Why None of the Career Section Content is Worth Keeping
editBerman helped found his namesake firm in 1993. He was lead attorney in individual and class action cases against Enron, Washington Public Power Supply System, Purdue Pharma (over OxyContin), Exxon (with respect to the Exxon Valdez oil spill), Boeing, Intel (over alleged monopoly practices), Michael Milken, the Rio Tinto mining company (with respect to human rights violations and environmental destruction in New Guinea), and Visa Inc. and MasterCard (in which he achieved a $3 billion settlement). He was also instrumental in the state attorneys general’s litigation against the Liggett Group and subsequent $216 billion settlement, against the tobacco industry, serving as special assistant to the various states. He was lead counsel for Microsoft during part of its defense against antitrust claims.[1]
The cited source does not contain any of the information it is cited for and only mentions Berman in a footnote.
In 2003, Berman and his family endowed the Kathy and Steve Berman Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Washington School of Law.[2] In April 2009, it was announced that funding for the clinic had been eliminated and it would not be continued beyond the 2008-2009 academic year. He has been listed as top lawyer in Washington state and one of the 100 most powerful lawyers in the United States by the National Law Journal.
All of this uncited, cited to a non-independent source (the law clinic he donated to), and/or promotional, trivial information (being ranked among 100 lawyers).
In 2006, he sued Apple Inc., alleging that iPod music players could cause hearing loss if the volume were too high.[3] In 2007, Berman filed a class action lawsuit against Avvo, a law-related review site, on behalf of Seattle, Washington attorney John Henry Browne, over the claimed unfairness of the site's rating system.[4] That suit was dismissed on First Amendment grounds.[5] In October 2009, he filed a class action lawsuit accusing the PulteGroup of artificially propping up house sales prices and contributing to the United States housing bubble. The lawsuit was dismissed by the court.[6]
These articles are about the lawsuits, but either do not mention Steve Berman at all, only mention/quote him, or only discuss his firm in a general sense. There is no need to rely on such weak citations that just feature passing mentions or cover related topics, where there are actual quality biographical pieces about him available.
In 2012, he was involved in a class action suit related to aspirin which was settled with Bayer.[7]
Cited to a press release
In 2018, Law360 selected Berman as one of three attorneys for its MVP of the Year Award in its "Class Action" category.[8]
Seems promotional to list awards, especially when the citation is to the publication that runs the award program
Proposed Replacement Career Section
editEarly career
editAfter graduating, Berman worked for Jenner & Block, then Shidler McBroom Gates & Lucas, which later became K&L Gates. He represented plaintiffs in some of the first sexual harassment lawsuits in Washington. His interest in class-action lawsuits began in 1989, after winning an $850 million settlement for investors that provided bonds for a failed nuclear power plant project. He then worked for Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossman LLP, who acted as co-counsel on the lawsuit, and later for Betts Patterson & Mines.[9] At the time, he focused on shareholder lawsuits representing shareholders against big Seattle companies.[9][10]
Hagens Berman and big tobacco
editIn 1993, Berman's employer decided not to take on a case against Jack in the Box for allegedly exaggerating to investors regarding the quality of the company's food before causing an e-coli outbreak.[10][11] The law firm was worried taking the case would harm its relationships with insurance companies they help defend. In response, Berman left and started his own firm, Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, with four partners and a few associates, so they could pursue the Jack in the Box case.[9] The case settled two years later for $12 million.[11][12]
Afterwards, the law firm continued to use class-action lawsuits to target "social ills or corporate malfeasance."[9] Berman became known for his work in the 1990s against big tobacco companies.[12][13] At the time, most people believed tobacco companies could not be held liable for health problems associated with their products.[12] After six years of litigation, where Berman represented 14 of 46 U.S. states that participated, the case was settled in 1996 for $206 billion.[12][13][14] Washington CEO Magazine estimated he will receive a total of $100 million,[10] while an article in the Irish Times estimated Berman's share was $10 million per-year for 25 years.[13]
Recent work
editBerman has continued to pursue a series of class-action lawsuits against large companies.[11] He won a $215 million settlement from Enron related to lost employee pensions after the Enron scandal[10][12] and $1.6 billion from Volkswagen related to the Volkswagen emissions scandal on behalf of car owners.[12] He won $1.63 billion from Toyota related to sudden unintended acceleration in certain Toyota vehicles. Berman also sued the National Collegiate Athletic Association for their response to athlete concussions[14] and for allegedly violating antitrust laws by prohibiting athletes from getting compensated.[9] Berman has also sued pharmaceutical companies for alleged price-fixing, SeaWorld for its treatment of orcas, and the makers of Butterfinger for its alleged use of child labor.[11]
By 2014, Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP had 80 employees and 9 offices.[14] In the late 2010s, Berman started lawsuits against big oil companies, accusing them of causing climate change, on behalf of coastal towns and others affected by rising water levels. The lawsuits use similar reasoning as the tobacco lawsuits in the 1990s, alleging oil companies willfully misled the public about the environmental harms of their product.[12]
References
edit- ^ Brinsley, John H. "Recent Developments in United States v. Microsoft Provides Insight to Department of Justice's Stance on Antitrust Violations". Findlaw.
