| 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 sixty-plus attorney AV-rated[1] law firm with offices in San Francisco, New York and Nashville. Lieff Cabraser is one of the largest law firms in the United States that only represents plaintiffs.
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Lieff Cabraser represents plaintiffs in individual, class and group cases in the fields of antitrust, aviation, civil and human rights, consumer protection, employment discrimination and unfair employment practices, environmental and toxic exposure, personal injury and mass torts, product defects, and securities and investor fraud.
Lieff Cabraser has been described by The American Lawyer as "one of the nation's premier plaintiffs firms."[2] In 2004, The American Lawyer recognized Lieff Cabraser as one of "the most successful plaintiffs firms in the land."[3]
In the 2010 edition of its annual list of the top plaintiffs' law firms in the U.S., The National Law Journal selected Lieff Cabraser[4]. 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 eighth consecutive year since 2003 that Lieff Cabraser has received this honor.[5]
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.[6][7]
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.[8][9]
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.[10][11][12]
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.[13][14][15][16]
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.[17]
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.[18][19][20][21]
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.[22]
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.[23]
Richard P. Alexander, partner at Alexander Hawes, LLP
William Audet, partner at Audet & Partners, LLP
Joshua Davis, professor of law, University of San Francisco School of Law
James M. Finberg, partner at Altshuler Berzon
Barnaby J. Feder, medical reporter, The New York Times
Daniel Girard, partner at Girard Gibbs
John E. Hill, principal at Law Offices of John E. Hill
David W. Marcus, professor of law, University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law
Michael Ram, of counsel, Sanford Wittels & Heisler