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13 August 2010

Ask Maggie: On ETF taxes and unsubsidized phone fees

Breaking up is hard to do, but when you're slapped with an early termination fee, the sting hurts even more. Then tack on a sales tax, and who wouldn't be crying in their beer? In this week's Ask Maggie column, I tackle a tough question about being charged a sales tax on top of an early termination fee for canceling a wireless service early. I also tell a reader about a U.S. carrier that cuts customers a break on their monthly bills when they bring their own phone. And finally, I explain the likelihood of whether or not consumers will ever be able to use the phone of their choice on any carrier network.

26 July 2010

Piloting E-Discovery Rules in the 7th Circuit

Magistrate Judge Nan Nolan of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois had a long background as a criminal defense attorney before becoming a judge. She says that her background left her unprepared for the battles over discovery of electronic evidence she has encountered in the world of civil litigation. "I was not able to get my arms around all of the fighting over discovery," she says. "I know that some people have snickered about this idea that you can get lawyers to make nice and cooperate on discovery. But I believe it is possible." Under the leadership of Chief Judge James F. Holderman, Nolan has helped launch a pilot program to address electronic discovery issues: 7th Circuit E-Discovery Pilot Program. Taking their cues from, among other sources, the Sedona Conference Cooperation Proclamation, the 7th Circuit E-Discovery Committee is attempting to fix some of the most intractable discovery problems in litigation.

20 July 2010

Class Action: Internet Search Engine, Spokeo, Publishes False Information About Millions of Americans

A class action lawsuit filed today takes Spokeo.com to task for allegedly publishing false and misleading personal information about millions of people without appropriate notice or consent. The lawsuit alleges that Spokeo aggregates data from many online and offline sources - some known and many unknown - and publishes the data online, in violation of the federal Fair Credit and Reporting Act. Spokeo allows Internet users to search for anyone by name, email address, or phone number. According to the complaint, Spokeo provides searchers with in-depth consumer reports, including that person's address, marital status, age, occupation, wealth level, and a credit/economic health estimate. The suit further alleges that Spokeo makes much of this information available for free, but reserves the most detailed and personal information for paid subscribers. While Spokeo markets itself as a people-based search engine, the suit alleges that Spokeo is really a Web 2.0-style consumer reporting agency, subject to the same rules and regulations as traditional consumer reporting agencies. The suit further alleges that Spokeo has marketed its paid subscriptions to employers, law enforcement agencies, and persons performing background checks.

20 July 2010

Class Action: Internet Search Engine, Spokeo, Publishes False Information About Millions of Americans

06 July 2010

What legal matters must you bear in mind when a cybercrime strikes your company?

Five or so years ago, the term “cybercrime” tipped off a typical executive leader's tongue far less frequently than it does today. As data thefts rose, however – often targeting the personally identifiable information (PII) of everyday consumers – concerns about the soaring numbers of criminal acts online became mainstream topics of discussion for both worried corporate managers and average home-users. As well, locating, apprehending and successfully prosecuting the increasingly cunning perpetrators committing these cybercrimes has become a chief ambition for many leading law enforcement officers and state prosecutors. The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), established in 2000 as a partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center, offers a sobering set of numbers: In 2009, the total dollar loss from all cases of computer fraud that were referred to law enforcement by IC3 was $559.7 million. In 2008, a total loss of $264.6 million was reported. The potential financial losses go much higher. The White House's Cyberspace Policy Review estimated that in 2008 and 2009, American businesses lost $1 trillion in intellectual property due to cyberattacks. And, while one might assume court cases related to the mounting numbers of cybercrimes would present some tangible evidence, the number of cases that actually make it to court – although increasing in the past two years or so – still lag behind the immense volume of online attacks. The main problem, concur a number of lawyers, is that oftentimes corporate victims would rather avoid calling attention to their vulnerabilities than move forward with a court case – no matter its prospects for success. “Clients don't want to make headlines,” notes Serge Jorgensen, vice president and CTO of the Sylint Group, a computer and network security consulting firm based in Sarasota, Fla., which works with various law firms and law enforcement agencies on cybercrime cases. Still, some cases are making it to trial and the types being litigated run the computer crime gamut. There's the disgruntled, laid-off employee seeking revenge. Break-ins to a competitor's network to steal intellectual property and customer data are becoming more and more common these days. The now ubiquitous act of PII thievery has fast become the basis for many an online cybercrime ring's successful business. There are unfriendly foreign countries seeking to wreak havoc on the federal government or steal leading enterprises' trade secrets – and everything in between. Today, even embezzlement via electronic funds transfer is a mainstay, say the lawyers...

30 June 2010

Local participants criticize foreclosure aid program

A program promoted as helping homeowners stay in their homes has become a nightmare, according to participants and attorneys. The Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) has been widely publicized by President Barack Obama as a way to help those at risk for losing their homes due to layoffs, the housing market, and questionable bank practices.

22 June 2010

CLASS ACTION SUIT: WEGIVETOGET.COM NOT GIVING ENOUGH?

A class action lawsuit alleging deceptive business practices has been filed against We Give To Get, LLC. We Give To Get sells gift certificates to a variety of merchants and purportedly donates a specified minimum amount to charities of their customers' choosing. The statewide class action lawsuit filed in Cook County, Illinois, claims that We Give To Get "employed deceptive practices in the representation of their service." The lawsuit is brought by Jay Edelson, Bill Gray, and Collin Bond of Edelson McGuire, LLC.

