Firm Liable in Class Action (Old News)

Last spring, a jury in Maine ordered a law firm $10.8 million to companies it had represented:

The jury unanimously found that the Seattle firm, now called Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro, violated its duty of loyalty to the water bottlers, which it had represented in a fight against Nestle Waters North America. Attorneys for the bottlers said the firm dumped the bottlers to pursue a more lucrative class-action case.

Seattle law firm told to pay $10.8 million, Seattle P-I, March 24, 2006. A week later the firm settled with the companies.
Firm settles with bottlers, Seattle P-I, April 1, 2006.

Portland lawyer Lee Bals, who represented Tear of Clouds, said the case received national attention and could change the way lawyers in class-action cases handle their clients.

"I think the legacy of this case will be that you will never see lawyers in a class-action case attempt to represent both a class and individuals or companies that are not members of the class," he said.

I missed this when it was fresh news, probably because I was out of town for spring break. (Missing a big story: another casualty of March Madness.) I came across it today and thought I'd share it because it's so big.

Filed in: practice-of-law, Hagens-Berman-Sobol-Shapiro, class-actions, conflict-of-interest, settlements