Consumer Protection Class Actions
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Consumer Protection Class Actions
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CPM is one of the most experienced law firms in the country in Key Contacts
representing consumers in class action lawsuits against businesses and Niall P. McCarthy
corporations. Class actions are lawsuits in which an individual, or a nmccarthy@cpmlegal.com
group of individuals, sues a business on behalf of all individuals who have Justin T. Berger
jberger@cpmlegal.com
similar claims against the business. By allowing numerous claims to be
brought in one lawsuit, class actions provide redress for harms that Brian Danitz
bdanitz@cpmlegal.com
might be too small to address through individual lawsuits. The firm
Alison E. Cordova
typically represents consumers in class actions against corporations that acordova@cpmlegal.com
have engaged in fraud, or produced defective and dangerous products.
CPM acted as co-lead national class counsel in predatory lending actions
against some of the largest mortgage lenders across the country. In
addition, CPM has ongoing cases and investigations, launched by
individuals contacting the firm, into predatory lending and credit card
practices, unfair debt collection practices, misleading advertising and
labeling, and many other practices designed to fleece consumers of their
hard-earned money.
Noteworthy Cases
In re Apple Inc. Device Performance Litigation
Co-lead counsel for putative class of iPhone6, SE and 7 owners involving
computer intrusion and trespass claims related to the alleged throttling
of device performance. On May 15, 2020, the District Court
preliminarily approved a potential $500 million class settlement in this
multidistrict litigation.
S A N F R A N C I S CO B A Y A R E A LO S A N G E L E S / S A N TA M O N I C A NEW YORK W W W. C P M L E G A L . CO MCONSUMER PROTECTION CLASS ACTIONS
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PACE Litigation CPM has teamed up with the non-profit
organization Housing and Economic Rights Advocates ("HERA") to
bring this individual and class action lawsuit in Alameda County
Superior Court alleging that certain solar finance and installation
companies have targeted Latino homeowners in California with
intent to defraud them into entering into a PACE Assessment
Agreement to finance solar power upgrades to their home.
Plaintiff alleges in her complaint that homeowners are repeatedly
hounded by robocallers in Spanish and told that a government
program requires them to install solar panels. Then when the
homeowner finally relents and receives the paperwork, it is all in
English and includes an agreement for a priority tax lien to be put
on their home and exorbitant and hidden fees and charges to
finance the solar upgrade are included--all without the
homeowners' knowledge or disclosure to the homeowner in
Spanish. Defendants at this time are PACE Funding Group LLC,
Green Pace Financial Inc., Complete Solar Inc., and Garantia Solar.
Kofman v. Alexy (“Alex”) Pitt, Lucrazon, Netvence et al.
San Mateo Superior Court
On February 14, 2017, CPM obtained a $1,295,579 dollar judgment on behalf of an elderly Bay Area
resident who was the victim of financial elder abuse. As detailed in the Complaint, Mr. Kofman lost every
penny of his carefully saved retirement funds—in total over $1 million—in a merciless scam. Over the past
fifteen years, Defendant Alexy Pitt has left in his wake a series of failed business ventures which have
harmed employees and investors alike. As alleged in the Complaint, while running an MLM – pyramid
scheme scam, Pitt and Lucrazon used Mr. Kofman as a personal piggy bank, going so far as to fly the
elderly Kofman down to Irvine when they needed more money. In response to Mr. Kofman’s pleas for
repayment, Mr. Pitt told Mr. Kofman "Donald Trump says you need to withstand pressure to be successful
in business." Mr. Kofman pursued the case not just in the hopes of recovering some portion of his
retirement funds but also with the hope of protecting others who could fall prey to Mr. Pitt.
S A N F R A N C I S CO B A Y A R E A LO S A N G E L E S / S A N TA M O N I C A NEW YORK W W W. C P M L E G A L . CO MCONSUMER PROTECTION CLASS ACTIONS � Hanson v. Pro Solutions USDC, Northern District of California CPM represents a homeowner who was pursued by a debt collector, Pro Solutions, for unpaid Homeowners Association (HOA) dues. The complaint alleges that Pro Solutions violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and other law by attempting to collect fees and charges that were greater than those allowed by law, and engaged in other illegal debt collection activity. HL Leasing Ponzi Scheme Fresno County Superior Court PM obtained a jury verdict for $46.5 million against the top two senior officers of HL Leasing, Inc. for their involvement in a Ponzi scheme. The jury verdict came three days after the court had entered a directed verdict for $114 million against HL Leasing, Inc., Heritage Pacific Leasing and Air Fred, LLC for a Ponzi scheme in which over 1200 victims lost approximately $137 million. (Jury Verdict 2011) Pardini v. Unilever United States, Inc. United States District Court, Northern District of California CPM and another firm represent consumers in a class action against corporate giant Unilever. One of Unilever’s many products, “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter,” falsely advertises that it offers a healthy alternative to butter, as a purportedly fat-free and calorie-free spray. Innocent consumers, many of whom have been given directives from their physicians to avoid fatty and high calorie foods, have relied upon I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter’s promises, when in fact, the product contained 1295 calories and 137 grams of fat per 12-ounce bottle. Yet, to rake in profits, Unilever included statements on the nutrition panel claiming, “Calories 0” and “Total Fat 0g per serving.” Similarly, the front label stated “0 Calories per serving” and “0g fat per serving.” These misrepresentations misled and deceived all purchasers during the class period, who paid a hefty premium for false promises and put their health at risk. The suit alleges Unilever violated California and Missouri consumer protection statutes by making nutrient content claims that misled reasonable consumers to believe the heavy premium was worth the benefits. S A N F R A N C I S CO B A Y A R E A LO S A N G E L E S / S A N TA M O N I C A NEW YORK W W W. C P M L E G A L . CO M
