Category Archives: Unfair Competition / Antitrust

U.S. Green Building Council Faces Class Action Lawsuit Alleging Antitrust and Fraud

October 17th, 2010

A new class action lawsuit alleges that the U.S. Green Building Council is a giant fraud and is actually designed to centralize all new building codes and professional regulations under its giant umbrella. If proven true, this could fundamentally alter the country’s current path to newer, more energy efficient buildings.
The lawsuit is here:
Green Building Class Action
Stay tuned.

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Florida AG Opens Investigation into Unfair and Deceptive Business Practices at Foreclosure Mills David J. Stern, Marshall C. Watson, and Shapiro & Fishman

August 11th, 2010

foreclosure.jpgMost banks hire so-called “foreclosure mills” to churn out hundreds, if not thousands of residential foreclosure lawsuits throughout Florida. Several judges have been very critical of these foreclosure mills because the files are not fully reviewed by lawyers (many procedures are outsourced overseas) and because important bank documents are frequently inaccurate or missing.
Florida AG Bill McMCollum (who is in a neck-and-neck race with Rick Scott for the Republican nomination for Governor) opened an investigation into potentially unfair and deceptive trade practices at three of the biggest foreclosure mills in Florida — the Law Offices of David J. Stern, the Law Offices of Marshall C. Watson, and the law firm of Shapiro & Fishman. Julie Kay at the DBR has the story here.
The blog has previously covered two federal lawsuits (one a class action alleging deceptive trade practices and one alleging securities fraud) filed just last week against David J. Stern and his DJSP Enterprises.
The blog commends the AG for opening these investigations. Many smaller firms who handle foreclosure cases on a more personal level are being shoved aside and the end result of shady litigation practices. No one benefits from high-volume, cookie-cutter litigation.
If you are facing a foreclosure lawsuit by any of these companies, or any other large foreclosure mills such as the Tampa-based Florida Default Law Group, the Firm would be happy to speak with you regarding your rights and options.

Posted in Class Actions, Ponzi Schemes and Frauds, Securities & Investments, Unfair Competition / Antitrust | Comments Off

Breaking: Connecticut AG Investigates Apple and Amazon for Possible Antitrust Violations Concerning E-Books

August 2nd, 2010

E-books such as the Kindle, E-reader and Niche are all the rage. As it turns out, the major players in the industry – the equipment maker (Apple), the distributor (Amazon) and the content provider (the publishers) – may have colluded to set prices and to avoid competition from smaller publishers. The story is here.
This could be huge. The market for e-books is growing exponentially (and some analysts predict it will be the beginning of the end for print publishing). Consumers benefit from having bookstores compete for business by lowering prices and by putting pressure on publishers to lower their prices. If there is any collusion between or among these industry players, it would only hurt consumers and booklovers.

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