Today's Date: Add To Favorites
IPhone 3G Draws Second Class Action Suit
Class Action | 2008/09/04 09:02

The iPhone 3G has spawned legions of ecstatic customers, along with a small but determined band of critics who have sued over the phone's reported shortcomings. Last week, in a San Diego state court, a second dissatisfied iPhone 3G customer filed a suit seeking class action status against Apple and AT&T.

"The main issue is that AT&T's 3G network isn't strong enough to support the millions of people who are iPhone 3G users," Michael Rott, a partner with the San Diego-based law firm Hiden, Rott & Oertle, LLP, told ABCNews.com. "Apple violated [California law] by misrepresenting the actual speed and performance of its 8G and 16G models."

Rott filed the suit in San Diego Superior Court on behalf of iPhone user William Gillis. Rott said Gillis, a former executive with Chicken of the Sea, purchased Apple's flagship 16G iPhone in California for personal use. Despite advertisements touting the new phone's ability to run on the 3G network, he found that the phone frequently regressed to the slower EDGE network, Rott said.

"We're stating that they falsely and deceptively represented their products and services -- both them and ATT," Rott said.

AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel told ABCNews.com that the company doesn't comment on pending litigation.

Apple representatives did not immediately respond to requests from ABCNews.com for comment. But previously, the company also hasn't commented on such suits.

Gillis' complaint asks for appropriate disclaimers to be provided by the companies and for money to be returned to iPhone customers, Rott said.

"The whole thing is by providing consumers with disclaimers -- essentially to disclose complete and accurate info about the product -- you let customers [decide to purchase] your product or another one. [Apple] didn't give that info -- neither did AT&T," Rott said.

A similar complaint was filed against California-based Apple by an iPhone customer in Alabama about two weeks ago.

In that U.S. District Court case, plaintiff Jessica Alena Smith alleged that despite aggressive marketing stating the 3G iPhone is "twice as fast for half the price," the device is actually much slower than advertised and prone to dropping calls.

Both lawsuits followed a string of highly publicized complaints -- from spotty service to dropped calls to slow data speeds.

Despite the onslaught of criticism, many industry observers maintain that Apple customers are a loyal breed willing to withstand the blips.

But some analysts say that though Apple's reputation is certainly strong, it is not impenetrable.

"The more this kind of thing happens, the more the image becomes tarnished," Rob Enderle, an independent technology analyst, told ABCNews.com.

"[Apple is] unique in that they have a fan base that will see them through almost anything," he said. But the word "almost" is important, he emphasized.

"It's getting to the point where it's going to do damage. ... There are enough people who are upset. But if it were anyone else it would have already done more," Enderle said.

When Apple released the first generation iPhone it also had to defend itself against lawsuits brought by dissatisfied customers.

In 2007, Apple was hit with complaints filed in Illinois and California over reported short battery life. The suit filed in California was ultimately withdrawn. The Illinois case is still pending. Apple has moved to dismiss the case but the judge has not yet issued a ruling.

In 2005, Apple compensated some owners of first- and second-generation iPods with $50 of in-store credit or $25 cash to settle yet another class action suit over the batteries in an earlier edition of the iPod.



QB Mauk takes appeal for another season to court
Court Watch | 2008/09/04 08:59
Former Cincinnati quarterback Ben Mauk is taking his case for another year of college football before a judge in the northwest Ohio town where his playing career started.

At a hearing in Kenton, Mauk was on the witness stand Thursday testifying about a long history of foot problems that began before his freshman year at Kenton High School. His lawyers say those foot issues lingered, making Mauk unable to play his first season at Wake Forest. He later transferred to the University of Cincinnati.

Mauk wants to play one more season with the Bearcats but has been turned down five times by the NCAA, most recently Wednesday.

His attorneys have requested a permanent injunction and are arguing that he should be granted a sixth year of college football eligibility.



Detroit mayor expected to make plea in court
Breaking Legal News | 2008/09/04 08:58
After months of defiantly holding onto his office, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick appeared ready to give it up as part of a plea deal with prosecutors in a sex-and-misconduct scandal that has embarrassed the nation's 11th-largest city for months.

The Wayne County prosecutor's office, which has charged Kilpatrick with eight felonies in his perjury case, said the plea would take place during a scheduled docket conference before Circuit Court Judge David Groner on Thursday morning.

And while the mayor's lawyers later insisted that no deal had been struck, Kilpatrick spokesman Chris Garrett confirmed negotiations toward a plea were continuing.

