems, Inc. The claim alleges that Heartland failed to secure Sensitive Financial Information of millions of credit card consumers from across the US. The suit continues to allege that sometime in 2008, an unauthorized and unknown third person(s) hacked into Heartland’s computer network and gained access to the Sensitive Financial Information of an undetermined number of consumers. After the data breach, Heartland has not offered the affected consumers anything that might protect or compensate them for the injuries suffered as a result of the breach, like offering free credit monitoring, free identity theft insurance, or payments for ‘freezing’ consumer’s credit.

Amazon has a class action lawsuit filed against it for having the ability to delete digital content from Amazon’s product ‘Kindle’, an electronic reading device. Plaintiffs say the value of a Kindle and any reading materials purchased has significantly diminished because of Amazon’s ability to remotely delete digital content. The class action lawsuit contends that owning an electronic reading device that allows content to be deleted remotely is worth less than one without such a feature.

Other forms of class action lawsuits deal with Wage-and-hour, covering disputes involving unpaid overtime and employment discrimination. Or, Billing Fraud, covering securities fraud, contract disputes, any billing discrepancies, antitrust, product liability, and environmental claims. Finally, Improper Interest Rate Levies, which covers unfair practices by credit card companies, banks and other financial institutions.

Class action lawsuits are a type of civil suit that is brought to court by one or more people who act on the behalf of a larger group of people. These are cases where many people have a case but separate lawsuits would become a time consuming endeavor. Often class action lawsuits will occur when many people have been injured or wronged by a particular product or company.

Since most class actions are filed in federal court, settlement payments to victims will not show up in a State Unclaimed Property Division or the Department of Revenue search and, unlike most other unclaimed money, there is usually a time limit by which the settlement must be claimed before it expires. If you’ve moved, hold stock in street name and switch brokers, or physically hold stock certificates, you may not be notified of any class action suits so check those companies you maintain shares in regularly.

An ever growing source of unclaimed funds is created by class action law suits within a wide range of industries, products and services. Several hundred companies are involved in class action law suits are coming before court of law each year. These fall into several categories including: security fraud, consumer protection, public health, antitrust, human rights, environment, and product liability. Recent settlements have exceeded $11 billion; however, fifty percent of those who could collect payments fail to make a claim. Even if the product is no longer on the market or the stock has been sold to another business, class action suit members may be eligible to receive cash, credits, shares or distributions in companies.

What happens if a person doesn’t claim the money from a class action settlement? If you used a faulty or defective product years ago you may still be able to receive cash, credit, or shares as a class member, from hundreds of major companies. You may need to hire a company specializing in tracking unclaimed assets you may be eligible for, for a fee. The Consumer Advocacy Center has been working with charities to make sure that even though money isn’t collected for a class action suit that the “wrong doers” don’t keep the money. These charitable donations are called Cy Press awards.

The De Beers diamond company has settled its class action lawsuit –it will pay millions! 272 million will be split up by the number of people filing a claim. This lawsuit spans a 12 year period. Anyone who bought a diamond during those twelve years may be entitled to compensation. In order to file a claim you do not need any type of receipt or documentation. It is best to locate a copy of the receipt, as it may be requested later on in the process. The De Beers Company is not located in the U.S. and did not believe that the courts in New Jersey had a right to prosecute the. It turns out that the courts were never given a chance since a settlement was reached.

When a settlement is reached, both parties agree to stop any further court proceedings. Many times this is done to prevent further court and attorney’s fees. If one side is feeling the pressure and realizes that they may lose in trial, a settlement is usually offered.

In this case the defendants were accused of violating antitrust laws and creating unfair competition. The defendants consisted of mining companies, diamond sellers, and investment companies, myriad of other constituents associated with the number one diamond seller in the world.

What it boils down to is that de Beers had a monopoly on the diamond business and were manipulating the prices. As part of the settlement agreement an injunction has been placed on the defendants. This injunction mandates that the companies involved follow anti trust laws, and prohibits them from manipulating the supply of diamonds or fixing prices.

