FTCR's Legal Project attorneys advocate for consumers’ rights and seek to hold corporations and government officials accountable in the courts and before regulatory agencies. We specialize in the areas of insurance and health care reform, public official accountability, and billing and other service abuses by cell phone companies and other corporations. We also defend in the courts legislation and ballot initiatives that FTCR has sponsored.

Click here for highlights of our victories over the past year.

Scroll down to see a brief description of the range of cases we address,
OR
Click on the following links to see current suits in these categories:
Insurance Suits   |   Health Care Suits   |   Rebate Scams
Cell Phone Suits

Here are some of our current cases and recent victories. Click on the specific topic or case name below to read case updates:

  • Insurance company overcharges:
    FTCR has brought and intervened in legal actions against the Auto Club of Southern California, Safeco, Mercury Insurance and other companies for violating Proposition 103. (Proposition 103 Enforcement Project v. GEICO; Proposition 103 Enforcement Project v. Interinsurance Exchange of the Auto Club; Proposition 103 Enforcement Project v. Safeco; Donabedian v. Mercury Insurance Company) FTCR also blocked implementation of legislation that would have allowed insurance companies to surcharge previously uninsured drivers, in violation of Proposition 103. (FTCR v. Garamendi)

  • Cell Phones:
    FTCR filed lawsuits against Nextel, Cingular, AT&T, and T-Mobile for improper billing practices, poor quality service and false advertising.

    --The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights v. Nextel (Unfair Competition Lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County for discontinuing free itemized paper bills and failing to credit spam text messages)

    --Campbell v. Cingular Wireless (class action filed in San Diego Superior Court alleging false advertising of Cingular’s quality of service)

    --Coneff, et al. v. AT&T Corp (nationwide class action lawsuit on behalf of AT&T Wireless customers who suffered degraded service and/or were forced to pay early termination fees or “upgrade fees” to switch to Cingular in the wake of the AT&T and Cingular Wireless)

    --Nyugen, et al. v. T-Mobile; Mendoza, et al. v. Cingular Wireless; Meoli, et al. v. AT&T Wireless (Unfair Competition Lawsuits consolidated cases in Alameda County to stop pervasive “handset locking” that prevents cellphone’s use with other carriers)

  • Rebate Scams and Other Abuses in the Retail Marketplace:
    FTCR has brought cases to stop rebate rip-offs (In Re Inphonic, Inc., Wireless Phone Rebate Litigation and Faigman v. Cingular Wireless) and continues to investigate other similar abuses. FTCR also brought a suit aimed at reimbursing affected customers and correcting Apple’s practices of selling iPODs with cracks and streaks in the screen and severe scratching that renders it unreadable and unsightly. (iPOD Nano Cases – Sioson v. Apple Computers, Inc.)

  • Health care:
    Physical therapists, represented by FTCR attorneys and Blecher & Collins, filed a lawsuit on June 25, 2004 in Los Angeles County Superior Court (Rubenstein Physical Therapy, Inc., et al. v. PTPN, Inc.; Blue Cross of California, Case No. BC317517) to challenge an arrangement between California’s largest health insurer, Blue Cross, and Los Angeles-based Physical Therapy Providers Network (PTPN).

  • Government Corruption:
    FTCR has fought the Cities of Santa Monica and Pasadena for failing to obey initiative laws barring conflicts of interest.

To read a factsheet on FTCR Legal Project's Principles Governing Litigation, click here.

Highlighted Cases

These are some of the major cases FTCR is working on now.

Coneff, et. al. v. AT&T and Cingular Wireless (AT&T Corp.):
FTCR's attorneys filed a nationwide class action lawsuit in July 2006 on behalf of AT&T Wireless customers who suffered degraded service and/or were forced to pay early termination fees or "upgrade fees" to switch to Cingular in the wake of the AT&T and Cingular Wireless Merger.
Read a fact sheet on the case.
Read the complaint.
Tell us about your experience with AT&T/Cingular Wireless.
Read an update about the case.

FTCR v. Nextel:
We are challenging Nextel's decision to stop providing customers with detailed bills unless they pay a fee, and we challenged a series of improper charges to consumers related to spam text messages sent by Nextel.
Read more.

American Insurance Association v. Garamendi and California Farm Bureau Federation v. Garamendi:
FTCR has intervened in a lawsuit filed in Sacramento County Superior Court brought by insurers who seek to block regulations adopted by outgoing Insurance Commissioner Garamendi that require that insurers base your auto premiums on how you drive, not where you live as Proposition 103 requires.
Read more.

In the Matter of the Rate Applications of Allstate Insurance Company and Allstate Indemnity Company:
FTCR's petition for a hearing challenging Allstate's requested 12% rate hike for homeowners' insurance was granted. A hearing will likely be scheduled for summer 2007. Read FTCR's petition for hearing. FTCR has also intervened in a proceeding initiated by the Department of Insurance challenging Allstate's auto insurance rates as excessive. Read Notice of Hearing.
Read more.

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