06 May 2010

The Big Chill

The Obama Administration is learning that you can lead a bank to money, but you can't make it lend. Despite billions of dollars in encouragement, the nation's banks—according to the latest Federal Reserve Bank statistics— are sitting on more than $1.1 trillion in excess reserves. The big credit chill has also affected the ability of homeowners to borrow against the equity in their houses. In better times, homeowners used home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) as virtual ATMs for remodeling, paying college tuition, consolidating credit-card debt, or even starting a small business. But as property values sank through 2009, many lenders cut their potential losses by abruptly freezing or cutting those lines of credit. Now unhappy homeowners are plaintiffs in nearly 20 federal class actions—a dozen of them in California—that allege violations of the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), breach of contract, and, in many cases, unfair business practices. "Banks took hundreds of billions in taxpayer money and made promises to Congress to get the economy moving by making loans—and they did the opposite, even cutting existing lines of credit. They're hoarding," says Jay Edelson, name partner at Chicago's Edelson McGuire who has filed several of the California class actions.

19 April 2010

Lawsuit settled against Groupon over expiration of coupons

Groupon has reached a settlement with a Chicago resident who sued the company for allegedly violating Illinois consumer law. Daniel Keeler sued Groupon, a Web site that uses collective purchasing power to land retail discounts, in March claiming the Chicago startup did not adhere to a state law that prohibits companies from selling gift certificates that expire within five years.

19 April 2010

Amicable Settlement Reached in Groupon Case

A class action lawsuit against Groupon by Chicago resident Daniel Keeler reached an amicable agreement today. Groupon sells vouchers redeemable at a variety of merchants by sending an e-mail advertisement to a list of subscribers offering big savings to consumers. To date, Groupon's innovative "collective buying" coalition has resulted in the sale of more than four million "groupons." "Groupon demonstrated to us that they are committed to their consumers," attorney Bill Gray said. "It's a win-win for both the consumer and Groupon."

15 April 2010

Edelson McGuire Class Action: Discover Financial Services and United Marketing Group Conspired to Exploit Small Businesses.

A class action filed today in Illinois Circuit Court alleges Discover Financial Services (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : DFS (Distributed File System) An enhancement to Windows NT/2000 and 95/98 that allows files scattered across multiple servers to be treated as a single group. With Dfs, a network administrator can build a hierarchical file system that spans the organization's LANs and ) and United Marketing Group "conspired to bilk. According to Plaintiff Mc-K Sales, which operates Briggs Lake General Store in rural Minnesota, Discover deliberately transmits its merchant customers' confidential contact and account information to UMG UMG Universal Music Group UMG Universidad Mariano Gálvez de Guatemala (Mariano Galvez University of Guatemala) UMG Upgraded Metallurgical Grade (silicon) UMG Unlicensed Medical Graduate . Plaintiff claims that UMG used that information to contact it directly and requested confirmation of several seemingly harmless pieces of information, including the business's name and address. Mc-K claims Discover then continually withdrew funds from its merchant and checking accounts on UMG's behalf. When questioned, Discover claimed the charges were authorized, and directed Plaintiff to UMG. UMG, for its part, produced an altered voice recording purporting to be Plaintiff's employee consenting to the charges.

13 April 2010

Electronic Discovery and Digital Evidence Practitioners Workshop at Chicago-Kent Law School

This practitioners’ workshop will provide in-depth and hands-on education provided by a team of attorneys and federal judges, and is addressed to in-house and retained counsel who are involved in (or who expect to become involved in) litigation involving electronic discovery and digital evidence. Executives, records management and other litigation stakeholders from large and small public and private organizations will also gain invaluable insights on how best to prepare your technical staff and information systems to respond to requests for electronically stored information (ESI). Addressed to intermediate and advanced ESI litigation practitioners, the workshop will be taught by our faculty of leading judges, ESI litigation practitioners, forensics experts, and technology thought-leaders, all of whom have significant experience in managing all aspects of ESI litigation. This workshop is unique in that its scope is much broader and deeper than traditional eDiscovery courses that address only basic ESI concepts. The curriculum consists of case studies, a mock trial, keynote sessions and panel discussions with luminaries in the field, and small workshops for practitioners, technologists and forensics experts. We expect the entire program will be both illuminating and entertaining. Topics will range from the Seventh Circuit’s Electronic Discovery Pilot Program, and ESI search trends and developments, to emerging digital evidence issues. The sessions will address the key rules from the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure that impact eDiscovery. There will also be plenty of time for networking at the receptions at the end of each day.

16 March 2010

eBay Sued For Discriminating Against Deaf Sellers

In a complaint filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in the western district of Missouri, Melissa Earll alleges that as a "profoundly deaf" person, she was unable to register with eBay because the company verifies identity through telephone calls. eBay allegedly gives prospective merchants passwords over the telephone; the registrants must them enter those passwords online. Earll says in her lawsuit that she spent two months in the summer of 2008 corresponding with eBay in an unsuccessful attempt to convince the site to use an alternative verification system. In late 2009, she tried to register as a seller and again, was unable to do so, she alleges.

