Class Action - Selected Cases

Court Approves $410 Million Settlement In Firm's Case Challenging Bank's Debit Card Overdraft Fee Charges

November 7, 2011 -- Following a full-day hearing in which he cited the "high level of dedication, ability, talent and hard work" of the lawyers involved in the case, federal district court judge James Lawrence King, Jr. granted the parties' joint request for final approval of the $410 million proposed class settlement of claims by Bank of America customers over the bank's debit card overdraft fee practices. The settlement followed over two years of active class action litigation in the matter, multiple depositions of bank personnel, and the production by the bank and review by the firm (and other lawyers involved in the case) of millions of pages of documents and transaction data. In addition to payment directly to aggrieved customers' accounts -- without those customers' having to do anything to receive any money -- the bank ceased the practice of charging overdraft fees on debit card accounts for certain transactions, including point-of-sale purchases. Judge King's order and final judgment in the matter is pending, but is expected soon.

Lawsuit Seeks to Protect Emergency Room Patients from Unlawful Balance Billing by SF General Hospital

In June of 2009, Nick Carlin filed a class action lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court against the City and County of San Francisco challenging the practice by San Francisco General Hospital of "balance billing" emergency room patients, i.e. billing a patient directly for an amount over and above the amount the patient's health insurer has deemed to be the "allowed amount" for such services. The California Supreme Court has confirmed that the practice is illegal, and that any disputes over the bills should be resolved between the hospital and the insurer, but San Francisco General continues to do it. The complaint seeks restitution for those patients who have been overcharged and an injunction to prevent San Francisco General from continuing to balance bill patients. The case is Combrisson v. City and County of San Francisco. For an article about the case from the Daily Journal, click here.