Entries Tagged 'Class Action Information' ↓
February 28th, 2008 — Child Safety, Class Action Information
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Accusing the Oklahoma Department of Human Services of failing to protect children in state custody from suffering “extreme abuse and neglect,” four Oklahoma law firms, a national child advocacy organization, and an international law firm have filed suit.
Nine individual children are named as plaintiffs. The class is made up of children taken from their homes by the state, a number totaling around 10,000. The action claims that children’s constitutional rights were violated by the Oklahoma DHS by routinely placing them in situations that were unsafe and unsupervised. This put the children further in harms way and some of the children even died.
The class action suit is seeking a complete overhaul of the Oklahoma DHS. The children’s advocacy group that helped bring suit is Children’s Rights, a New York based organization that lobbies for the rights of children all over the nation. According to Children’s Rights, mistreatment of children in the care of the state of Oklahoma has been among the worst in the nation for the past five years. The suit claims that foster children in Oklahoma experience four times the abuse than is the national norm, and further, the rates of abuse exceeded the rates of abuse and maltreatment among the general population of Oklahoma. In essence, they claim that children in foster care were subjected to more frequent episodes of abuse than children who were not in the welfare system.
Individually named in the suit as defendants are the Governor of Oklahoma, the Chair of the Oklahoma Commission for Human Services, the Director of DHS, and eight additional members of the Oklahoma Commission for Human Services. Not surprisingly, the DHS has defended its record and claims that children in their care spend an average of 7 months less in foster care than children in other states. They also point out that the shorter stays in foster care are in spite of the high rates of poverty, which is the biggest contributor to children being mistreated and victimized.
Tags:
child abuse,
child advocasy,
child mistreatment,
child safety resources,
Children's Rights,
class action lawsuit,
constitutional rights,
foster care,
Oklahoma Department of Human Services
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February 27th, 2008 — Class Action Information
Over the past 20 years, the law firm of Milberg Weiss made an estimated $250 million from corporate lawsuits. Now, one of the firm’s partners, lawyer William Lerach, will be spending the next two years in federal prison for his role in class action schemes. A total of seven people, three who were once partners at the firm, have pled guilty.
Because you need a plaintiff to file a legal action, the firm made it a practice to compensate folks with kickbacks, paying them as an incentive to file suit. Through this practice, the firm could successfully take on companies like Microsoft, AT&T, Lucent and other mega corporations. Plaintiffs that are paid in return for filing suit are considered “professional plaintiffs.” Court documents show that over the years the law firm paid out a total of $11.3 million to professional plaintiffs.
According to court documents, their practice of using professional plaintiffs allowed the firm to secure the position of lead counsel. This would increase their publicity, and their percentage of any court winnings. Milberg Weiss was a key player in the field of securities class action suits. Some of the charges against the lawyers in the case include racketeering, conspiracy, mail fraud, tax evasion, and obstruction of justice.
One former professional plaintiff, Seymour Lazar, also a retired attorney, was paid more than $2.5 million for helping the firm pursue lawsuits. Lazar was fined $600,000 and ordered to house arrest for 6 months, and was given two years probation. Lerach is probably best known for his whopping $7 billion judgment against Enron, the now defunct energy corporation. While Lerach has pled guilty, he is still to be sentenced. Prosecutors are recommending he receive two years in prison, two years probation, and pay a fine of $250,000.
Tags:
att,
class action lawyer,
class action schemes,
class action suits,
conspiracy,
corporate lawsuits,
Enron,
Lucent,
mail fraud,
Microsoft,
obstruction of justice,
professional plaintiffs,
racketeering,
tax evasion
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February 6th, 2008 — Class Action Information
Every year lawsuits are filed in the millions - some are more than justified, some are flat out frivolous and others just plain leave us scratching our heads. You decide, from the lawsuits described above…justified or complete bull?
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Tags:
crocs,
dale earnhardt jr,
fraud,
jeff gordon,
lawsuits
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December 13th, 2007 — How to Participate
Joining a class action lawsuit is not that complicated. Once you know that there is one, all you have to do is return the paperwork and you’re in.
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Tags:
class action lawsuit,
deceptive billing,
fraud,
insurance scams,
scams
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December 7th, 2007 — 12 Step Process
Thousands if not millions of claims might flood the court system without the ability to file together in a class action lawsuit. Filing together in a class action suit not only allows for the courts to be less burdened, but it also encourages corporate defendants to behave in a more responsible behavior.
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Tags:
class action lawsuit,
Consumer Protection,
lawsuit,
legal claim
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December 6th, 2007 — How to Participate
Class Action America makes filing a class action claim simple. Submit your class action claim online today, directly to an attorney, for a FREE case evaluation.
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Tags:
class action claims,
collect a settlement,
free case evaluation,
personal injury
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December 1st, 2007 — Class Action Information
Class action suits are filed for all sorts of reasons - the list that follows here, is long enough, but don’t think for a minute that there aren’t other ways and reasons to sue companies as part of a class action lawsuit.
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November 29th, 2007 — Fees
Legal fees for class actions are usually a percentage of the common fund set up to compensate the class.
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Tags:
class action lawsuit,
common fund case,
legal fees
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November 28th, 2007 — Class Action Information
A class action lawsuit may seem like technical lawyer jargon to you. However, it is really not that complicated of a concept.
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Tags:
class action lawsuit,
Consumer Protection,
medical malpractice,
suing a company
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November 27th, 2007 — 4 Legal Requirements, Class Action Information
Once a court is satisfied that the plaintiffs meet the four legal requirements for a class action, it will certify the case as a class action. Here are the 4 requirements:
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Tags:
certified class action,
class action lawsuit,
file a class action
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