16 March 2010

Lawsuit Alleges EBay Violates Disabilities Laws

A deaf woman who claims she hasn't been able to sell items on eBay Inc.'s (EBAY) ecommerce Web site has filed a lawsuit saying the Internet giant violates federal and California state laws that protect disabled people against discrimination. The federal lawsuit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, centers around eBay's sellers registration system, in which the company places an automated phone call to would-be sellers and requires them to verify themselves over the phone. The plaintiff, Melissa Earll of Nevada, Mo., alleges that she cannot communicate vocally by telephone and hasn't been able to verify her identity with eBay. She has tried to register on eBay numerous times since 2008 so she could sell dozens of rare books she has collected in local auctions and sales, said attorney Michael Aschenbrener of Edelson McGuire LLC.

16 March 2010

The Jacobs Law Firm, Chtd. & Edelson McGuire, LLC Announce Text Message Settlement

A settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit brought against Simon & Schuster, Inc. and ipsh!Net, Inc. relating to the alleged transmission of unsolicited text message advertisements to the cell phones of consumers nationwide. The lawsuit alleged that the text-message marketing campaign, in which the publisher retained the marketing firm ipsh!Net to promote the then-forthcoming Stephen King novel Cell, violated a provision of the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”). The settlement, which was preliminarily approved March 3, 2010 by a Federal Court in San Francisco, establishes a $10 million cash settlement fund out of which payments of up to $175 will be made to each claimant who received such a text message. Both Simon & Schuster and ipsh!Net have denied the marketing campaign violated any laws or was in any way improper or harmful to consumers. Attorneys Jay Edelson and Ryan D. Andrews of Edelson McGuire, LLC and John G. Jacobs and Bryan G. Kolton of The Jacobs Law Firm, Chtd. were appointed by the Court to serve as attorneys for the class.

08 March 2010

Settlement With YouSwoop, Chicago Charity Wins

A potential class action lawsuit against YouSwoop by Chicago resident Matt Parsons reached an amicable agreement today. YouSwoop sells certificates redeemable at a variety of merchants by sending an e-mail advertisement to a list of subscribers offering big savings through purchasing the certificates that it sells. Rather than wait for a lawsuit to be filed, YouSwoops own CEO, Alexander Lurie, agreed to sit down with Mr. Parsons attorneys, Jay Edelson and Bill Gray of Edelson McGuire, LLC to discuss the potential lawsuit.

03 March 2010

Lawsuit says Groupon issues illegal coupons

A Chicago man has filed a lawsuit against Groupon, the popular Web site that offers daily group discounts on services and products, saying it violates a state consumer-protection law. Customer Daniel Keeler claims Groupon’s deals violate a 2008 law that prohibits companies from selling gift certificates that expire in fewer than five years. The suit, filed Tuesday in Cook County Circuit Court, by Chicago-based law firm Edelson McGuire LLC, seeks class-action status.

03 March 2010

Groupon responds to class action lawsuit with own class action effort

Earlier this week, law firm Edelson McGuire filed a class action lawsuit against Groupon, a Chicago-based company that offers daily discounts online to local businesses. The lawsuit accuses Groupon of violating gift certificate laws by including expiration dates on the discounts. Groupon CEO and founder Andrew Mason responded to the lawsuit on his blog, saying he would fight fire with fire.

01 March 2010

Class Action Suit: Groupon 'Systematically Deceives its Customers'

A class action lawsuit alleging deceptive business practices places the spotlight on Groupon, Inc., a high-profile tech startup that purports to have saved consumers close to $100 million dollars since its founding. Groupon sells gift certificates to a variety of merchants by sending an e-mail advertisement to a list of consumers touting big savings through purchasing the gift certificates that it sells. The nationwide class action lawsuit filed earlier today in Cook County, Illinois claims that Groupon systematically deceives its customers. According to the lawsuit, Groupon employs a business model where consumers are enticed to purchase a gift certificate, and after the consumer agrees to purchase the certificate, Groupon imposes post-contractual terms on the consumer containing illegal expiration dates. Groupon expressly advertises itself as a company that does not impose, in its own words, 'gotchas,' on the consumer. In clear violation of the law, Groupon imposes illegal terms or 'gotchas,' post-agreement, on the very consumers it prides itself on helping.

01 March 2010

Edelson McGuire, LLC Announces Text Messaging Settlement

A settlement has been reached with Club Texting, Inc. in a class action lawsuit relating to the alleged transmission of unsolicited text messages to Illinois cell phones users. As part of its business, Club Texting provides a text messaging platform that businesses, social groups, and governments use to contact their clients, members, and constituents. The settlement concerns allegations that a night club promoter called Fly Society improperly failed to gain express consent of consumers prior to using the Club Texting platform to send text messages advertising various night club events throughout Chicagoland. The settlement, which was preliminarily approved by a Chicago federal court on January 22, 2010, provides that those who received such messages without their consent to submit a claim for a $67.50 settlement payment. Club Texting, Inc. has also agreed to require that future users of its text messaging transmission platform both view and consent to obtaining the prior express consent of each person to whom a text message is sent.

26 February 2010

Leading National Attorney Jay Edelson Reps Lightwave Entertainment in Louisiana in New Movie Deal

Jumping into the city of New Orleans, ready to get their hands dirty and create some movie magic is the latest Cliff Dorfman film project, being represented by the national law firm, Edelson McGuire and managing partner Jay Edelson. The name of the movie and set location is being kept secret--for now. But it is set to start filming in March

24 February 2010

Class Action Attorney Invites President Obama to Town Hall to Hear from Ordinary Americans on Effect of Banking Crisis

A Chicago based class action attorney today formally invited President Obama to a town hall meeting to hear the stories of ordinary Americans impacted by the banking crisis. "The country has heard your soaring rhetoric... it has also seen you invite... bank CEO's to the White House for closed door meetings," writes Jay Edelson in a two-page letter to President Obama. "The country needs clear and unambiguous leadership."