It was "apparent that they are close," Kilpatrick attorney James Thomas said late Wednesday, adding that he was unsure if the deal being negotiated included any jail time for the mayor.

The mayor would automatically be expelled from office if he is convicted of a felony. Kilpatrick also faces assault charges stemming from a confrontation in July.

The announcement of a potential deal by the prosecutor's office interrupted an extraordinary hearing Wednesday in which Gov. Jennifer Granholm is tasked with deciding if Kilpatrick should be removed from office for misconduct for his role in an $8.4 million whistle-blowers' settlement.

The governor's spokeswoman, Liz Boyd, said the removal hearing's second day would resume Thursday, an hour after Kilpatrick's appearance ends in Wayne County Circuit Court. A deal to resign would make Granholm's role moot.

The City Council has asked Granholm to use her constitutional authority to expel Kilpatrick for misconduct, saying it was misled when it approved the settlement last year with fired police officers.

Council members said they didn't know the deal carried secret provisions to keep a lid on steamy text messages between Kilpatrick and Christine Beatty, who was his chief of staff, on city-issued pagers.



Texas governor asked to stop execution next week
Human Rights | 2008/09/04 05:59
Twenty-two former judges and prosecutors on Wednesday asked Gov. Rick Perry to stop an execution set for next week because an important hearing in the condemned inmate's case is scheduled for two days after the lethal injection.

State District Judge Robert Dry in Collin County has set a Sept. 12 hearing on the request from attorneys for convicted killer Charles Dean Hood for arguments on whether a former judge and district attorney were in an unethical romantic relationship during Hood's trial. Hood is set to die Sept. 10 for murdering a couple in Plano in 1989.

Perry has the authority to block executions with a one-time, 30-day reprieve for condemned prisoners.

Perry spokeswoman Allison Castle confirmed the governor's office had received the letter. Perry, who was in east Texas on Wednesday visiting Hurricane Gustav evacuees preparing to return home, had made no decision on the request, Castle said.

Hood's lawyers contend the alleged secret relationship between now-retired Judge Verla Sue Holland, who presided over Hood's capital murder trial in 1990, and the prosecutor, former Collin County District Attorney Tom O'Connell, tainted the trial.



Judge pleads not guilty to sex crime charges
Legal Careers News | 2008/09/04 03:59
A federal judge, promising a "horde of witnesses" in his defense, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges he fondled a former case manager and tried to force her into a sexual act.

U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent was indicted last week on what he called "flagrant, scurrilous" charges following a Justice Department investigation into complaints by case manager Cathy McBroom.

"I plead absolutely, unequivocally not guilty and look very much forward to a trial on the merits," a feisty Kent told 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Edward Prado, brought to Houston to hear the case.

Kent was released on his own recognizance and did not speak to reporters. His wife, Sarah, attended the hearing and the couple left the courthouse holding hands.

"The charges are lies. He's now eager for his day in court," Kent's attorney, Dick DeGuerin, said after the hearing.

Prosecutors wouldn't comment after the hearing.

Kent, 59, faces two counts of abusive sexual contact and one count of attempted aggravated sexual abuse. If convicted of attempted aggravated sexual abuse, Kent could face up to life in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Each of the two counts of abusive sexual contact carries a sentence of up to two years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

McBroom accused the judge of physical sexual harassment over a four-year period starting in 2003 when he was the only U.S. district court judge in Galveston, an island beach town 50 miles southeast of Houston.



Attacks, praise stretch truth at GOP convention
Politics | 2008/09/04 01:00
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her Republican supporters held back little Wednesday as they issued dismissive attacks on Barack Obama and flattering praise on her credentials to be vice president. In some cases, the reproach and the praise stretched the truth.

Some examples:

PALIN: "I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending ... and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress 'thanks but no thanks' for that Bridge to Nowhere."

THE FACTS: As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation. While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a "bridge to nowhere."

PALIN: "There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform — not even in the state senate."

THE FACTS: Compared to McCain and his two decades in the Senate, Obama does have a more meager record. But he has worked with Republicans to pass legislation that expanded efforts to intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional weapons stockpiles. The legislation became law last year. To demean that accomplishment would be to also demean the work of Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, a respected foreign policy voice in the Senate. In Illinois, he was the leader on two big, contentious measures in Illinois: studying racial profiling by police and requiring recordings of interrogations in potential death penalty cases. He also successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform legislation.



Federal judge to appear in court on sex charges
Law Center | 2008/09/03 08:48
U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent, usually in charge of dispensing justice, is to find himself on the other side of the bench as a defendant.

