Fraud Lawyer Interviews

Washington, DC: Consumer advocates see potential storm clouds on the horizon and they are standing-at-the-ready to fight any forthcoming threat that might preclude consumers from using class action suits to pursue justice.

Cleveland, OH Attorney Patrick Perotti has guided more than $25 million in unclaimed class-action settlement money to Ohio charities. His determination to make sure the leftover cash goes to the right place has earned him praise from non-profit groups and scorn from fellow class-action lawyers.

Great Falls, MT Millions of people around the world were inspired and swept up by the story of American Greg Mortenson and his selfless efforts to build schools for children in remote regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan. But, a class-action suit for fraud filed in Montana, where Mortenson lives, alleges the adventures documented in Mortenson's best-selling book Three Cups of Tea and Stones Into Schools were "fabrications."

New York, NY Match.com and other dating websites have been sued for consumer fraud before, but this time it is different, according to attorney Jeffrey Norton. His firm has done an intensive and unprecedented investigation of Match.com and has spoken to dozens of former employees, sub contractors and other witnesses, including Match.com subscribers.

Houston, TX Attorney Donald Worley calls it the worst case of estate fraud he has ever encountered, and warns people to be careful about who you name as the executor of your estate.

Chicago, IL It wasn't the biggest lawsuit ever to come through the doors of Edelson McGuire, a well-known Chicago firm of about 20 lawyers, but it was important. "We try to handle important consumer issues, and when this came to us, we thought it was a worthy cause," says Collin Bond, associate attorney with the firm.

Washington, DC It took six years, 17,000 billable hours, three law firms and three public justice organizations, but in the end they managed to wrestle a payday loan company in North Carolina into a settling with thousands of unhappy customers. "We have had great reaction from clients," says Paul Bland, with the Public Justice organization in Washington, DC. "The settlement was a compromise. But we faced enormous legal challenges and we made the decision that this was a good settlement compared to the risks going forward."

Louisville, KY A giant pyramid scheme that has been masquerading as a marketing company appears to be starting to crumble. The only "fortune" the company created went mostly to the company's father figure, Paul Orbison, and a short list of his confederates.

San Diego, CA: "The Donald" got rich buying and selling real estate, and according to him, you can build a New York skyscraper with your name on it, too! Drawn by the power of the Trump name thousands of people have signed up for Trump University real estate investing seminars online and in hotels across the country. But Amber Eck, a San Diego lawyer from the firm Zeldes and Haegguist, argues that the purpose and content of the real estate investment seminars have been so egregiously misrepresented to the public as to constitute consumer fraud.

Cleveland, OH Thousands of Americans are megabyte mad at Verizon Wireless for adding charges to their monthly bills that they never used or authorized. Attorney Daniel Karon, whose firm has filed just one of a number of consumer fraud suits against Verizon for unauthorized charges, says plaintiffs "are non-smart phone users who never accessed the internet. Or if they did, they never browsed past the homepage, yet were charged for megabyte usage that they never incurred."