24 February 2010

Did Banks that Received TARP Money Unfairly Influence Proposed Changes in Truth and Lending Act and Regulation Z?

Despite statements from the Federal Reserve Board that changes to Regulation Z and the Truth in Lending Act were "intended to improve the disclosures consumers receive in connection with closed-end mortgages and home-equity lines of credit (HELOCs)" there are new questions being raised about how much influence big national banks may have had in influencing those changes. Jay Edelson, managing partner of Edelson McGuire which represents hundreds of homeowners and has sued several of the largest national banks for fraudulantly slashing or reducing home equity lines of credit after receiving billions in bailout money, today asked the Inspector General for the Federal Reserve Board to investigate how much those banks may have influenced the proposed rule changes.

22 February 2010

Criminal Inquiry Springs From Toyota Recall

The Toyota investigation is now a criminal case. As CBS 2's Roseanne Tellez reports, it's possible that top executives could go to prison. Federal prosecutors opened a criminal investigation shortly after a potentially devastating internal document came to light. Consumer attorneys say it could be a smoking gun, showing Toyota put profits ahead of safety.

16 February 2010

Feds Demand Toyota Documents On Recalls

The federal government now wants to know when Toyota knew about safety problems with millions of its cars. The auto giant has to turn over documents about its massive recalls. One local consumer attorney said the company should have released all of that information at the outset. "What we've seen in previous cases which are similar, is when companies refuse to do that, it's generally because the company sat on the problem," said Jay Edelson. "And if that turns out to be the case, Toyota's got much bigger problems than the government or the lawsuits. It means customers aren't going to have confidence in buying Toyotas in the future."

05 February 2010

E*Trade Adds Sneaky Charge, Class Claims

A federal class action claims online stock broker E*Trade Securities charges customers for not making enough trades, despite promising not to do that. For every inactive quarter, E*Trade takes $40, sometimes selling off people's stock to pay itself the fees, the class claims. Lead plaintiff Joseph Roling says he noticed in 2007 that E*Trade "was making notes on his account for $40 'quarterly inactivity fees,'" taking the money every quarter he did not make a trade.

25 January 2010

Slashing of Consumer Home Equity Loans Prompt Florida Senator to call for Hearings

The lawsuit alleges that the big banks engaged in mass reductions of Home Equity Lines of Credit (HELOC) limits and even suspended accounts, by falsely claiming that customers' incomes had been reduced, as a way to justify the suspensions. Here's an excerpt from a press release on the class action; "The message to former WAMU customers and others is clear: Chase is coming after your home equity credit line," said attorney Jay Edelson, whose firm, KamberEdelson, LLC, (n/k/a Edelson McGuire, LLC) previously filed a similar lawsuit against CitiBank. "When banks take billions of dollars in taxpayer money, they have an extra duty to follow both the letter and the spirit of the law. We believe that congressional hearings should commence immediately," Edelson explained.

25 January 2010

State plan might put local road projects into high gear

Gov. Ted Strickland's State of the State announcement that he's fast-tracking certain road projects might mean quick action on two bottlenecked Franklin County interchanges and widening a stretch of I-70 near Springfield. Then again, it might not. During his annual address Tuesday, Strickland said the state will more rapidly approve and pay for "our most promising job-creating transportation projects." He said he's dedicating $100 million to the effort.

21 January 2010

Class Action Lawyer Suing Banks Critical of Obama Financial Reform Plan

Even as President Barack Obama steps up his campaign against Wall Street with what some describe as a far-reaching proposal for tougher regulation, a class action lawyer who is suing the banks calls it too little too late. "Where has the President been for the last year," says Jay Edelson, whose firm Edelson McGuire is suing Bank of America (BAC), Wells Fargo (WFC) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) "The President needed to be this tough with the banks a year ago. The banks have taken advantage of Americans and they won't listen unless rhetoric is backed up with action."

18 January 2010

New law firm hopes to encourage associates to contribute right away

Chicago lawyers Jay Edelson and Myles P. McGuire have formed a partnership that will continue representing plaintiffs in class action lawsuits against technology companies and clients in other matters, such as entertainment law. The new firm known as Edelson, McGuire LLP began operations on Friday with 17 lawyers in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Tallahassee, Fla.

15 January 2010

Partnership Shakeup: KamberEdelson now Edelson McGuire

As the result of a change in partnership, the firm previously known as KamberEdelson is now Edelson McGuire. Its newest partner, Myles McGuire, has been with the firm six years and replaces Scott Kamber, who departed the New York office to launch KamberLaw. Managing partner Jay Edelson said in a press release that he and Kamber, who were partners for two years, ”continue to be good friends, both personally and professionally,” and ”we are both strongly committed to the protection of consumer rights..the fact we have different visions for our respective firms will do nothing to change that.”

15 January 2010

KamberEdelson Breaks Up After 2 Years

KamberEdelson, the New York-Chicago firm that sues technology companies in class actions and defends former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich in civil suits, is splitting up on Jan. 15. New York partner Scott Kamber and Chicago partner Jay Edelson came together two years ago with eight lawyers. Now, friendship still intact they say, Edelson will form Edelson McGuire -- with 17 lawyers in Chicago, Los Angeles and Tallahassee, Fla. -- and Kamber will create KamberLaw -- with eight lawyers in New York and Los Angeles.