Kent was to make his first court appearance Wednesday after being indicted last week on federal sex crimes following a Department of Justice investigation. He is facing two counts of abusive sexual contact and one count of attempted aggravated sexual abuse.

If convicted of attempted aggravated sexual abuse, Kent could face up to life in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Each of the two counts of abusive sexual contact carries a sentence of up to two years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

Kent's attorney, Dick DeGuerin, has said his client is innocent and will stay on the bench while he awaits trial.

Kent's former case manager, Cathy McBroom, accused the judge of physically harassing her in a sexual manner over a four-year period, starting in 2003. The final incident was in March 2007, when she said the judge pulled up her blouse and bra and tried to escalate contact until they were interrupted.

Her accusations were first investigated by the Judicial Council of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which suspended Kent in September 2007 for four months with pay but didn't detail the allegations against him.

As part of the judicial council's punishment, Kent was transferred to the busy Houston federal courthouse, where McBroom was relocated after reporting her allegations. Kent had been the only U.S. District Court judge in Galveston, an island beach town 50 miles southeast of Houston.

Until his indictment, Kent was known for writing humorous rulings peppered with sarcastic scoldings of lawyers. Kent, a federal jurist in Galveston since President George H.W. Bush appointed him in 1990, has not presided over any high-profile cases.

Kent is the first federal judge to be charged with sex crimes. Most other indictments of federal judges have involved corruption or other financial misdeeds.



[PREV] [1] ..[669][670][671][672][673][674][675][676][677].. [1195] [NEXT]
All
Class Action
Bankruptcy
Biotech
Breaking Legal News
Business
Corporate Governance
Court Watch
Criminal Law
Health Care
Human Rights
Insurance
Intellectual Property
Labor & Employment
Law Center
Law Promo News
Legal Business
Legal Marketing
Litigation
Medical Malpractice
Mergers & Acquisitions
Political and Legal
Politics
Practice Focuses
Securities
Elite Lawyers
Tax
Featured Law Firms
Tort Reform
Venture Business News
World Business News
Law Firm News
Attorneys in the News
Events and Seminars
Environmental
Legal Careers News
Patent Law
Consumer Rights
International
Legal Spotlight
Current Cases
State Class Actions
Federal Class Actions
Former FBI Director Comey in..
Web Promo Expands as Nationw..
US lawmakers push for milita..
Call of Duty Maker Seeks Dis..
Military lawyers will serve ..
New Orleans mayor pleads not..
Washington, Oregon and Calif..
‘Ketamine Queen’ pleads gu..
Federal data website outage ..
Los Angeles school year begi..
Trump executive order gives ..
Colorado deputies discipline..
Victims feeling exhausted an..
Appellate judges question Tr..
Immigration judges fired by ..


Class action or a representative action is a form of lawsuit in which a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court and/or in which a class of defendants is being sued. This form of collective lawsuit originated in the United States and is still predominantly a U.S. phenomenon, at least the U.S. variant of it. In the United States federal courts, class actions are governed by Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule. Since 1938, many states have adopted rules similar to the FRCP. However, some states like California have civil procedure systems which deviate significantly from the federal rules; the California Codes provide for four separate types of class actions. As a result, there are two separate treatises devoted solely to the complex topic of California class actions. Some states, such as Virginia, do not provide for any class actions, while others, such as New York, limit the types of claims that may be brought as class actions. They can construct your law firm a brand new website, lawyer website templates and help you redesign your existing law firm site to secure your place in the internet.
St. Louis Missouri Criminal Defense Lawyer
St. Charles DUI Attorney
www.lynchlawonline.com
Lorain Elyria Divorce Lawyer
www.loraindivorceattorney.com
Legal Document Services in Los Angeles, CA
Best Legal Document Preparation
www.tllsg.com
Car Accident Lawyers
Sunnyvale, CA Personal Injury Attorney
www.esrajunglaw.com
East Greenwich Family Law Attorney
Divorce Lawyer - Erica S. Janton
www.jantonfamilylaw.com/about
St. Louis Missouri Criminal Defense Lawyer
St. Charles DUI Attorney
www.lynchlawonline.com
Connecticut Special Education Lawyer
www.fortelawgroup.com
  Law Firm Directory
 
 
 
© ClassActionTimes.com. All rights reserved.

The content contained on the web site has been prepared by Class Action Times as a service to the internet community and is not intended to constitute legal advice or a substitute for consultation with a licensed legal professional in a particular case or circumstance. Affordable Law Firm Web Design