Advanced Caregivers LLC v. ACE Hardware Corporation
Court: United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida
Case: 1:12-cv-20082-KMW
On January 6, 2012, Wexler Wallace, LLP, with co-counsel Zimmerman Reed, PLLP and Lindquist & Vennum, filed a class action complaint against ACE Hardware Corporation on behalf franchisees of ACE Vision 21 stores, alleging that ACE made material misrepresentations regarding the likely success Vision 21 franchises, inducing investment in those stores under false pretenses. The complaint alleges that ACE’s misrepresentations violated the Illinois Franchise Disclosure Act and also includes other tort causes of action. Read more.
IFDA: Illinois Funeral Directors Association -- Multiple Cases
Wexler Wallace represents funeral directors around the State of Illinois and is lead counsel in derivative litigation and class actions seeking to recover over $140 million that was dissipated from a trust fund holding money intended to pay for funerals throughout the State of Illinois. The money was supposed to be invested in safe instruments that would preserve capital and earn a small rate of return to, hopefully, cover the cost of inflation. A number of Merrill Lynch entities, however, engaged in a scheme whereby the money was used to buy single premium life insurance policies.Read more.
Wiginton v. CB Richard Ellis, Inc.
Court: United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Case No.: 02-CV-6832
Wexler Wallace filed the complaint and served as Co-Lead Counsel in this class action against CB Richard Ellis, alleging claims of sexual harassment on behalf of a class of female employees. After extensive litigation, Wexler Wallace secured a favorable settlement that provided monetary relief to eligible claimants, as well as a charitable contribution to the Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) Network for scholarships to promote the entry and advancement of women in the real estate services industry. Read more.
Cosmetique v. ValueClick, Inc.
Court: United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Case No.: 10-CV-00367
Wexler Wallace represents one of the nation’s largest direct marketing cosmetics companies in this unfair competition action against the “lead generation” company ValueClick, Inc. and its subsidiary Webclients. Cosmetique paid millions of dollars to ValueClick, through an intermediary, for leads to sales for its beauty products. However, because ValueClick’s “leads” were generated through deceptive business practices, for which they were sued by the Federal Trade Commission, the leads were not to customers genuinely interested in Cosmetique’s products. As a result, Cosmetique did not realize a benefit for its substantial payments to ValueClick, but instead suffered substantial losses. Read more.
California IOU Litigation – Baird v. Lockyer
Court: Superior Court of the State of California County of Sacramento
Case No.: 34-2010-00081797
On July 1, 2010, Wexler Wallace filed this class action on behalf of certified small businesses against the Treasurer and Controller of the State of California in connection with IOUs they issued to scores of small businesses throughout the State. Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of these IOUs were given to the Plaintiff and the Class in lieu of payment for goods and services furnished to the State. The complaint alleges that each and every one of these IOUs violates the California Prompt Payment Act, which requires state agencies to pay bills owed on government contracts within 45 calendar days after receiving an invoice for the work or services provided. Read more.
Lake Geneva Capital Management – Hill v. Boss Hog, LLC et al.
Court: Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, Chancery Division
Case No.: 10CH45140
This case involved arbitration among members of two Illinois Limited Liability Companies (the “LLCs”). The claimant in the arbitration, Lake Geneva Capital Management LLC, sought damages and other relief on behalf of the LLCs against one of their members. That member counterclaimed, seeking payment for her distributive share as of the date of her dissociation from one of the LLCs. Wexler Wallace represented one of the counterclaim respondents, Hill, and defeated every claim brought against her, individually and as a member of the LLCs. The arbitrator’s denial of an award of fees and costs to Hill, as required by the express terms of the LLCs’ operating agreements, is the subject of a Petition to partially vacate the arbitration award.
Westgate – Jan Watson and Jack Mitchell v. Westgate Resorts
Court: United States District Court for Eastern District of Tennessee
Case No.: 3:08-CV-00516
Wexler Wallace brought this action under the Fair Labor Standards Act, seeking for the Class of former and current employees of the defendant unpaid wages and overtime compensation as required by law. The complaint alleges that, while Westgate purported to hire its time-share condominium sales force as “independent contractors,” it strictly controlled the conditions of their employment such that they were not independent contractors, but employees entitled to benefits. Read more.
Angelfish Swim School, Inc. v. Glenda A. Hood, Secretary of State of the State of Florida
Court: 11th Judicial Circuit Court in Miami-Dade, Florida
Case No.: 03-13413-CA-21
This novel case seeks a declaratory judgment that two sections of Florida’s Business Corporations Act (Fla. Stat. § 607.0122(13) and Fla. Stat. § 607.193(2)(b)) are unconstitutional. The action involves two Plaintiff small businesses: Angelfish Swim School and Steak on the Run. Both of these Florida corporations filed their Annual Reports with the Florida Secretary of State late and were assessed a statutory $400 “late charge” and a $600 statutory “reinstatement fee,” respectively. Plaintiffs claim that both charges were excessive penalties in violation of the Florida Constitution. Read more.
Archstone Litigation -- Stender v. Cardwell, Tishman Speyer Development Corp., et al.
Court: United States District Court for the District of Colorado
Case No.: 1:07-CV-02503-REB-MJW
On November 30, 2007, Wexler Wallace instituted litigation on behalf of a class of investors who had negotiated for securities with certain essential characteristics, only to see those characteristics stripped away through a merger transaction in which the investors had no say. The complaint alleges, among other things, breaches of fiduciary duty, breach of contract and civil conspiracy. Read more.
In re: Pressure Sensitive Labelstock Antitrust Litigation
Court: United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Case No.: MDL No. 1556
Wexler Wallace’s client in this antitrust case is the premier supplier of custom label products and one of the largest labelstock purchasers in the country. In this action against manufacturers of labelstock (the base material from which labels are made), the Client’s chief financial officer provided crucial testimony relating to the products and pricing behavior at issue in the case. Working closely with the Client, Wexler Wallace produced a massive amount of information during discovery. These efforts by the Client and Wexler Wallace helped lead to class certification and an eventual settlement of the entire case. After significant mediation by Kenneth R. Feinberg, a well-known mediator and special master appointed by President Obama in both the BP Gulf Oil Spill and bailout under U.S. TARP, the case settled for an aggregate payment of 46.5 million dollars. The Court recently approved a plan of allocation that allows distribution of the settlement funds to the Client and the Class of labelstock purchasers.