Word: frauds
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...million civil suits are filed in California every year, and lawyers here earn upwards of $17 billion annually in legal fees. Those numbers could soar even higher if a controversial new state ballot initiative is adopted on Nov. 5. Proposition 211 would make it easier to file securities-fraud suits in California than in any other state--and top business leaders have risen up in alarm to fight it. "There's no place in the world like California for new companies," says Richard Hill, the chairman and CEO of Novellus Systems, a San Jose semiconductor-equipment manufacturer. "But this bill...
...quarter of the nation's securities-fraud suits are brought against California-based firms. One target was Centigram Communications Corp. of San Jose, which was sued after its stock dropped from $14 to $11 in late 1994. Lerach accused company officials of dumping stock nine months earlier. Although a judge threw out all but one charge, Centigram decided, after nearly a year of fighting, to settle for $1.5 million, a typical corporate approach. "We did an economic analysis," says president and CEO George Sollman. "I calculated that going into court and trying this would cost us between...
...Attorney-Client Fee Arrangements, Securities Fraud, Lawsuits" initiative would make businesses and their professional associates, from boards of directors to accountants, liable for any statement or act that "directly or indirectly, willfully, knowingly or recklessly" results in a loss to any pension fund, retirement fund or even a personal savings account. Companies would be fair game for class-action lawsuits for both reporting and failing to predict bad news. Corporate officers would be personally assessed for punitive damages, and their firms could not indemnify them. The proposition would also prohibit any attempt to set new limits on attorneys' fees...
...Lerach, who together with his firm has given nearly $5.3 million to the "Yes on 211" campaign, argues that the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 made it more difficult for investors to sue and that investors need better protection from corporate abuse. "There's an epidemic of fraud against senior citizens, retirement savings, 401(k)s and IRAs, and unless stronger remedies are given to victims of that kind of fraud, it will get worse," he says. "It's time to stamp...
...industry has attracted numerous lawsuits around the country filed by customers who claim they have been ripped off. In a case that drew considerable public attention, an Alabama jury found Mercury Finance liable for fraud involving an auto-loan scheme that allegedly netted the firm hundreds of millions of dollars. The collection agencies that work hand in glove with the lenders have also been targeted for harassing or even threatening delinquents...