15 January 2010

Telephone Consumer Protection Act applies to unsolicited text messages

In an action alleging violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) through the transmission of unsolicited text messages, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted the defendant's motion to dismiss in part. The plaintiffs' allegations regarding the initial text message he received met pleading requirements, but allegations regarding the receipt of subsequent messages were not adequately pled.

31 December 2009

Rock You Sued Over Data Breach

An Indiana man sent a popular social networking app maker a great big "piece of flair" yesterday -- in the form of a class-action lawsuit. Alan Claridge sued RockYou, creators of spamtastic Facebook and MySpace apps like "Pieces of Flair" and "SuperWall," after the company admitted to having lost over 30 million individuals' personal identification data to a hacker.

30 December 2009

Rock You Law Suit

Facebook and MySpace app maker and advertising network RockYou isn’t having a great December. Earlier this month, 32 million passwords were compromised by a hacker going by the alias of “igigi.” That’s more than half of RockYou’s monthly active users. The password attack, carried out through an SQL injection and the passwords stolen from an unencrypted plain text document (a big no-no), has been a black eye for the social application company. Its troubles aren’t over, though, as a man from Indiana has filed a lawsuit against RockYou, one that has the potential to become a class action affair.

30 December 2009

Facebook App Maker Hit with Data Breach Class Action

RockYou, the popular provider of third-party apps for Facebook, MySpace and other social-networking services, is being hit with a proposed class-action accusing the company of having such poor data security that at least one hacker got away with 32 million e-mails and their passwords. The suit accuses the maker of apps like “Slideshow” for MySpace and “Superwall” for Facebook of making its unencrypted customer data “available to even the least capable hacker.” “RockYou failed to use hashing, salting or any other common and reasonable method of data protection and therefore drastically exacerbated the consequences of a hacker bypassing its outer layer of web security,” according to the Monday complaint in San Francisco federal court.

22 December 2009

Federal Reserve Continues to put Wall Street Ahead of Main Street

KamberEdelson, LLC, a nationally recognized law firm, today provided a detailed response on behalf of consumers to proposed changes to the federal Truth-in-Lending Act that will give banks further latitude to unfairly suspend Home Equity Lines of Credit (HELOCs) for consumers nationwide.

21 December 2009

IQPC Puts a Wrap on E-Discovery 2009

IQPC's eDiscovery event of 2009 focused on rapid early case assessment and review strategies, as well as realigning relationships between outside counsel, in-house counsel, legal, and IT. As organizations adopt e-discovery strategies for 2010, they should consider many of the issues covered at this year's sessions that provided a perspective for the future. The IQPC event concluded a pivotal year in legal technology that "was all about moving left on the Electronic Discovery Reference Model and getting information management practices in order," said attendee Stephen Ludlow, senior program manager for e-discovery at Waterloo, Ontario-based Open Text.

13 December 2009

Wynn seeks dismissal of second-hand smoke suit

Attorneys for Wynn Las Vegas are seeking dismissal of a lawsuit claiming its casino workers are exposed to dangerous second-hand tobacco smoke. In court papers filed Friday, Wynn's attorneys argued: --The suit appears to be part of a union campaign involving Wynn casino dealers. --Wynn is in compliance with the Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act, which specifically allows smoking in casinos. The lawsuit was filed Oct. 20 in federal court in Las Vegas by dealer and Transport Workers Union officer Kanie Kastroll. The suit, filed by Chicago class-action lawsuit firm KamberEdelson LLC, seeks an order requiring Wynn "to take reasonable measures to protect its employees from second-hand smoke" and unspecified costs and attorney's fees.

11 December 2009

WideOpenWest Targeted In Lawsuit Over Internet Ad Trial

A lawsuit filed in Chicago federal court alleges WideOpenWest violated customers' privacy by conducting a test with NebuAd -- a now-defunct startup that served targeted Web ads based on the sites a user visited -- and comes two months after an identical suit was dismissed in California. The complaint, which seeks class-action status, was filed Dec. 9 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern Illinois. The lead law firm that filed the suit, Chicago-based KamberEdelson LLC, had previously made the same allegations against WOW and five other Internet service providers -- Bresnan Communications, CenturyTel, Embarq, Knology and Cable One -- in a complaint that a federal court in California dismissed in October for jurisdictional reasons. The suit filed this week alleges WOW lied to customers when it assured them that it would not share personally identifiable information with any advertisers. In addition, the suit asserts, WOW failed to disclose that the opt-out it offered users only affected whether those users saw ads delivered by NebuAd but "did not alter the fact that WOW continued its wholesale interception and diversion of traffic to NebuAd."

07 December 2009

Another Break in the Clouds: Palm Pre User Sues Palm and Sprint for Losing His Personal Information

A Bay Area man filed a class action lawsuit against Palm (PALM) and Sprint Nextel (S) for losing most all the contacts, appointments and other data stored by many of the hundreds of thousands of Sprint users of the popular Palm webOS line of mobile phones, including the Palm Pre and Pixi. The data loss is reminiscent of the recent data loss suffered by T-Mobile Sidekick users after Microsoft lost the personal data of Sidekick users. The lawsuit alleges that Palm and Sprint actively marketed the Palm webOS mobile phones as automatically backing up all the data that users would store, such as contacts, appointments, and more and then failed to follow through on these promises.

