Legal Radar

Lieff Cabraser Makes Class Action Suit Announcement against Yelp

Renowned law firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP recently announced a class action suit on behalf of victims who bought or acquired the Yelp Inc. stock.

Victims who acquired the common Yelp stock during the Class Period may seek the aid of Lieff Cabraser or its other lawyers as counsel in the action.

The action charges Yelp and some of its senior officer for violating the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Yelp generally described itself an internet networking medium that unite individuals with local businesses.

The suit claims the defendants to have crafted false statement regarding the company’s actual financial and business situation, and the company’ s forecasted fiscal growth prospects including the extent in which they were relying on undisclosed business methods.

As a result of the misleading statements, Yelp’s stock traded at inflated pricing. On March 4, 2014, the closing price was at $98.04 per share, as the company sold 1.16 million Yelp share stock at more than $81.5 million.

Lieff Cabraser Makes Announcement of Class Action Suit against DreamWorks

The Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP firm announced that a class action suits has been made on behalf of those who have acquired or bought securities of DreamWorks Animation from October 29^th of last year until July 29^th of this year.

Investors who took securities from DreamWorks on the Class Period, may proceed to the Court for appointments as plaintiff until the end of next month. Investors who wish to learn further of the suit and want to seek appointment should contact the office of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP.

The class action suit alleges DreamWorks and some of its directors and officers for violating the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

The action claim the defendants to have made mislead and/or provided false statements and/or failed to indicate that: 1) DreamWorks inappropriately accounted for the Turbo animated film before the write-down; 2) DreamWorks inappropriately accounted for the write-down in relation to the Turbo film; and 3) the firm is lacking proper internal control on its fiscal reports.

Student Backed Up by Thousands on Class Action Suit against Facebook

Over 17,000 individuals signed up to back up an Austrian law student’s class action suit against Facebook. The social site is said to have allegedly violated its users’ privacy.

The 26-year old student, Max Schrems, made an appeal last week to a billion Facebook users to take part in the class action suit he filed at a commercial court in Vienna.

Based on the Austrian law, a group of individuals may move their financial claims to a person --- in such case, Schrems. Proceedings are then pushed as a class action suit.

Schrems is alleging damages of $670.00 for every user on data violations made by Facebook. This includes helping the National Security Agency in the U.S. run its PRISM program, which gathers data of Facebook users and other online services.

He’s set to seek injunctions from the EU data-protection law at an Austrian court.

The law student has asked other members to join his class action on his site via their Facebook login.

Sony Makes Settlement Proposal on PSN Hack Case

The hack that pushed PSN and Sony’s streaming audio platform offline in 2011 that prompted for a downtime data grab is currently in an ongoing litigation.

In the previous week, Sony made a proposed settlement of $15 million to a class action suit that surfaced from varying parts of litigation against Sony regarding the hack.

The electronic giant will primarily offer compensation to affected consumers with freebies as well as those who were locked out of what is now labelled as Music Unlimited during the hack, with a free membership for one month.

Although for those who can bring proof that personal data was stolen during the hack may also be eligible to receive cash payments of up to $2,500.

There will be certain limits on the number of individuals claiming freebies and cash since the firm won’t take responsibility for their entertainment network and gaming fallout.

A U.S. judge will need to approve the offered settlement prior for consumers, who meet the terms of legal class action, can claim freebies and/or cash considerations.

Schwartz Deploys Recall Team for GM Litigation

Michigan’s very own premier personal injury law firm, Sommer Schwartz, made a recent announcement of forming a GM Recall Litigation Team, spearheaded by experienced attorneys Samuel A. Meklir and Jason J. Thompson.

Both have a combined 50 years of corporate law experience under their belt when it comes representing individuals injured vehicle accident cases. Together, they’ll be managing a group of paralegals, investigators, and attorneys with skills in analyzing and pursuing vehicle recall-related claims.

Even though General Motors claimed it’ll create a compensation fund for victims for injury recovery efforts without going to court, Thompson recommends victims to still retain an attorney to represent them.

Victims who were injured while driving or riding in a GM vehicle or hit by a GM vehicle, are encouraged to communicate with the firm’s GM Recall Litigation Team right away. Specific limitations may limit the time for plaintiffs to make their filings or be part of the compensation program.

Filing for Lipitor Suits Continue in S. Carolina Litigation

Lipitor suits alleging injuries triggered by statin are currently being filed in large numbers on a federal litigation underway at the U.S. District Court in South Carolina.

