Seeger Weiss in Los Angeles, California
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Seeger Weiss LLP opened up its fifth office nationwide in Los Angeles, California. Seeger Weiss has worked on several consumer products and commercial fraud class action suits based California, making Los Angeles a natural extension for Seeger Weiss’s growing practice.
In 2009, the firm was appointed Lead Counsel in the WellPoint, Inc. Out-of-Network “UCR” Rates Litigation (MDL No. 2074) by Judge Philip S. Gutierrez, United States District Court, Central District of California. This litigation, originally four antitrust cases, was centralized on August 27, 2009 by order of the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. The plaintiffs allege that several large insurance companies, including WellPoint Inc., Anthem Inc., and Blue Cross of California colluded to lower reimbursement rates for out-of-network heath care services. The insurers were reported to have knowingly created and used flawed data to produce reimbursements far below the usual, customary and reasonable rates. The plaintiffs’ claim that the insurance companies used a rigged database created by Ingenix, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group Inc., which was once the largest provider of health care billing information in the country.
Truth-in-Lending Act Litigation: The firm serves as co-counsel in several dozen proposed nationwide class actions that were filed in 2007 and 2008 in the various federal courts in California against banks and other mortgage lenders, asserting claims under the federal Truth-in-Lending Act (“TILA”), and California consumer fraud statutes and common law. These actions seek to recover damages as well as equitable relief, including rescission, in connection with highly-deceptive so-called Option Adjustable Rate Mortgage (“ARM”) loans. The loan documents given to Option ARM borrowers failed to adequately disclose to borrowers that the initial “teaser” interest rate of 1%-3% would last only 30 days and that, after that time, the minimum payment specified in the payment schedule would be insufficient to cover even monthly interest charges, let alone loan principal. As a result, borrowers who secured these deceptive loans have lost equity in their homes and are no longer able to secure the refinancing necessary to get out from under these loans.
IBM Deskstar 75GXP Litigation: The firm represents statewide classes of purchasers of an IBM manufactured hard disk drive, known as the Deskstar 75GXP, in 9 different state and federal courts throughout the country. The actions include claims for violations of consumer protection statutes and breach of warranty resulting from IBM’s commercial practices in the marketing and sale of hard disk drives that it knew were inherently unreliable and that it knew would fail at epidemically high rates. In August 2003, Judge Ronald Sabraw issued a tentative ruling certifying a California statewide class of purchasers of the 75GXP in Michael Granito v. IBM, pending in California Superior Court in Alameda County. In addition to California, cases are also pending in New Jersey, New York, Florida, Illinois, Connecticut, Ohio, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. The Firm serves as co-lead counsel in these cases.
Ecker v. Ford: In 2008, the Superior Court of California granted final approval to the class action settlement in this litigation. The settlement provides full cash reimbursement for qualifying parts and labor for all California owners and lessees of Ford Focus vehicles who experienced premature front brake wear, including reimbursement for brake pads and rotors. The court had earlier appointed the Firm to act as co-lead counsel in the litigation. Seeger Weiss partner Christopher Seeger and associate Scott Alan George were primarily responsible for the litigation.
Sternberg v. Apple Computer, Inc. and Gordon v. Apple Computer, Inc.: Nationwide settlement completed in California state court. Plaintiffs recovered class-wide damages resulting from Apple’s deceptive advertisements for its iMac and G4 brand computers—specifically the functionality of the DVD playback feature. Seeger Weiss LLP served as co-lead counsel for the classes.
The Firm holds leadership roles in a variety of national securities class action litigations. For example, Seeger Weiss LLP served as lead counsel in an action against ATEC Group, Inc., in which the Firm recovered $1.7 million for the class in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Additionally, Seeger Weiss LLP serves as lead counsel in an action against The Miix Group, a medical malpractice insurance carrier based in New Jersey, and several of its former and current directors and officers which is pending in the District of New Jersey, and chaired the Executive Committee in a derivative action against Legato Systems, Inc. in California.
In 2009, the firm was appointed Lead Counsel in the WellPoint, Inc. Out-of-Network “UCR” Rates Litigation (MDL No. 2074) by Judge Philip S. Gutierrez, United States District Court, Central District of California. This litigation, originally four antitrust cases, was centralized on August 27, 2009 by order of the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. The plaintiffs allege that several large insurance companies, including WellPoint Inc., Anthem Inc., and Blue Cross of California colluded to lower reimbursement rates for out-of-network heath care services. The insurers were reported to have knowingly created and used flawed data to produce reimbursements far below the usual, customary and reasonable rates. The plaintiffs’ claim that the insurance companies used a rigged database created by Ingenix, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group Inc., which was once the largest provider of health care billing information in the country.
Truth-in-Lending Act Litigation: The firm serves as co-counsel in several dozen proposed nationwide class actions that were filed in 2007 and 2008 in the various federal courts in California against banks and other mortgage lenders, asserting claims under the federal Truth-in-Lending Act (“TILA”), and California consumer fraud statutes and common law. These actions seek to recover damages as well as equitable relief, including rescission, in connection with highly-deceptive so-called Option Adjustable Rate Mortgage (“ARM”) loans. The loan documents given to Option ARM borrowers failed to adequately disclose to borrowers that the initial “teaser” interest rate of 1%-3% would last only 30 days and that, after that time, the minimum payment specified in the payment schedule would be insufficient to cover even monthly interest charges, let alone loan principal. As a result, borrowers who secured these deceptive loans have lost equity in their homes and are no longer able to secure the refinancing necessary to get out from under these loans.
IBM Deskstar 75GXP Litigation: The firm represents statewide classes of purchasers of an IBM manufactured hard disk drive, known as the Deskstar 75GXP, in 9 different state and federal courts throughout the country. The actions include claims for violations of consumer protection statutes and breach of warranty resulting from IBM’s commercial practices in the marketing and sale of hard disk drives that it knew were inherently unreliable and that it knew would fail at epidemically high rates. In August 2003, Judge Ronald Sabraw issued a tentative ruling certifying a California statewide class of purchasers of the 75GXP in Michael Granito v. IBM, pending in California Superior Court in Alameda County. In addition to California, cases are also pending in New Jersey, New York, Florida, Illinois, Connecticut, Ohio, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. The Firm serves as co-lead counsel in these cases.
Ecker v. Ford: In 2008, the Superior Court of California granted final approval to the class action settlement in this litigation. The settlement provides full cash reimbursement for qualifying parts and labor for all California owners and lessees of Ford Focus vehicles who experienced premature front brake wear, including reimbursement for brake pads and rotors. The court had earlier appointed the Firm to act as co-lead counsel in the litigation. Seeger Weiss partner Christopher Seeger and associate Scott Alan George were primarily responsible for the litigation.
Sternberg v. Apple Computer, Inc. and Gordon v. Apple Computer, Inc.: Nationwide settlement completed in California state court. Plaintiffs recovered class-wide damages resulting from Apple’s deceptive advertisements for its iMac and G4 brand computers—specifically the functionality of the DVD playback feature. Seeger Weiss LLP served as co-lead counsel for the classes.
The Firm holds leadership roles in a variety of national securities class action litigations. For example, Seeger Weiss LLP served as lead counsel in an action against ATEC Group, Inc., in which the Firm recovered $1.7 million for the class in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Additionally, Seeger Weiss LLP serves as lead counsel in an action against The Miix Group, a medical malpractice insurance carrier based in New Jersey, and several of its former and current directors and officers which is pending in the District of New Jersey, and chaired the Executive Committee in a derivative action against Legato Systems, Inc. in California.
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