24 November 2009

Court Nixes Chase’s Bid To Toss HELOC Suit

A federal judge in California has rejected JPMorgan Chase’s motion to dismiss a suit that charges the bank illegally cut a couple’s home equity line of credit. Chase unsuccessfully argued that the plaintiffs, former customers of Washington Mutual, should sue the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which approved Chase’s purchase of WaMu. Chase had claimed that a decline in the couple’s income caused the HELOC reduction. According to Jay Edelson of the law firm KamberEdelson, which represents the plaintiffs, Chase claimed that although it purchased WaMu’s assets, it supposedly did not acquire any liability—even for its own misconduct. The judge sided with the plaintiffs, a California couple who are seeking class-action status for the suit.

23 November 2009

Chase Loses First Round in HELOC Lawsuit

A U.S. district court judge in California has denied a motion by JPMorgan Chase Bank to dismiss a lawsuit that alleges the bank illegally reduced a couple's home equity line of credit. Chase argued that the plaintiffs, Jeffrey Schulken and Jenifer Schulken, are former customers of Washington Mutual and they should sue the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) — which approved Chase's acquisition of WaMu — not Chase. But the judge sided with the Schulkens. According to the plaintiffs' attorney Jay Edelson, "Chase's unprecedented position was simple: Chase can harm former WaMu customers with impunity and anyone who suffers damage should sue the FDIC." Chase acquired the troubled WaMu with the approval of the FDIC in September 2008. The bank moved to reduce the plaintiffs HELOC in March 2009, claiming their income had declined. Plaintiffs claim their income hasn't changed and sued Chase for violating the Truth in Lending Act.

23 November 2009

Second Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Oversee.net and SnapNames

Another lawsuit seeking class action status has been filed against Oversee.net over the SnapNames insider bidding scandal. Law firm KamberEdelson LLC filed the case on behalf of its lead plaintiff, Stewart Resmer, in U.S. District Court Central District of California on November 18. Resmer, like Oversee.net, is located in Los Angeles. Among other evidence, the lawsuit cites a now famous January 6, 2008 DNForum posting by a Snapnames employee that denied that bidder halvarez was associated with SnapNames.

20 November 2009

KamberEdelson LLC Announces Mobile Content Class Action Settlement With m-Qube, Inc.

A global settlement agreement was reached promising to conclude numerous separate class action lawsuits filed throughout the country involving claims that unauthorized charges for "mobile content" were placed on consumers cell phone bills. The settlement, which was preliminarily approved by the Circuit Court of Cook County in Illinois on November 3, 2009, entitles wireless customers across the country to receive refunds for unauthorized mobile content charges and requires that the defendants remain in compliance with the consumer best practices guidelines established by the Mobile Marketing Association. The defendant, m-Qube, Inc., has denied any wrongful conduct.

10 November 2009

Mobile Content Class Action Settelment Announced

A Cook County, Illinois court granted preliminary approval to a global settlement agreement which seeks to conclude over 30 separate class action lawsuits filed throughout the country involving claims that unauthorized charges for mobile content were placed on consumer cell phone bills. The settlement, which was preliminarily approved by the Circuit Court of Cook County in Illinois on September 10, 2009, provides wireless customers across the country with either a cash award or a cash refund for unauthorized mobile content charges and requires that the defendants remain in compliance with the consumer best practices guidelines established by industry trade groups such as the Mobile Marketing Association, CTIA, and other leading industry groups. All of the defendantsmBlox Inc., 2WayTraffic USA, Inc., DadaMobile, Inc., Lavalife, Inc., Mobile Entertainment, Inc., Playphone, Inc., SendMe, Inc., SJA Mobile LLC, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc., UPOC Networks, Inc., and W3i Mobile, LLChave denied any wrongful conduct and the Court has not found the defendants culpable for any wrongdoing. Mobile content refers to products such as ringtones and games that generally are received via text messages on mobile phones and are charged directly to customers mobile phone bills.

05 November 2009

Class Action Suit Filed Against Maker of Popular iPhone Games for Secretly Collecting Phone Numbers During Downloads

A class action lawsuit reveals that Storm8, the developer of popular iPhone video games such as iMobsters, Vampires Live, and World War, collected the phone numbers of millions of its customers without their consent. The lawsuit alleges that Storm8 exploited a backdoor electronically--meaning it accessed the phone numbers of the iPhones on which its games were installed--a practice Apple (AAPL) does not authorize App makers to do. According to the lawsuit, every time an iPhone user downloaded a Storm8 game, a piece of malicious software code captured the phone number of the iPhone to which it was downloaded, and transmitted the number back to Storm8. After the media began reporting the issue in late August, Storm8 admitted it was doing so and that it would cease harvesting phone numbers. The suit is brought by Michael Turner from the Seattle area. Mr. Turner downloaded several Storm8 games to his iPhone. Storm8 has apparently recognized the error of its ways, but that does not change the fact that it harvested millions of phone numbers without telling consumers, and it does nothing to assure consumers that it will not do so again in the future, explained Michael Aschenbrener, the lead attorney for the class action. Storm8 had no right to collect this sensitive personal information without first getting permission from each customer.

