Lieff Cabraser

Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, is a 125+ attorney AV-rated law firm founded in 1972 with offices in San Francisco, New York, Nashville, and Munich. We have served as Court-appointed Plaintiffs’ Lead or Class Counsel in many hundreds of state and federal coordinated, multi-district, and complex litigations throughout the United States. Lieff Cabraser is among the largest firms in the country that only represent plaintiffs.

We are driven by a strong and principled sense of social responsibility. We are committed to achieving justice for investors, consumers, employees, patients, and business owners; promoting safer products and fair competition; protecting our environment; assisting individuals blow the whistle on fraud; safeguarding the rights of patent and copyright holders; ensuring our right to privacy is preserved; and upholding the civil rights of citizens worldwide.

An outstanding track record

Since our founding in 1972, Lieff Cabraser has litigated and resolved hundreds of class action lawsuits and thousands of individual cases. We have played a significant role in achieving verdicts and settlements valued at $100 million or greater in 93 separate cases, including 30 cases with recoveries in excess of $1 billion. Many of these cases are among the most significant civil cases in the United States over the past half-century, including:

• historic litigation against Volkswagen over its “Clean Diesel” emissions fraud affecting over 475,000 vehicles in the U.S. that resulted in settlements valued at over $15 billion;
• the Attorney General litigation against the tobacco industry in which our clients received $42 billion in settlements;
• the litigation against European banks and businesses to recover assets taken from Holocaust victims and survivors;
• bringing employment practices at Walmart, the world’s third largest corporation, into compliance with the law;
• the righting of an injustice against immigrant workers, known as Braceros, dating back to World War II;
• the third largest settlement ever in a stock options back dating lawsuit (Broadcom);
• obtaining a $54.4 million verdict against an auto manufacturer for failing to cure a known defect in millions of its vehicles that led to the death of a husband and father of four children (Mraz v. DaimlerChrysler);
• a landmark $1.5 billion settlement with natural gas providers for manipulating energy prices during the California energy crisis in 2000-2001; and
• an award of $203 million against Wells Fargo Bank for manipulating the processing of customer debit card purchases to maximize overdraft fees.

A national reputation for excellence

Lieff Cabraser has a diversified practice, successfully representing plaintiffs in the fields of personal injury and mass torts, securities and financial fraud, employment discrimination and unlawful employment practices, product defect, consumer protection, antitrust, environmental and toxic exposures, False Claims Act, digital privacy and data security, and human rights. Our clients include individuals, classes and groups of people, businesses, and public and private entities.

Described by The American Lawyer as “one of the nation’s premier plaintiffs’ firms,” Lieff Cabraser enjoys a national reputation for professional integrity and the successful prosecution of our clients’ claims. We possess sophisticated legal skills and the financial resources necessary for the handling of large, complex cases, and for litigating against some of the nation’s largest corporations.

Lieff Cabraser has litigated and resolved thousands of individual lawsuits and hundreds of class and group actions, including some of the most important civil cases in the United States over the past five decades. We have assisted our clients in recovering over $129 billion in verdicts and settlements. Twenty-eight cases have been resolved for over $1 billion; another 64 have resulted in verdicts or settlements at or in excess of $100 million.

The National Law Journal has recognized Lieff Cabraser as one of the nation’s top plaintiffs’ law firms for fourteen years, and we are a member of its Plaintiffs’ Hot List Hall of Fame, “representing the best qualities of the plaintiffs’ bar and demonstrating unusual dedication and creativity.” The National Law Journal separately recognized Lieff Cabraser as one of the “50 Leading Plaintiffs Firms in America.”

In 2024, Lawdragon recognized 24 Lieff Cabraser lawyers as “Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers,” 28 firm lawyers as “Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers,” 14 firm lawyers as “Global Plaintiff Lawyers,” and 10 firm lawyers as “Leading Plaintiff Employment & Civil Rights Lawyers.” We saw 13 lawyers named to Lawdragon’s 2024 “Lawdragon 500X, The Next Generation” list, and The National Law Journal honored us with their 2024 “Elite Trial Lawyers” awards for Employee Rights and Anti-Discrimination. Lieff Cabraser’s JUUL injuries case team shared the Daily Journal’s 2024 “California Lawyer of the Year” award, we saw two lawyers named as the Journal’s “Leading Commercial Litigators” for 2024, and Law360 named LCHB its “Product Liability Law Practice Group of the Year.”

