Successes
Cooper v. American Honda
Berk Law is pleased to announce a nationwide class action settlement on behalf of over two million Honda Civic and Honda Civic Hybrid owners and lessees. Working with co-counsel from Terrell Marshall Daudt & Willie PLLC, we quickly and efficiently resolved claims that sun visors on many Honda Civics and Honda Civic Hybrids were defective, peeling apart, and impairing both the visor’s functionality as well as the driver’s ability to drive safely.
As a result of the litigation, class members will receive a warranty extension on the sun visors up to seven years from the date of purchase of the vehicle or 100,000 miles – whichever occurs first. The warranty provides for free replacement of defective sun visors at any registered Honda dealer. In addition, class members are eligible to submit claims for reimbursement from Honda for costs of past repairs to the defective visors.
For more information or to file a claim go to www.visorsettlement.com.
Browne v. American Honda
We were co-lead counsel in a class action suit against American Honda Motor Company over an alleged defect in the braking system of the 2008 and later models of the Honda Accord. As alleged in the Complaint, the braking system, redesigned for the 2008 model Accord, directs excessive braking power to the rear wheels and causes premature brake pad wear and failure. The wear to the rear pads is so accelerated as described in the Complaint that the Accord’s on board diagnostic system is unable to detect it in order to recommend appropriate maintenance in a timely fashion. With co-lead counsel Girard Gibbs LLP, we filed suit on behalf of all owners of the 2008 and 2009 models of the Honda Accord in the Central District of California.
We are pleased to announce that we have achieved a formidable settlement for class members. To date, over 120,000 class members have filed claim forms and received reimbursements for brake pad repairs to their Honda Accords. These members received up to $150 or the full price of their repairs – whichever is less.
HP Inkjet Litigation
We represented a class of 12 million users of HP inkjet printers. Judge Fogel in California approved a preliminary settlement whereby consumers will receive credits for their ink purchases as well as substantial injunctive relief compelling HP to change its deceptive practices and state more clearly that its low on ink warnings are mere estimates. The Complaint alleges that, for nearly a decade, HP equipped its inkjet printers with “low on ink” warnings that were deceptive and misleading. The warnings were based on estimates, not actual amounts of ink. Despite knowing of the inaccuracy, HP designed the warnings to convey precision. Graphic warnings were projected to consumers illustrating virtually an empty cartridge when the cartridge could be 30% full.
Eaves vs. Earthlink
Berk Law and a team of attorneys represented current and former customers of Earthlink who alleged Earthlink’s early termination fee (“ETF”) was illegal under Georgia law. Earthlink is based in Atlanta, Georgia. A class of Earthlink customers was certified and that certification was upheld by the Supreme Court.
A settlement was reached whereby class members were able to recover the early termination fees that they paid. In addition, important injunctive relief was imposed protecting future consumers from similar conduct.
Parkin vs. Bank of America
In this case, Bank of America provided individuals who had their automobiles repossessed with false, misleading information. Notably, the bank in a document required to be filed, the Notice of Sale, stated that individual would have to travel half way across the country to Carmel, Indiana to have their car redeemed. On behalf of our client, we claimed such a notice was not “commercially reasonable” and those who received it are entitled to relief from their foreclosure in the form of a reduction or complete reimbursement of fees and amounts paid in connection with their foreclosure. The case was filed in Middlesex County Court, in New Jersey.
The case was settled in the summer of 2010. The class members received injunctive relief requiring Bank of America to erase any judgments against them resulting from the bank’s conduct described above.
Chabansky vs. Sony
Nationwide settlement of claims relating to a defective CCD imager on a series of camcorders; provided consumers with extended warranties to encompass malfunctioning component and provided complete reimbursement of all out of pocket expenses.
Jamieson vs. Dell
Instrumental in developing a legal and factual theory to challenge Dell’s popular “Interest Free Financing Program”. We established that more often than not, when applying for this program, consumers were simply steered to a high interest credit card; relief obtained through settlement was made available to consumers throughout the United States. Dell also agreed to significantly change its program going forward.
Lazo vs. Mercury Marine
Achieved a nationwide settlement on behalf of owners of a defective Mercury outboard engine known as the “Optimax”. We were able to obtain substantial relief for class members because of our diligent research into the substantial inadequacies and alleged defects in Mercury’s fuel injection system. We utilized a leading expert and author in the industry to develop and substantiate our claims.
Risha vs. Verizon
Successfully litigated a case against Verizon where the allegations were that Verizon charged New Jersey consumers for telephone circuits that no longer existed or were non-operational. In some cases the circuit being paid for ceased providing services for over a decade. The case required in-depth knowledge of the telecom infrastructure and billing practices for small businesses.
Schaeffer vs. HP
Using computer hardware experts, determined that hundreds of thousands of HP PC desktop computers had insufficient capacitors causing them to excessively lock and freeze. Consumers received cash and product rebates (not coupons) as part of a nationwide settlement.