The last date to file a claim was March 19, 2008. Claims can be filed after this date, but there is no guarantee it will be considered. There are several categories under the settlement to categorize claim holders. The 295 million dollars will be divided into two major categories and then two other subcategories. Once all of the claims have been filed, each subcategory will be divided by the number of claims and then monies allocated accordingly.

Investors in the R.H. Donnelley Corporation have filed a class-action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware on behalf of purchasers of R.H. Donnelley Corp. publicly traded securities during the period between July 26, 2007 to May 28, 2009, against specific R.H. Donnelley’s officers and directors because R.H. Donnelley failed to account for its bad debt.

R.H. Donnelley’s directors and officers are charged with violating the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, because they issued false statements and materials connected with the companies financial situation. In the complaint, it alleges that the companies directors and officers caused the company to not accurately account, in a timely fashion, for their bad debt. The complaint specifically alleges that because the directors and officers issued misleading, false statements and failed to disclose that its bad debt was not only due to lower advertising revenue, but also because of a shift in their customer’s move away from using the yellow pages for advertising. Plus, it is alleged that the directors and officers not only understated their exposure to liquidity possibilities and of a possible downgrading of their Stock Exchange rating, they allegedly created an erroneous support statement for their financial projections into the Class period that artificially inflated prices of the companies stock value.

However, beginning in February of 2008, R. H. Donnelley’s directors and officers did start to acknowledge their financial woes with the company’s operations and with the financial results, so on March 12,2009, they publicly made an announcement that they had retained a financial advisor in order to assist with new evaluations of the companies capital, which would include the restructuring of various balance sheets. Then, only 2 months later, R. H. Donnelley filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a debt-restructuring move that would wipe out existing shareholders. Leaving shareholders with stock trading at 6 cents per share.

It seems that by the time most individuals reach the point of retirement, and usually many years before, they have received at least one notice informing them that they have been listed in a class action lawsuit. And for most of these people, they will likely admit that they had no idea what it was about or what it meant and they very likely threw away the notice instead of looking into it. This is actually extremely common and the typical response to the receipt of such a notice. Meanwhile, there are other people across the country who are trying to find their way into a particular suit or figure out how to initiate one. And while they might seem like similar endeavors they are actually very different in what is expected, or more accurately required, of the pursuer.

It generally requires little or no effort to find out if you are already part of an existing class action suit, however it may require a little further investigation to find an existing lawsuit and become a part of it. If you are already part of a suit then you should receive notice from the court indicating such. However, if you are not already one of the registered plaintiffs, one of the easiest ways to do this is to do a general search on the Internet. If you are able to find the suit in this manner then you will want to make note of the representing law firm and contact them as soon as possible. If you already know the law firm that is handling the case then you can just contact them directly.

While you are searching for a specific suit you may want to browse the listings and see if there are any others that you feel you are eligible to be a part of. Meanwhile, if you continue to have difficulty finding a specific suit you can advertise that you are looking for one. You can do this both online and in a local newspaper. You are also encouraged to speak to your friends and associates about it. Chances are likely that your friends may have the same interests and similar lifestyles and may already be part of the class action suit you’re looking for or may wish to join with you. Joining an existing suit is easier than it might seem, though it is definitely recommended that you do as much research as you can and that you become comfortable the way these lawsuits work.

Class action lawsuits can be some of the most fascinating legal actions in contemporary times. Because the nature of these suits affect a large number of people by definition, they also tend to attract an awful lot of media attention. They speak to the underdog in all of us, and they can also appeal to our universal need to come across unpredicted sums of money. Usually they involve being exposed to something unhealthy, against our will, so anyone could potentially be a victim if they were unfortunate enough to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. This is certainly what’s happening with Camp Lejeune, and here we’ll discuss your options if you feel you might have been affected.

The case is revolving around water contamination. The Marine base at Camp Lejeune was connected to water sources that are now known to have been contaminated, with a level of toxic solvents that made it unsuitable for human consumption. This happened between the years 1957 and 1987, so it was something that was a considerable health risk for 30 years, and the toxins have been linked to birth defects and cancers. To make matters worse, it seems as though there is evidence that it was known to be toxic in the early 60s, and so much of the damage could possibly have been prevented.

