Lawyer Interviews

Charlotte, NC: For a handful of dollars, you can top up your motor vehicle accident insurance and protect yourself, your family and your future from financial ruin. Unfortunately, by the time many Americans realize they should have bumped up their coverage, it is too late. “They’re depressed, they’re angry and frustrated,” says attorney Michael DeMayo. “Not only do they have no control over the extent and severity of their injuries, but they are being told that the person who caused the accident doesn’t have enough to pay their medical bills.”

Springfield, MO: Let’s say that little messaging gizmo you carry with you everywhere you go is buzzing like mad while you’re driving your car. Or maybe you just have to send a text message immediately and there’s no time to pull over to the side of the road. A moment’s distraction can cost you dearly and Attorney Aaron Sachs sees the deadly consequences all the time. “The big issue right now is texting and accidents,” says Sachs. “The risk associated with that kind of distraction is greater than the risk associated with someone who is over the legal alcohol limit.”

San Francisco, CA: Attorney Cynthia McGuinn describes herself as a committed attorney—and particularly committed to seeing that 5-year-old Jessie Champion be provided with the resources she needs to access a lifetime of medical care: delayed treatment for neonatal jaundice changed Jessie's future forever. McGuinn, in her direct, no holds barred fashion, makes her position clear. “This child should not be in this condition,” she says. Jessie's case is a gross example of medical malpractice.

Philadelphia, PA: Looks like the fox got into the henhouse in the American Egg industry according to a 71-page complaint filed in a Pennsylvania District Court by the law firm of Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll. The documents allege that 13 of the country’s largest egg producers and 3 egg trade groups bilked direct customers of billions and billions of dollars in an egg price fixing conspiracy that violated antitrust laws.

Beverly Hills, CA: Perhaps the only generalization that can be made about financial elder abuse is that, due to a massive range of circumstances, no single event or condition applies to all cases. The victims, the perpetrators and the facts surrounding each case vary considerably. Commonly, someone has taken unfair advantage of a senior to gain access to money or property he or she would not have had access to without manipulating the senior. In California, this is a violation of financial elder abuse law.

San Francisco, CA:“We’ve focused on a fairly diverse type of case load that involves product liability, securities, consumer fraud, individual and institutional investors and antitrust cases,” says Co-Counsel Eric Gibbs, from the firm Girard Gibbs in San Francisco. And one case is a factory equipped engine coolant called Dex-Cool.

San Diego, CA: With the collapse of the financial markets, many people are concerned about potential stock losses, and with good reason. According to Ron Marron, founder of Investors Advocates, some investors have money in accounts that are too risky to be suitable investments--they may wind up as stock market losses. Sadly, they may not realize this until a lot of their money is gone.

Gold River, CA: Attorney Christopher Whelan is way too modest. He has doggedly pursued bad employers on behalf of hundreds of clients for over 25 years and won multi-million dollar employment law verdicts time after time. He also plowed new furrows in his field and found new ways to use existing statutes to slap wrists and get nasty companies to compensate employees who were unfairly terminated and/or discriminated against in the process.

Calgary, AB: Canadians have been a little more laissez-faire, shall we say, than their American neighbors when it comes to diving into class action lawsuits but they are starting to get the hang of it. Over the last 5 years, a virtual blizzard of class actions has been blowing through Canadian courts and the major reason is change to Canadian law. “We haven’t had the legislation or legal tools in the past, but we have been essentially enabled; we're up and running and very active,” says Calgary attorney Clinton Docken.

Chicago, IL: The lawsuit is barely out of the starting gate, but it is revving up to become a huge antitrust class action lawsuit against some of the most recognizable names in the automotive supply industry. It is all about those pricey automotive filters that drivers regularly replace to keep their engines running smoothly. In documents filed in an Illinois District Court, it is alleged that Champion Laboratories, Purolator Filters N.A.L.L.C., Honeywell International Inc. and 7 other manufacturers engaged in a conspiracy to fix, raise and otherwise manage prices paid for their products over a period of 9 years.