- ^ "Berman Environmental Law Clinic". University of Washington School of Law.
- ^ Goodin, Dan (February 1, 2006). "Apple sued over potential hearing loss from iPods". USA Today.
- ^ Duryee, Tricia (June 15, 2007). "Attorneys sue site that comes up with ratings on ... lawyers". Seattle Times.
- ^ Carter, Mike (December 19, 2007). "Lawyers' suit over site's legal ratings dismissed". Seattle Times.
- ^ Caulfield, John (February 23, 2010). "California court dismisses class action lawsuit against Pulte Homes". Hanley Wood.
- ^ "Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP and Douglas & London P.C. Announce Proposed Class Action Settlement in Bayer Combination Aspirin Products Litigation" (Press release). PR Newswire. September 7, 2012.
- ^ "Law360 MVP Awards Go To Top Attorneys From 71 Firms". Law360. November 25, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e Boysen, Ryan. "Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Hagens Berman's Steve Berman". Law360. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
- ^ a b c d Dorn, Karen (August 3, 2003). "Lawyer usually smokes competition; Berman representing thousands in field-burning case". Spokesman Review. p. A.1.
- ^ a b c d Garde, Damian (April 20, 2017). "The lawyer who took on Big Tobacco and Enron is now going after Big Pharma for 'gouging' the American consumer". Business Insider. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g Dembicki, Geoff (December 22, 2017). "Meet the Lawyer Trying to Make Big Oil Pay for Climate Change". VICE. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
- ^ a b c Fahy, Declan (July 21, 2001). "Man who won in US advises Irish to take on tobacco giants Anti-smoking litigants have a good chance of succeeding, says the man who won in the US courts". Irish Times. p. 8.
- ^ a b c Lee, Patrick (March 7, 2014). "NCAA Faces Legal Push Led by Litigator With Tobacco Stash". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
External links
editComments from MelanieN
editThanks for asking me to look at this draft. I agree with you that the current Career section is pretty worthless. Your replacement is much better. I did have a problem verifying your sources because I couldn't see two of them: nine of the citation links are to Law360 which has a paywall, and four are to the Spokesman Review without a link. The VICE article does a good job, pointing out some of his previous notable cases and emphasizing the tobacco case, and the other three look OK too. I will Assume Good Faith, as we say, that the the Law360 and Spokesman Review articles say what they are quoted as saying. One specific wording suggestion: instead of “filing lawsuits against big oil companies for causing climate change” as if that was a fact, it should be something like “filing lawsuits against big oil companies accusing them of causing climate change”.
Also, just a style suggestion: Read WP:OVERCITE. It is not necessary to cite every sentence, or every phrase of every sentence. Don't cite all three of your references over and over; generally one reference will suffice for any particular fact. And it is generally preferred to put the citation at the end of the sentence, even if the fact it supports is in the middle of the sentence.
Overall it is very good, these are just some tweaks. -- MelanieN (talk) 23:43, 4 February 2022 (UTC)
- No problem @MelanieN:. Sorry for the delay. I reduced the number of redundant citations and changed it to say "accused" of pollution. AshleyK1990 (talk) 21:06, 22 February 2022 (UTC)
Thanks @MelanieN:! I just added a headshot photo to the infobox and released the copyrights. I may work on the Hagens Berman page as well eventually, if you have any interest in participating there as well.
Regarding the water bottle case, I was including cases mentioned in profile stories about Steve, as opposed to articles where he is merely mentioned/quoted. Didn't want you to think I intentionally omitted negative information. Dozens of cases could be added using articles that are primarily about the firm or cases it worked on, rather than being profiles on Steve, the individual. AshleyK1990 (talk) 22:21, 28 February 2022 (UTC)