Some say that this is the worst case of contamination in history, and there were thousands and thousands of military people, their families, and residents who were exposed, and the numbers could come close to one million. This class action suit is a very hot topic, then, and there are many ways to investigate to see if you might be eligible to register in the class action. The main offices in charge of the suit are North Carolina’s Anderson Pangia and Associates, and Pennsylvania’s Smorto, Persio, Webb and McGill. Contacting them could be a good first step, or you could also contact any experienced attorney that you trust, and they can help put you in touch with the right people.

Many of the class action lawsuits against the cigarette companies are going through the states. You may want to check with your state to see if there is a lawsuit pending. Each state government has a website and phone number to call for that sort of information. Then there are the law firms that handle the cases. You may want to do some research to see which law firms are handling the cases. Off hand I know that  Will Ferguson and Associates has handled some cases with Marlboro for the state of New Mexico. Sheller Ludwig and Badey have also handled cases for the residence of Missouri back in 2003.

It is really interesting how many states have been involved in some sort of class action lawsuit with the Philip Morris Company, who makes Marlboro cigarettes. You could check with one of the mentioned law firms like Sheller Ludwig and Badey to see if they know who might have a suit going in your state or if there is any case in action at the supreme court. They often cover multiple states which make sense since they have fought the beast before and won. Your not alone in this fight. In 1996 even the widow of the original Marlboro man filed suite against the company. Actor David McLean died from lung cancer after years of battling the addictive nicotine for years. He just had the hardest time trying to quit smoking and was never successful with it. David McLean was hired to be the Marlboro man on television and print adds for Philip Morris Inc. He was obligated to smoke the cigarettes and would smoke up to five packs per add in order to get the right look. From then on he received boxes of the cigarettes as gifts. At the time, no one would think that the Marlboro man would die from smoking the cigarettes that he was paid to sell to the world.

On January 7, 2010, a class action lawsuit was filed against Macy’s, claiming that the department store allegedly misled thousands of consumers nationwide by selling jewelry that had stones and gems which were enhanced artificially and filled with lead in an effort to exaggerate the true carat weight as well as to hide imperfections. The Brandi Law Firm has filed the action and has set forth details of fraudulent conduct, which includes claiming to sell natural rubies when they were in fact glass filled and/or lead filled treated stones. The lawsuit also alleges that Macy’s sold gems from banned countries, and passed off black sapphires as diamonds and Praseolite (a type of quartz that has been heated) as green amethysts. They also claimed to sell sapphires that were really fracture-filled glass. The treated stones not only are less valuable than real gems, but they’re also more fragile. They’re easily discolored, even with ordinary use and cleaning, which would render them difficult, even impossible, to fix.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs have expressed their disappointment with Macy’s, referencing the many people who were misled by this practice. The goal of the lawsuit is to force Macy’s to stop the alleged practice, and to pay back the customers who have purchased the treated stones unknowingly. The early morning national news program, Good Morning America, has aired a story on these misleading practices. In a separate lawsuit, a gemologist and appraiser who worked from 1983 to May 2009 accused the company of firing him after he reported the problems with the stones from 2007 and 2009.

If you believe that you bought jewelry, stones or gems from Macy’s anytime from January 2005 until the present day, you may have an interest in this lawsuit. If you conclude that your rights have been violated, you may wish to contact the Brandi Law Firm. If you contact them, then someone from that firm will examine your information and be in contact with you.

Class action lawsuits may not be the most exciting way to spend a day in court, but they certainly make for great stories in the headlines.  In class action suits, a large number of people who have been injured or otherwise adversely affected by the actions of a company are brought into the legal process as if they were a single entity.  Cases like the thousands who have suffered from asbestos coming to get at least part of their just rewards, appeals to the underdog in us all, and the outcomes of these cases are often spectacular things to see.  However, in the case of John O’Quinn, the outcome of the class action lawsuit against him was a little less exciting, because it is still so bogged down in legal terms.

In a nutshell, this prominent Texas lawyer made a career and a substantial fortune, by helping those who were mistreated in breast implant cases, from big tobacco companies, and medical facilities.  Many of the cases he took have iconic places in the U.S. pop consciousness as big offenders in our lives, and his excellent record of winning cases helped to boost our sense of worth and value, or at least helped to take away some of the powerlessness we feel at the foot of these giants.