02 November 2009

Wynn Resorts accused of not protecting employees

A Wynn Las Vegas employee recently sued the resort, claiming it is an unsafe workplace due to secondhand smoke. But some in the gaming industry doubt Las Vegas casinos will go smoke free anytime soon. The federal lawsuit filed Oct. 20 seeks class action status and alleges the casino encouraged patrons to light up and disciplined workers if they complained. The court filing accuses Wynn of breaching its duty to provide a safe workplace for employees and seeks damages of more than $5 million. Wynn dealer Kanie Kastroll has suffered asthma and other health problems while working for Wynn, her lawyers allege. Kastroll retained Chicago-based class action law firm Kamber Edelson for her lawsuit.

29 October 2009

KamberEdelson Completes Renovation at Chicago Offices

The law is evolving and so is the design of the law firm. KamberEdelson, LLC is pleased to announce that it has completed renovations of its Chicago office, doubling the existing office space. Despite a tough economic climate KamberEdelson, which began as a merger of two firms in 2007, has experienced rapid growth, adding six attorneys to its Chicago office in the last 4 months.

27 October 2009

KamberEdelson’s Jay Edelson Named Among Law Bulletin's '40 Under 40' for 2009

KamberEdelson LLC is pleased to announce that its managing partner, Jay Edelson, has been named one of the Forty Illinois Attorneys Under Forty to Watch for 2009 by Law Bulletin Publishing Company, publishers of Chicago Lawyer magazine and the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin. Law Bulletin Publishings 40 Under 40 honors Illinois attorneys who demonstrate they are hard working, intelligent, skillful, and successful. Mr. Edelson was chosen from among over 700 individuals who were nominated by their peers. In selecting Mr. Edelson for its list, Law Bulletin Publishing Company noted that Mr. Edelson is one of the leading class action attorneys in the nation.

22 October 2009

Wynn employee, tired of dealing with smoke, sues

A Wynn Las Vegas employee is suing the hotel-casino, claiming it is an unsafe workplace because of secondhand smoke. The federal lawsuit filed Tuesday, which seeks class action status, alleges the casino encouraged patrons to light up and disciplined workers if they complained. The court filing by Wynn dealer Kanie Kastroll accuses Wynn Las Vegas of breaching its duty to provide a safe workplace for employees and seeks damages of more than $5 million.

21 October 2009

Strip resort sued over second-hand smoke

A second Las Vegas Strip casino is being sued over allegations that the health of employees is being affected by second-hand smoke. A suit seeking class action status to represent all affected workers was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas by Wynn Las Vegas employee Kanie Kastroll against the casino resort and its parent company Wynn Resorts Ltd.

16 October 2009

Jay Edelson: Trust Young Lawyers & They Won’t Let You Down

(PRNewsChannel) / Chicago, Ill. / Law firms are notoriously bad at training newly-minted attorneys and developing them into meaningful contributors, according to a new blog written by attorney Jay Edelson.

16 October 2009

40 Illinois Attorneys Under 40

It has been 10 years since Law Bulletin Publishing Company published its first 40 Illinois Attorneys Under Forty to watch. The members of the 40 Under Forty Committee received more than 1000 nominations this year from around the globe promoting the state’s up and coming lawyers. Each of these young lawyers came with amazing accomplishments and recommendations, so what does it take then to earn recognition as a young lawyer to watch? Intelligence, passion, scores of successful verdicts, hard work for their clients, a desire to help the community and willingness to work hard at one of the country’s most important professions. Congratulations to the 2009 honorees and all the past recipients of the 40 Under Forty award.

15 October 2009

Microsoft Says It Has Recovered Lost Sidekick Data >MSFT (Subscription Required)

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) said early Thursday that it has been able to recover the personal data lost on many of T-Mobile USA's Sidekick users. The Redmond, Wash., software giant said that most, if not all, customer data was recovered, and that the company would begin restoring data as soon as it has validated it. The company said it will start with personal contacts, and move on to the lost calendar, notes, tasks, and pictures as quickly as possible. ...

14 October 2009

KamberEdelson: Potential Federal Rule Changes Would Put Banks Ahead of Home Owners

(PRNewsChannel) / Chicago, Ill. / KamberEdelson, LLC, a nationally-recognized class action law firm, is leading the charge on behalf of consumers in responding to proposed changes to the Truth-in-Lending Act and related federal regulations governing home equity lines of credit (“HELOCs”). The proposed changes directly and substantially impact consumers by altering the rules by which the nation’s largest banks can implement, modify or suspend HELOCs.

11 October 2009

Proprietor of eatery bites back at big bank

When Marika Hamilton set out on her own about two years ago, she had little experience dealing with money and was terrified of failing. So, in running her personal life and the Jimmy John’s franchise she owns on West Jefferson Boulevard, she always made sure every bill was paid on time.

10 October 2009

Lewis: Kicked off the Wells Fargo wagon

Marika Hamilton, 38, is a single mother of two daughters and the hard-working owner of a Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches shop in Fort Wayne, Ind. One day, she went to World Market to buy furniture on a 90-day-same-as-cash deal from GE Money. She scheduled payment in advance through her online account at Wells Fargo Bank NA to avoid the hefty penalties that come with such offers. "I am fanatical about paying my bills on time," she said. The payment, however, turned up late because of a glitch in Wells Fargo's system.

07 October 2009

KamberEdelson Adds Four New Lawyers

Chicago, Ill / The national law firm of KamberEdelson, LLC (http://www.kamberedelson.com) announced today that it has added four new attorneys to its growing Chicago office. The four hires are: Ben Richman, Liza Davenport, Chris Dore, and Irina Slavina.

