Consumer Protection

Class Action Lawsuits

Our class action lawsuit lawyers handle cases that address economic losses often related to breaches in security such as data breaches and defective products. A class-action lawsuit may be established by a court to provide efficiency. This involves joining a large number of people together in a consolidated or combined set of cases against a company or other entity whose actions financially harmed consumers.

Many of the class action lawsuits we handle involve product defects and violation of consumer protection laws. From defective ignition switches and exploding airbags to compromised personal information and loss of property value resulting from an environmental disaster caused by the careless actions of corporations, Beasley Allen’s consumer law attorneys stand in the gap for their clients and help them navigate the court system.

Beasley Allen’s class-action lawsuit lawyers have successfully handled complex, high-profile class-action lawsuits involving retailers like Target and Home Depot and automobile makers like General Motors, Volkswagen, and Fiat Chrysler. They have helped recover billions from BP and other defendants that played a role in the Deepwater Horizon explosion.

Arbitration – Killing Consumer Rights

An issue that often affects consumer protection rights cases is arbitration. Almost every type of contract entered into by consumers now includes mandatory arbitration agreements. These clauses are usually buried in the fine print of customer contracts and other agreements that customers must accept before receiving products and services.

Arbitration clauses force consumers to give up their right to seek legal help through the court, forcing them to take their claims to a private arbitrator of the company’s choice. This arrangement tips legal disputes in the company’s favor, and consumers are left without an alternative means of seeking a different decision.

Companies started using forced arbitration about 20 years ago despite public outcry that the process gives companies a license to steal. Consumer rights claims, such as class action lawsuits, have encouraged more consumer-friendly contracts.

Retirement Plans

Consumer Fraud also includes investment fraud cases such as pension plans and other investments that affect an individual or group’s retirement income. In particular, our investment fraud lawyers are investigating fraud claims in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).

According to the Department of Labor, this federal law sets minimum standards for most voluntarily established retirement and health plans in private industry to protect individuals in these plans. In these cases, we’ve found that businesses may include their own or other investments beneficial to the company’s bottom line rather than those that would perform best for the employee retirement fund.