Landmark Cases

Skip to main content CASES Tipline 1-888-381-2889 Main navigation Cases Attorneys All Attorneys Steve W. Berman, Managing Partner Thomas M. Sobol, Executive Robert B. Carey, Executive France Team U.K. Team Newsroom Press Releases Blog Practices Anti-Terrorism Antitrust Litigation Automotive Litigation Child Sexual Abuse Civil & Human Rights Litigation Class Action Consumer Rights Data Breach, Privacy & Cybersecurity Emissions Litigation Employment Litigation Environmental Litigation First Responder Litigation Governmental Representation High Tech Litigation Intellectual Property Investor Fraud Personal Injury Litigation Pharmaceutical Fraud Sexual Abuse & Harassment Sports Litigation Veterans & Military Servicemember Litigation Whistleblower About About the Firm Firm Story In the Media Our Advantage Contingency Fee Working at Hagens Berman Cycling Teams Success Landmark Cases Victories & Settlements Awards & Recognition Testimonials Contact Contact Us Offices Media Inquiries Careers Landmark Cases Main Navigation Landmark Cases Victories & Settlements Awards & Recognition Testimonials NCAA NAME, IMAGE & LIKENESS The firm filed this class-action lawsuit on behalf of current and former NCAA college athletes accusing the NCAA, Pacific-12 Conference, the Big Ten Conference, the Big Twelve Conference, Southeastern Conference and Atlantic Coast Conference of allegedly illegally limiting the compensation that Division I college athletes may receive for the use of their names, images, likenesses and athletic reputations. Final approval of a $22.78 billion settlement was granted by the court, including $2.78 billion in back damages and revenue-sharing benefits expected to exceed $20 billion over the next 10 years — believed to be the largest antitrust settlement in history. more » Toyota Sudden Unintended Acceleration Steve Berman represented 20 million class members against Toyota for its sudden unintended acceleration defect and subsequent economic loss to vehicle owners, achieving the largest settlement at the time against an automotive company — $1.6 billion. more » Big Tobacco Steve Berman served as special assistant attorney general for the states of Washington, Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, New York, Alaska, Idaho, Ohio, Oregon, Nevada, Montana, Vermont and Rhode Island in prosecuting major actions against the tobacco industry. In November 1998, the initial proposed settlement led to a multi-state settlement requiring the tobacco companies to pay the states $260 billion and to submit to broad advertising and marketing restrictions — the largest civil settlement in history. more » Apple E-Books Fought against Apple and five of the nation’s top publishers for colluding to raise the price of e-books, securing a settlement of at least $400 million, with the potential to repay class members twice the amount of damages suffered. more » NCAA Scholarship Cap Antitrust The firm was lead counsel in a class-action lawsuit representing current and former NCAA student-athletes arguing that the NCAA illegally capped the value of their scholarships. The damages portion of the lawsuit settled for $208 million, and the injunctive portion was decided when the Supreme Court agreed 9-0 that NCAA college athletes should legally be able to receive compensation from schools or conferences for athletic services other than cash compensation untethered to education-related expenses, prohibiting the NCAA from enforcing rules limiting those payments. more » Volkswagen Dealers Litigation In a first-of-its-kind lawsuit brought by a franchise dealer, three family-owned Volkswagen dealers filed a class action against VW stating that it intentionally defrauded dealers by installing so-called “defeat devices” in its diesel cars, and separately carried out a systematic, illegal pricing and allocation scheme that favored some dealers over others and illegally channeled financing business to VW affiliate, Volkswagen Credit, Inc. The firm achieved a settlement bringing $1.67 billion in benefits to Volkswagen dealers. The settlement garnered nearly unanimous approval of dealers, with 99 percent participation in the settlement. more » Volkswagen Emissions Litigation Hagens Berman was the first firm in the nation to file a lawsuit against Volkswagen for its emissions fraud and was named to the Plaintiffs' Steering Committee leading the national fight against VW, Porsche and Audi on behalf of owners and lessors of affected vehicles. more » NCAA Concussions Achieved a monumental settlement that will provide a 50-year medical-monitoring program for an estimated 4.4 million current and former student-athletes to screen for and track head injuries; make sweeping changes to the NCAA’s approach to concussion treatment and prevention and establish a $5 million fund for concussion research. more » MCKESSON DRUG LITIGATION