SEATTLE – Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, a national plaintiffs’ class-action law firm, has been named to Law360’s list of Most Feared Plaintiffs Firms of 2015 for the firm’s formidable work in representing plaintiffs in complex litigation and winning major victories in the fight for the rights of consumers, whistleblowers and others.

Hagens Berman goes against some of the largest corporations in the world in cases alleging antitrust violations, securities fraud, product liability, human rights violations and whistleblower claims.

“Hagens Berman has always believed in fighting hard for the classes of consumers, investors and others we represent, and our reputation precedes us,” said Steve Berman, managing partner of Hagens Berman. “We’re happy to receive recognition from Law360 for the tenacious attitude we bring on behalf of our clients.”

To qualify for inclusion, firms had to demonstrate their prowess based on their wins from July 1, 2014, to July 1, 2015.

In 2014, Hagens Berman finalized a $218 settlement recovered on behalf of Bernard L. Madoff investors in a suit filed against JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. and its parents, subsidiaries and affiliates, providing benefits to injured class members against one of the largest banks in the world, represented by highly sophisticated and experienced counsel.

“Class actions are often the last line of defense for plaintiffs. The lone consumer with a faulty vehicle has little other option when it comes to standing up against corporate negligence and greed,” Berman said. “That’s where we come in, and we believe in taking on uphill battles for those who are victims of Wall Street, Big Pharma and other major corporate entities.”

In the same time period, Hagens Berman has served as lead counsel in an antitrust consumer class-action lawsuit brought against Apple and five of the world’s largest book and e-book publishers. The suit alleges that the defendants conspired to fix the price of e-books by colluding to switch to a new agency pricing model, resulting in a 50 percent increase in the price of many new best-selling e-books. Hagens Berman, the DOJ, and the state AGs completed negotiations of high-value settlements with two remaining publisher defendants, MacMillan and Penguin, and earned preliminary approval for those settlements. Settlements for the consumer case are valued at approximately $100 million.

On July 16, 2014, Hagens Berman’s legal team, led by Berman reached a settlement with Apple that could bring back $400 million to consumers bringing the total potential recovery to consumers to $560 million, twice the amount of damages suffered by the class.

Since its inception, the firm has prevailed in milestone class-action lawsuits against some of the nation’s largest corporations and entities, including a national settlement against Big Tobacco, awarding $206 billion for state programs, the largest settlement in the history of civil litigation in the United States.

After Berman co-founded the firm in 1993, he quickly built a reputation in the financial community for his aggressive filing of shareholder suits against major players who often found themselves “Bermanized” according to media outlets. Twenty-two years later, Hagens Berman remains steadfast in its original mission – to take on cases that have the potential to protect the rights of investors, consumers, workers and the environment.

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About Hagens Berman
Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP is a consumer-rights class-action law firm with offices in 10 cities. The firm has been named to the National Law Journal’s Plaintiffs’ Hot List eight times. More about the law firm and its successes can be found at www.hbsslaw.com. Find the firm on Twitter at @classactionlaw.

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