Based on documents recently published this year, more than 950 claims are currently pending in the proceeding, which was made for Lipitor claims that allege of triggering Type 2 diabetes from statin, a cholesterol medication. Plaintiffs are accusing Pfizer Inc., for not adequately warning of the side effect in marketing Lipitor.

Bernstein Liebhard LLP, a nationwide law firm representing people who have been injured by faulty medical devices and pharmaceutical drugs, is currently offering private case analysis for those who were directly injured by Lipitor.

Lipitor suits currently being filed in South Carolina is alleging Pfizer’s Lipitor labelling back in February 2012 weren’t suffice, and patients were not warned adequately on its potential for triggering diabetes.

Alleged victims of Lipitor may be given compensation from Pfizer for their damages.

Ethicon Vaginal Mesh Suits to Proceed in Court

A federal court looking to into numerous vaginal mesh suits against Ethicon, Inc., owned by Johnson & Johnson, is getting ready to resume with the second bellweather trial case, expected to be underway in the following month.

Based on the Amended Docket Control Order made in the U.S. District Court, a pre-trial conference is scheduled on August 7^th.

Bernstein Liebhard LLP, a national law firm representing defective drugs and medical device victims, announced they’ll represent the women who are pursuing suits against Ethicon and other manufacturers.

The firm is presently offering free legal analysis to women who allegedly suffered mesh erosions, infection, pain, scarring, and other serious injuries after surgically implanting the mesh for pelvic organ prolapse or urinary incontinence treatment.

Close to 20,000 vaginal mesh suits have been filed against Ethicon, Inc. and Johnson & Johnson. They claim that pelvic mesh products from Ethicon were defectively produced and designed, leading recipients to suffer vaginal and other health-related complications.

Claims of Virginia Chemical Spill Coming In

When Freedom Industries Inc. went for the Chapter 11 protection after their chemicals leaked from a storage tank into the river, they thought they’ll face aggressive bankruptcy claims from thousands of West Virginians --- whose water supply was contaminated resulting of the spill.

Turns out. Nothing happened.

With the deadline coming to a close, the bankruptcy court from Charleston, West Virginia, gave authorization for extra advertisements aiming at locations intensely affected by the spill. This includes Kanawha, Putnam, and Boone --- all West Virginia counties.

An official appointed by the court to gather claims, James Lane Jr., said he has plans to not only create advertisements in local newspapers but on the airwaves as well. He plans on broadcasting ads with information on filing claims. This will involve 60 or so advertisements in a three-week span.

Lane recently created a Facebook page called, “Freedom Bankruptcy Claims” to inform West Virginians of the deadline and offer other pertinent details.

Judge on Actos Litigation Finds Takeda to Have Destroyed Evidence

A federal judge overseeing the Actos litigation in the Western District of Louisiana made a ruling that Takeda Pharmaceuticals destroyed the documents relevant to the bladder cancer suit, which resulted to a $9 billion award by the jury.                                                                      

Doherty, the judge in the case, provided the plaintiffs’ lawyers leave to submit a request to have Takeda Pharmaceutical to shift costs, which include lawyer fees regarding a discovery from a third party that resulted from the destroyed document.

The case order from Doherty’s order was the first of over 3,000 Actos suits pending for trial. In April, the jury of the case awarded the plaintiffs compensatory damages worth $3 million as well as punitive damages worth $6 million. All pending claims that allege Takeda and other defendants to have hidden bladder cancer risks associate to long-standing use of a drug.

Persons who developed bladder cancer resulting from prolonged Actos use may be entitled to receive compensation for lost earnings, medical bills, suffering, pain, and other damages related to injury.

Testosterone Treatments Joined in Single Multi-district Litigation

All suits which involved the testosterone therapy treatments have been joined together as one before a federal judge. The multi-district union order was issued recently impacting 45 lawsuits pending in several districts. These districts include the Eastern District of Pennsylvania., Eastern District of Louisiana, District of Colorado, and Northern District of Illinois

Abbott Laboratories, Inc., Lilly USA LLC, AbbVie Inc, and Endo Pharmaceuticals supported the making of one of several MDLs. Some defendants refused the idea while others like Pfizer Inc. and Pharmacia & Upjohn Co. desired an MDL consisting of testosterone gel-based products.

Concerns regarding the usage of testosterone treatments surged after the FDA announced plans to make an investigation of heart attack risks, death, and stroke among those taking the drug.

The use of testosterone treatment (which was fully approved by the FDA) is for males with medical disorders that caused their body to halt testosterone production or those with a low level of testosterone.