01 October 2009

Amazon to pay $150,000 over Kindle eating Orwell -- and teen's homework

Amazon has agreed to pay $150,000 in a lawsuit filed by Justin Gawronski, who sued the online retailer after George Orwell's novels "1984" and "Animal Farm" were deleted from his Kindle, along with his homework. The money, after going to the law firm representing the teen, will be donated to charity. Gawronski had already been compensated for the loss -- with a $30 gift certificate.

01 October 2009

Patti Blagojevich files defamation lawsuit

Patti Blagojevich is taking aim at her former employer, filing a defamation lawsuit against a top official for allegedly making defaming remarks to a newspaper columnist. Mrs. Blagojevich filed a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court charging that Rick Roberts, the senior director of strategy and communications for the Chicago Christian Industrial League, made defaming remarks about her by claiming she inappropriately took an internal email list from the group when she was fired in January.

01 October 2009

Amazon Settles Kindle "1984" Lawsuit

That didn't take long. Two months after a high school student sued Amazon for removing George Orwell's "1984" from his Kindle e-reader, along with all his notes, Amazon has settled the lawsuit.

30 September 2009

Ft. Wayne Mom Takes on Wells Fargo

Single mom Marika Hamilton, filed a class-action lawsuit against banking giant Wells Fargo earlier this month. The class-action suit says Wells Fargo intentionally defrauded hundreds of customers in addition to using threats and intimidation. “It’s a travesty, it’s un-American, it’s stealing the American dream,“ Hamilton said.

17 September 2009

Linden Lab Targeted in Second Life Sex-Code Lawsuit

Having virtual sex in Second Life isn’t what it used to be. The 6-year-old virtual world, run by Linden Lab of San Francisco, is apparently so littered with bootlegged sex toys that it’s hard to know whether you’re getting the right bang for your buck.

19 August 2009

Wells Fargo is sued over home equity lines of credit

A homeowner filed a class-action lawsuit against Wells Fargo & Co. Wednesday for allegedly illegally lowering home equity lines of credit.

12 August 2009

New Pro Bono Attorney Playing Civil Defense for Blagojevich

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is bringing a new pro bono attorney onto his legal team to defend three civil cases over his alleged corrupt governance practices.

24 July 2009

Ex-dealer sues over exposure to smoke

A dealer who spent two decades at Caesars Palace has sued the Strip resort and parent company Harrah's Entertainment in federal court claiming that exposure to secondhand smoke forced her to quit her casino job. In a lawsuit that attorneys are seeking to have certified as a class action case, former blackjack dealer Tomo Stephens claimed Caesars Palace isn't doing enough to protect its workers from the dangers of secondhand smoke.

20 July 2009

Law Firm Readying Class-Action Suit Against Amazon For Deleting Orwell Books From Users' Kindles

A law firm known for bringing class-action suits on behalf of consumers against Internet companies says it's readying a case against Amazon for deleting George Orwell books on users' Kindles.

13 July 2009

Former Asst. Florida Attorney General to Launch KamberEdelson Florida Office

The national law firm of KamberEdelson, LLC announced today that it has added former Florida Assistant Attorney General William “Will” Haselden to its growing practice.

22 June 2009

Federal Court of Appeals Reinstates $90M Text Spam Class Action Against Simon & Schuster

In an unprecedented ruling, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit announced that publishing giant Simon & Schuster could be on the hook for as much as $90 million for sending unwanted text messages to tens of thousands of people. The unanimous decision, which was announced on Friday, held that text messages were under the purview of the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which makes it unlawful to make automated calls to cellular telephones.

20 June 2009

Chase sued over credit line suspensions

JPMorgan Chase & Co. -- one of Colorado's biggest banks by deposits -- faces a federal lawsuit from mortgage borrowers claiming the bank and its Washington Mutual unit improperly reduced or suspended home equity lines of credit.

03 June 2009

Suit Alleges Taxi And Limo Operators Extort Vegas STRIP CLUBS

A lawsuit seeking class-action status was filed Tuesday in Las Vegas alleging taxi and limousine companies have extorted more than $40 million in illegal kickbacks from local strip clubs. The complaint focuses on the long-running and controversial practice of taxi and limousine drivers receiving payments from the clubs of as much as $100 per male passenger. If the clubs refused to pay, the drivers would simply divert passengers to a different club, the plaintiff's attorneys said.

22 January 2008

`Thomas' toymaker settles suit over lead for $30M

The maker of Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway toys has agreed to a $30 million class-action settlement stemming from last year's recalls, the first in what's expected to be a wave of settlements related to millions of toys recalled because of lead paint.

08 January 2008

Sears Sued Over Privacy Breach

Sears Holdings is facing a class-action lawsuit after making the purchase history of its customers public on its Managemyhome.com Web site.

26 December 2007

Law Firm Aims to Be Go-To Firm in `Digital Trespassing' Niche

KamberEdelson, a law firm created by the recent merger of two small law firms -- one in Chicago and the other in New York -- aims to become the go-to firm for plaintiffs seeking to combat illegal infringements on their computer and cell phone and on their Internet use.

For all press inquiries please contact:

Becky Radowski

350 North LaSalle Street, Suite 1300

Chicago, Illinois 60654

Firm: 312-589-6370

Email: bradowski@edelson.com

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