Every day, companies take advantage of unsuspecting consumers through deceptive business tactics. When you purchase products from a company or share your personal financial information with a business, you rightfully expect honest, fair transactions in exchange. You expect manufacturers to deliver safe, tested products and merchants to deliver quality goods while also protecting your private information.
To discover that a commercial entity has wronged you – abusing your trust and misusing your confidential information, resulting in losses to you – is a major blow. You are likely not alone. If you have been damaged by a company’s deceptive business practices, so have other consumers.
Each consumer’s loss may be relatively small, making it difficult for one person to fight back. It may make sense for consumers to fight these wrongdoings together through a consumer class action.
False advertising is advertising by a manufacturer or seller of a product that is designed to mislead or deceive the customer about the product they are purchasing or using. Advertising can be deceptive regarding the price, quantity or availability of a product, the product’s qualities, or warranties associated with the product.
A product is considered dangerous if its design, manufacture, or failure to warn causes injury. Examples of dangerous products can include medical devices, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, vehicles, and just about any product people use in their everyday lives, such as baby powder.
When an individual or business acts in a way that misleads the public into purchasing a product or service, they are engaging in a deceptive trade practice.
If a manufacturer or seller of goods and services offers a warranty that they have no intention of providing or cannot provide, they have engaged in deceptive practices.
Consumers may be charged undisclosed fees when they rent cars, purchase airline tickets, and use ATMs, and unlawful fees can show up on internet bills, phone bills, and gym bills, to name a few.
Consumers provide their personal information to businesses for specific purposes. Consumers may be harmed when a business uses that personal information for purposes other than it was intended or when a business fails to adequately protect consumers’ personal information.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) protects consumers and promotes competition by preventing anticompetitive, deceptive, and unfair business practices.
Every state has unfair and deceptive acts and practices (UDAP) laws that prohibit deceptive practices and they often prohibit unfair or unconscionable practices as well.
Some more commonly known privacy laws include the FTC, which investigates and prosecutes companies for deceptive business collection, misuse of consumer data, and other violations of improper internet and online web practices; the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), which ensures the confidentiality of patients’ medical information; and the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which promotes fair and secure handling of consumer information.
Privacy laws vary from state to state. In California, many of our privacy statutes are stricter than their federal counterparts. In addition, we have the Song-Beverly Credit Card Act to protect consumer information in credit card transactions and the newly enacted Consumer Privacy Act regarding consumer data collection and use.
The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act is the federal law that governs consumer product warranties. Under the act, manufacturers and sellers of consumer goods are required to provide consumers with clear and detailed information about warranties covering the product purchased. Additionally, the FTC has adopted rules addressing additional warranty requirements.
Common law, or case law, is law created by judges that is stated in written opinions. The court’s opinion, along with past decisions, becomes precedent that binds future judges and litigants.
A consumer class action is a powerful legal tool that allows a single person – the class representative – to bring a case to represent all the individuals harmed by the same wrongdoing – the class – to protect the public from these dishonest business practices. The class representative then litigates the issues on behalf of all similarly situated consumers. All similarly situated consumers are part of the class action and will be entitled to participate in the settlement if the case settles. By joining forces, consumers with similar complaints can consolidate resources and are often able to obtain a more substantial settlement than if pursued individually. In addition to monetary settlements, class action settlements can require the company to suspend its unlawful practices, be more transparent and provide better information to consumers, and generally improve their business practices toward consumers.
What does it cost to bring a consumer class action? Nothing. JF Esq & Associates represents consumers on a contingency fee basis, meaning we advance all attorneys’ fees and expenses incurred by the litigation. If we are successful in obtaining a monetary recovery or substantial nonmonetary benefit for consumers, we will seek to have the court approve our attorney fee request, which will be paid by the company and/or their insurance carriers. JFSQ & Asocciates never seeks reimbursement for our attorneys’ fees or costs directly from our consumer class action clients.
JF Esq & Associates’s consumer class action attorneys have championed the rights of consumers in cases involving unfair business practices, anticompetitive conduct, product defects, misleading advertising, and consumer fraud and provided them with a means to recover their damages.
If you believe you have been injured due to unfair business practices by a company or if you would like more information about our consumer class action practice, please contact our consumer class action attorneys online or at phone number
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