In 2023, Best Lawyers named 34 Lieff Cabraser attorneys to its “Outstanding Attorney Leaders” list and again placed our firm in its top tier for the national practice of Product Liability law. Lawdragon named 13 firm lawyers to its inaugural “Lawdragon 500X – The Next Generation” list, simultaneously recognizing 7 partners at the firm as “Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America” for 2023 and naming 27 firm lawyers to its “500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers” list, 22 firm lawyers to its “500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers” list, and 9 firm lawyers to its “500 Leading Plaintiff Employment and Civil Rights Lawyers” list. After recognizing Lieff Cabraser as a “2023 Powerhouse” law firm, in December 2023 Law360 named our Product Liability and Employment Law practice groups to its “2023 Practice Groups of the Year” list. The California Daily Journal recognized our firm among its 2023 “Leading Commercial Litigators,” “Top Women Lawyers,” “Top Labor & Employment Lawyers,” “Top 100 Lawyers,” “Top 40 Lawyers Under 40,” and “Top Plaintiff Lawyers in California,” as well as naming our firm to share the 2023 “California Lawyer of the Year” award for our work on the California opioids cases.

The National Law Journal named firm managing partner Steven E. Fineman as a “Plaintiffs’ Trailblazer” for 2023, and named our firm to its Elite Trial Lawyers practice groups of the year for Product Liability and Anti-Discrimination Law, also recognizing us as finalists in the areas of Class Action, Consumer Protection, Discrimination, and Securities Litigation/Shareholder Rights, and as a finalist for Elite Trial Lawyers Plaintiffs Firm of the Year. Super Lawyers selected 41 of our lawyers as “Super Lawyers” and “Rising Stars” for 2023, and Business Today named two of our firm’s partners to its “Top 10 Leading Lawyers for 2023.” Law.com and American Legal Media named us “Litigators of the Week” for May 12, 2023, and named us to its “Distinguished Leaders” list for 2023.

In 2022, The National Law Journal named us a “Leader of the Plaintiffs’ Bar” and a “Trailblazer” for Litigation, Employment Law, and Plaintiffs’ Law, and named our firm as Elite Trial Lawyers finalists for civil rights, discrimination, and securities work. Also in 2022, The American Lawyer named our firm a “Trailblazer” for the West and South, and The New York Law Journal selected Lieff Cabraser to receive the publication’s “Litigation Department of the Year” award for Class Action Litigation.

In January of 2021, The American Lawyer named Lieff Cabraser its “Boutique/Specialty Litigation Firm of the Year” and in December 2019, the publication included Lieff Cabraser in its “Top 50 Litigation Departments in the U.S.,” the only all-plaintiff-side litigation firm included among the firms recognized. Our firm has received a number of other recent honors and awards, including the NLJ’s “Elite Trial Lawyers,” Law360’s “Most Feared Plaintiffs’ Firms,” and Benchmark Litigation’s “Top 10 Plaintiffs Firms in America” as well as Benchmark’s 2020 “California Plaintiff Firm of the Year.” The National Law Journal has recognized Lieff Cabraser as one of the nation’s top plaintiffs’ law firms for 14 years. In compiling its “Hot List,” the Journal examines recent verdicts and settlements and looks for firms “representing the best qualities of the plaintiffs’ bar and that demonstrated unusual dedication and creativity.” Previously, Law360 selected Lieff Cabraser as one of the “Top 50 Law Firms Nationwide for Litigation” in 2016, and separately named our firm one of five “2017 California Powerhouses,” the only plaintiffs’ firm on the list.

Our attorneys are recognized as some of the most qualified and skilled professionals in their fields. They are routinely appointed by federal and state courts to serve as leaders in national litigation. Many of our attorneys are directors and officers of local, state, and national bar organizations.

The resources necessary to succeed in complex litigation

We possess the sophisticated legal skills, financial resources, investigative talent, and administrative support to take on the world’s most powerful corporations. We take great pride in our innovative approach to the practice of law and our firm’s leadership role in cases resulting in landmark decisions and precedent-setting rulings.

A commitment to the community

Lieff Cabraser proudly supports civil rights, human rights, increased access to legal services, and initiatives and organizations working to improve civil justice, increase diversity in the legal profession, and assist the underserved in the communities we serve. We provided free legal services to seven victims of the 9/11 attacks in hearings before the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund and obtained awards totaling over $5 million.