CONSUMER PROTECTION CLASS ACTIONS � Credit Counseling Industry Suit names Chase, Money Management International and Others USDC Central District of California CPM filed a consumer fraud case against JP Morgan Chase & Co., Chase Manhattan Bank USA, Money Management International (also known as Consumer Credit Counseling Service) and Money Management By Mail, Inc. for fraudulent “debt counseling” and debt collections in the subprime credit industry. The cases settled for $11.4 million. Anastasiya Komarova v. MBNA America Bank, N.A.; National Credit Acceptance, Inc. San Francisco Superior Court In a rare jury trial against a credit card collection agency, a San Francisco jury ruled in favor of a young woman who was the victim of an abusive campaign to force her to repay a debt she never incurred. Anne Marie Murphy and Justin T. Berger represented Anastasiya Komarova, who was awarded $600,000 from National Credit Acceptance, Inc. in 2008. Komarova had been subjected to nearly a year of hostile telephone calls to her workplace and a spurious arbitration proceeding, all over a bogus credit card debt and despite the fact that she repeatedly told the agency she never had an account with the credit card company in question. In issuing its verdict, the San Francisco Superior Court jury described National Credit Acceptance's conduct as "outrageous." The verdict is believed to be one of the largest verdicts in the country by a sole plaintiff alleging credit abuse. Northern Trust Bank of California Los Angeles County Superior Court CPM filed a class action on behalf of beneficiaries of fixed-fee trusts charged excess trustee fees over a 20-year period. The case returned tens of millions of dollars to consumers. S A N F R A N C I S CO B A Y A R E A LO S A N G E L E S / S A N TA M O N I C A NEW YORK W W W. C P M L E G A L . CO M
CONSUMER PROTECTION CLASS ACTIONS � News Judge Preliminarily Approves Historic Payment of Up to 500 Million Dollars For Apple iPhone Consumers Impacted By Software Slowdowns 2020 Consumers File Class Action Lawsuit Against Online Trading Academy for Fraud 04.20.2020 Apple to Settle Class-Action Suit Over Slowed-Down iPhones The Wall Street Journal, 2020 Historic Settlement Reached for Apple iPhone Consumers Impacted by Software Throttling 02.28.2020 Doskocz v. ALS Lien Services: Additional Information for Potential Class Members 01.06.2020 Judge Appoints Joe Cotchett and Laurence King as Co-Lead Counsel in the Apple Device Battery Throttling Case 05.15.2018 Court Upholds Consumers' Claims that Vizio Unlawfully Collects and Uses Private Consumer Data Collected through its Smart TVs in Cutting-Edge Privacy Case 2017 Cutting Edge Privacy Case First In The Nation Class Action Filed Against Samsung For Exploding Samsung Note 5, S6 And S7 Series Phones 11.02.2016 Costco lawsuit aims to pressure change in Thai shrimp industry Intrafish, 08.26.2015 Costco Faces Lawsuit Over Slavery In Prawn Supply Care2, 08.25.2015 Costco Slapped with Suit for ‘Slave Labor’ Shrimp Triple Pundit, 08.25.2015 S A N F R A N C I S CO B A Y A R E A LO S A N G E L E S / S A N TA M O N I C A NEW YORK W W W. C P M L E G A L . CO M
CONSUMER PROTECTION CLASS ACTIONS � Costco Sued Over ‘Slave Labor’ Shrimp From Thailand Sentinel Republic, 08.21.2015 Costco faces lawsuit over sale of prawns allegedly farmed by slave labor Los Angeles Times, 08.20.2015 Costco hit with suit over sale of farmed shrimp produced with slave labour in Thai fishing industry domain-b, 08.20.2015 Costco sued for allegedly selling Thai shrimp from slave labor Intrafish, 08.20.2015 Costco sued for fishy labor practices San Jose Mercury News, 08.19.2015 Frozen Shrimp Sold at Costco Tied to Company That Uses Slave Labor: Lawsuit NBC Bay Area, 08.19.2015 Costco Sued Over Claims Shrimp Harvested With Slave Labor Bloomberg, 08.19.2015 Costco Sued Over ‘Slave Labor’ Shrimp From Thailand InvestorPlace, 08.19.2015 Costco Taken to Court for Knowingly Selling Slave Labor Shrimp to Unsuspecting Californians 08.19.2015 Lawsuit accuses Costco of selling shrimp fed by slave labor San Francisco Chronicle, 08.19.2015 Three plaintiffs’ lawyers tapped to lead Lumber Liquidators MDL Reuters Legal, 08.06.2015 Herron v. Best Buy Pro Solutions Consumer Action 23andMe ADR Clause Passes Muster With Koh The Recorder, 07.26.2014 Lawsuit Filed For Counterfeit, Non-FDA Approved Medical Devices Implanted Into Bodies 07.17.2014 S A N F R A N C I S CO B A Y A R E A LO S A N G E L E S / S A N TA M O N I C A NEW YORK W W W. C P M L E G A L . CO M
CONSUMER PROTECTION CLASS ACTIONS � CPM Gets a Thumbs Up on The Recorder's BAR-ometer The Recorder, 06.27.2014 CPM Appointed Interim Co-lead Counsel in HSBC Overdraft Fees Litigation in New York 07.23.2013 Final Approval Granted For AT&T/Cingular Class Action Settlement 10.09.2012 Publications Punitive Damages: How Much Is Enough? Civil Litigation Reporter., Volume 20, Number 1 (Feb. 1998) S A N F R A N C I S CO B A Y A R E A LO S A N G E L E S / S A N TA M O N I C A NEW YORK W W W. C P M L E G A L . CO M
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