In an interesting turn of events, however, for one of his cases, in which he won against a silicon company on behalf of thousands of women, it was discovered that he had overcharged his clients.  This was in 1999.  They, in turn, formed another class action suit against O’Quinn, for damages and for overcharging.  Their suit won, and in 2007 he was paying a large portion of his won winnings from the case, for their settlement.  The portion was still only somewhere around 10-20 percent of his gains, but still signifies a substantial amount.  This is even more interesting in light of the recent death of John O’Quinn in a car crash in October, 2009.  The other man in the car, Johnny Cutliff, also died in the crash, and his estate is now suing O’Quinn’s estate, in an endless circle of litigation.  It’s always interesting to see how class action suits play out, and this is a life of class actions, the results of which continue to unfold even after the life has passed.

If you think you might be a part of a class action lawsuit, but no one’s contacted you, how do you join such a lawsuit? How do you even find out if anyone’s conducting a class action investigation?

Class action suits are about the rights and claims of a large number of people that is ruled upon in a single case. While there are specific plaintiffs, these plaintiffs represent an entire group of people who have the same injury or the same complaint, so that everyone doesn’t have to file an independent lawsuit. Different types of class action lawsuits include, consumer class actions, securities class actions, product liability and personal injury class actions as well as employment class action. In a consumer class type of lawsuit, these are brought about when companies injure their customers through repeated, illegal practices (failure to follow consumer protection laws or making an illegal charge on a bill, for example). In a securities class action, the injury is to investors who have suffered because of misstated earnings or improper conduct. A product liability or personal injury class suit would deal with injuries caused by a mass accident by a defective product, while an employment class action lawsuit would attempt to remedy injuries done to the employees of a particular company. If you find your financial loss or injury following into one of these categories, you may already be a part of a class action lawsuit, but not be aware of it.

If you haven’t had any notice of being a part of the law suit, then you may wish to contact the attorney for the lawsuit and request that your name be added to the class action registry. Registration makes sure you’ll be mailed future notices, especially those concerning a notice of settlement and how to take part in any recovery. If you have information useful to attorneys in the suit, you should contact them and tell them.

The best way to find out information about these investigations and/or lawsuits already in progress is the Internet. Attorneys will often create web pages to provide information about the lawsuit and how to contact them. Type into a search engine the name of the product or company and the words class action. This should generate the proper webpage.

Every once in a while, you may find a notice in your mailbox about a business you’ve gone to, or an insurance company you’ve used, only to discover they’re involved in a class action lawsuit.  These law suits are an action that takes place when a plaintiff or defendant represents a group of people with the same interest.  For instance, class action law suits have been filed and decided against tobacco firms and the effects smoking has on their customers, and against the manufacturers of Agent Orange after Vietnam vets were exposed to this herbicide.  These cases were settled in 1997 and 1984, respectively.  More class action lawsuits are filed each day, and notices are sent to people who may be part of the representative group.  But what happens when people don’t respond to these notices?  What happens if a person doesn’t claim the class action settlement money?

Class action lawsuits are an increasing part of funds which go unclaimed.  Every year there will be companies in the hundreds that take part in class action suits.  You’ll find them falling into several categories, such as consumer protection, which deals with fraudulent marketing; public health, which concerns anything that endangers a person’s health, such as tobacco.  The class action lawsuit may deal with anything from a business’s unfair practice to fixing prices to problems created by pollution and discrimination.  While the money involved is great (five billion in settlements in 2006, for example), more than half of those people entitled to payment do not file for the claim.  Many people may overlook the notices in newspaper classified ads; they might have moved and never received the form to file.  Whatever the reason, if the money remains unclaimed, you may still have access to it.

