Chimicles & Tikellis LLP - Class Action Law -
[Cached Version]
Published on: 7/3/2008
Last Visited: 7/3/2008
Steven A. SchwartzChimicles & Tikellis LLP - Class Action Law
...
STEVEN A. SCHWARTZ, a Partner in the Haverford office, is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.He graduated from the Duke University School of Law (J.D. 1987), where he served as a senior editor of Law & Contemporary Problems.He is a 1984 cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where he received a B.A. in political science.Mr. Schwartz previously practiced at Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP, concentrating in complex civil litigation.
Mr. Schwartz has actively prosecuted complex class actions in a wide variety of contexts.Notably, Mr. Schwartz has been successful in obtaining several settlements where class members received a full recovery on their alleged damages.For example, Mr. Schwartz was Co-Lead Counsel in Wong v. T-Mobile, a case alleging that T-Mobile overcharged its subscribers by billing them for data access services even though T-Mobile's subscribers had already paid a flat rate monthly fee of $5 or $10 to receive unlimited access to those various data services.Mr. Schwartz defeated a motion by T-Mobile to force resolution of these claims via arbitration and successfully convinced the Court to strike down as unconscionable a provision in T-Mobile's subscription contract prohibiting subscribers from bringing class actions.After that victory, the parties reached a settlement requiring T-Mobile to provide class members with a net recovery of the full amount of the un-refunded overcharges with all costs for notice, claims administration, and counsel fees paid in addition to class members' 100% net recovery.The gross amount of the overcharges, which occurred from April 2003 through June 2006, was approximately $6.7 million.As a result of the lawsuit, T-Mobile also implemented changes to its billing system to prevent such overcharging in the future.
Mr. Schwartz also served as Co-Lead Counsel for a certified national class of employees of Siemens Medical Solutions whose 1998 Incentive Compensation was retroactively reduced by 30% by Siemens.The Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas granted Plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment as to liability, and a few days before trial was scheduled to begin, Siemens agreed to pay class members a net recovery of the full amount that their incentive compensation was reduced (approximately $10.1 million), and pay all counsel fees and expenses in addition to the class members' recovery.
Similarly, in connection with the withdrawal by Bayer of its anti-cholesterol drug Baycol, Mr. Schwartz represented various Health and Welfare Funds (including the Pennsylvania Employees Benefit Trust Fund, the Philadelphia Firefighters Union, and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Workers District Council 47) and a certified national class of "third party payors" seeking damages for the sums paid to purchase Baycol for their members/insureds and to pay for the costs of switching their members/insureds from Baycol to an another cholesterol-lowering drug.The Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas granted plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment as to liability; this was the first and only judgment that has been entered against Bayer anywhere in the United States in connection with the withdrawal of Baycol.The Court subsequently certified a national class, and the parties recently reached a settlement in which Bayer agreed to pay class members a net recovery that approximates the maximum damages (including pre-judgment interest) suffered by class members.
In the securities litigation field, as lead or co-lead counsel, Mr. Schwartz has obtained significant recoveries for defrauded investors.In In Re Coin Fund Litigation, (Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles), Mr. Schwartz served as plaintiffs' co-lead counsel and successfully obtained a settlement in excess of $35 million on behalf of limited partners, which represented a 100% net recovery of their initial investments.Mr. Schwartz also served as Plaintiffs Co-Lead Counsel in In re Veritas Software Corp.Derivative Litigation (Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Santa Clara).In early 2005, the Court approved a settlement in which Veritas agreed to extensive corporate governance changes, including requiring that 75% of the members of Veritas' Board of Directors would be independent directors, and that all reporting 16b officers and directors of the Company would be prohibited from engaging in any sales of Veritas' stock except pursuant to a newly-enacted 10b5-1 Trading Plan.Mr. Schwartz currently serves as Plaintiffs' Co-Lead Counsel in the Pennexx Securities Litigation, (E.D. Pa.) and Liaison Counsel in In Re DVI Securities Litigation, (E.D. Pa.).
In the consumer protection field, Mr. Schwartz served as plaintiffs' co-lead counsel in Wolens, et al. v. American Airlines, Inc.In that class action, plaintiffs alleged that American Airlines breached its contracts with members of its AAdvantage frequent flyer program when it retroactively increased the number of frequent flyer miles needed to claim certain frequent flyer miles travel awards.In a landmark decision, the United States Supreme Court held that plaintiffs' claims were not preempted by the Federal Aviation Act.513 U.S. 219 (1995).The parties ultimately reached a settlement in which American agreed to provide class members with mileage certificates that represent, for practical purposes, the full extent of class members' alleged damages, which the Court valued at between $95.6 million to $141.6 million.Mr. Schwartz also represented a national class of owners of wood clad doors and windows manufactured by Marvin Windows that prematurely rotted due to a defective wood preservative. (Minn. 4th Judicial Dist.). Even though the windows were between 12 and 16 years old, the parties reached a national settlement providing class members with the opportunity to obtain replacement windows with minimum net discounts of between 45% and 58%.Mr. Schwartz is prosecuting a related case currently pending before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court against PPG Industries, which manufactured the defective preservative used on the windows.
In the environmental field, Mr. Schwartz played a significant role as part of a large team of plaintiffs' counsel who prosecuted the claims of fisherman, property owners, and Native Americans who were injured as a result of the Exxon Valdez oil spill.The trial of that case resulted in a jury verdict in excess of $5.3 billion.The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reduced that judgment to approximately $2.8 billion, and the United States Supreme Court is currently reviewing that judgment.
Mr. Schwartz has also developed an expertise in representing the interests of providers of medical services whose bills have been denied for payment by insurers.Mr. Schwartz represented a certified class of Pennsylvania physicians and chiropractors who were not paid by Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company for physical therapy/physical medicine services provided to its insureds.Nationwide agreed to pay class members approximately 130% of their bills.Mr. Schwartz is currently representing certified classes of medical providers seeking interest for overdue bills for treatment provided to insureds of SEPTA and Progressive Insurance Company.
In the product liability field, Mr. Schwartz served as a member of the Plaintiffs' Steering Committee for medical monitoring claims in In re Pennsylvania Diet Drugs Litigation, (Phila. C.C.P.).To settle that case, American Home Products agreed to pay for an extensive medical monitoring program for all Pennsylvania residents who ingested fenfluramine and dexfenfloramine, the "fen" of the "fen phen" diet drug combination.
In June 2006, Law & Politics and the publishers of Philadelphia Magazine named Mr. Schwartz a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer.
...
Steven A. Schwartz
26 online sources [ view sources ]
Profile is not claimed [ claim profile ]