For example, if you used a defective product years ago, or you’ve sold stock, a class member may still be able to receive cash or credit, even shares or distributions from hundreds of major companies, such as AT&T, Coca Cola, Bank of America, Wal-Mart, and so on.  However, you must file a claim to receive that share.  If the lawsuit was filed in Federal court, as many of them are, the money owed in a settlement won’t be listed in a State Unclaimed Property Division search and there’s a time limit fixed for when the settlement must be claimed or disappear.  If you suspect you have unclaimed monies owed you, you may have to pay a small fee with a company that specializes in searches for unclaimed assets to find out if you’re eligible.

All big companies come under big scrutiny, it is the cost of being a household name. It then seems reasonable that these companies would occasionally end up in class action law suits. These are often happening, and it is only when there are really serious charges that they actually make it to court usually. One such case would be the cases against AT&T that have happened over the last few years.

The most recent case against AT&T to hit the news has been a group of AT&T customers who are suing AT&T for millions of dollars in damages because the company helped the government wiretap their phone and internet lines without letting anyone know, or gaining anyone’s permission. This is a serious offense they are being accused of, and so far no one seems to be denying that it is true. In fact the AT&T lawyers are trying to have the case thrown out to protect State secrets. The state actually faces a few lawsuits of this nature right about now, and has been denied almost all of them being thrown out on account of State Secrets.

Previous to this was a lawsuit covering AT&Ts; 3G network. When the Iphone first came out, it was well over advertised. This was a trend that continued when the Iphone 3G came out. There was even a bit of advertising that said the new 3G phones would be twice as fast. The first few firmware updates did nothing to help and even for some made the problems worse, making it so they could not even use the phone part of the Iphone, much less anything else. Smith, the first person to file, argued that there was potentially tens of thousands of members who have been robbed due to actions not taken by AT&T. She felt that if she had paid her money for the service, the service should be provided, as most people do.

Previous to this there was a string of class action law-suits that hit AT&T as well as almost every other phone carrier. Phone carriers were being sued for charging early termination fees. We all know they are going to happen if we leave our contract early, it is part of the point for the phone company to have to contract, but clients were complaining that they were being charged ridiculous amounts and that ETFs were illegal. The phone companies claimed that ETFs are a way to offset the discount offered on phones when people sign up for a new contract. What happens from there is in the hands of the courts.

This is just a small sampling of the type of class action lawsuits that have been filed against AT&T.

The online review site, Yelp, has been accused of extortion in a class-action lawsuit filed in Los Angeles in February 2010. The suit alleges that Yelp tried to get a Long Beach veterinary hospital named Cats and Dogs Animal Hospital to pay $300 per month for a minimum of 12 months, the extortion part was to suppress or delete review that disparaged the hospital. According to the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the site manipulated the reviews and therefore the ratings for a business. The extortion scheme offered a business removal of any negative reviews or relocate them to the bottom of a listing page, where fewer visitors go, but only if the said business would purchases a monthly advertising subscription.

Yelp is a popular San Francisco based site and is one of the leading sites where consumers can post reviews and comments about their local businesses and services. Yelp touted its integrity with this slogan saying Real People – Real Reviews. Yelp was founded in 2004 and worked its way through the United States. In 2009, Yelp launched its site in the United Kingdom and in Ireland. Yelp capitalized on the presumed integrity of their ratings system to extort business owners to purchase advertising.

The suit alleges that in September of 2009, Cats and Dogs owner Dr. Gregory Perrault became aware of a negative review posted on Yelp by a user named Chris R., and Dr. Perrault viewed it as defamatory and possibly false. He researched the information given in the review and discovered that the defamatory review referred to a hospital visit that happened more than 18 months prior to the posting and Yelp’s policy only allows reviews to be posted within 12 months of an experience with a business.

Dr. Perrault ask that Yelp remove the bad review because it was in violation of Yelp’s guidelines. But, a second negative review appeared about five days later from a user identified as Kay K., and once again Dr. Perrault claimed not to know any person named Kay.

The class-action suit claim is backed up by an East Bay Express article published last year that also accuses the site of running an extortion racket. In the article, numerous business owners described similar scenarios as the one alleged by the plaintiff. In reply, Yelp made a statement about the lawsuit saying that the allegations are false, because there are numerous businesses that advertise on Yelp who have both positive and negative reviews. They also said that running a good business is hard, but filing a class-action lawsuit is easy.