Lea P. Bucciero of Podhurst Orseck “For the people who know me, and know how much I care about my clients, and how much time I take to navigate through these complex legal issues, it isn’t an issue of ‘we’re here to get a quick buck,’ or ‘we’re chasing easy money,’ or whatever the rumors are about our profession,” said Lea Bucciero of Podhurst Orseck in Miami. September 08, 2023 at 10:49 AM, Mason Lawlor Reflecting on the litigation that arose from one the deadliest structural engineering failures in history, an attorney who represented the victims of the Champlain Towers collapse said the exp ..read more

By Jeff Overly, Law360 (June 30, 2023, 1:02 PM EDT) — The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday told the Fourth and Eleventh circuits to revisit closely watched whistleblower cases targeting units of Allergan and Abbott Laboratories, teeing up tests of the high court’s new ruling on the meaning of intentional fraud under the False Claims Act. In an order list, the justices wiped out defense wins in Sheldon v. Allergan at the Fourth Circuit and Olhausen v. Arriva Medical at the Eleventh Circuit, sending each case back to the appellate courts “for further  consideration in light of United States ex ..read more

By Daniel Seiden, June 30, 2023 The US Supreme Court revived Friday a whistleblower’s False Claims Act suit alleging that Abbott Laboratories Inc., Arriva Medical LLC, and Alere Inc. improperly billed Medicare for diabetic testing supplies. The Court granted the whistleblower’s petition for writ of certiorari, vacated the judgment of the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, and remanded the case to that appeals court. This decision follows the Supreme Court’s June 1 opinion in United States ex rel. Schutte v. SuperValu Inc., which said the scienter element under the FCA can be estab ..read more

Law360, Dorothy Atkins (June 20, 2023, 9:53 PM EDT) — A Florida federal judge has certified a class of roughly 6 million Fiat Chrysler vehicle owners in 11 states and the District of Columbia who assert fraud claims against FCA US in sprawling multidistrict litigation accusing automakers of hiding the risks associated with allegedly explosive Takata airbags in their vehicles. In a 27-page June 15 order, which was filed publicly on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Federico A. Moreno appointed Michelle Gibson, Debra Johnson and Laquintha O’Neal as class representatives to represent vehicle owners wh ..read more

Peter Prieto and Steven Marks What are some of the department’s most satisfying successes of 2022, and why? The successful resolution of the case involving the Champlain Towers collapse for $1 billion, where our firm served as lead counsel for the personal injury claims, was one of our most satisfying successes. While the lives lost could never be brought back, it was rewarding to be able to obtain some level of compensation for the families of those who were lost. The same holds true for several significant aviation cases that we confidentially settled throughout the year stemming from the Bo ..read more

Steven C. MarksKristina M. InfanteBy STACI ZARETSKY, On August 24, 2022 at 12:12 PM The dog days of summer are here, but lawyers still need some excitement in their lives, so it’s the perfect time for rankings and awards to be handed out. Luckily for us, the National Law Journal just named its Elite Trial Lawyers for 2022, a top prize for the best plaintiffs attorneys in the country. Plaintiff-side work provides incredibly rewarding opportunities that we sometimes overlook in favor of Biglaw coverage, and the NLJ’s award is the perfect time for us to show our appreciation for the mem ..read more

Kristina M. Infante, Podhurst Orseck   More than 100 girls and women who alleged sexual assault have made claims against the FBI for failures after Nassar was reported in the summer of 2015 Larry NassarLarry Nassar, a former team USA Gymnastics doctor, appeared in a Michigan court in 2018.PHOTO: REBECCA COOK/REUTERS By Sadie Gurman and Louise Radnofsky   Updated July 28, 2022 4:56 pm ET WASHINGTON—The Justice Department has begun negotiations to settle claims by more than 100 women and girls of sexual assault by the former gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, following multiple failings i ..read more

“To get that full cup of justice for the client, to create full accountability and deliver the result to the client so that it really does fulfill what it ought to fulfill and it is this so-called megacase, that requires a lot of experience and skill.” By Raychel Lean | January 11, 2022 Peter Prieto and Steven Marks It doesn’t take a large firm to handle large cases. In fact, small and medium-sized firms are increasingly taking “megamatters”—or matters generating more than $1 million in legal spend—from Big Law, as Dan Roe has reported for the Daily Business Review. Before taking on a megamat ..read more

Plaintiff counsel alleged the Toyota Motor Corp. failed to disclose evidence of a defect in the heating and air conditioning systems that created a foul odor in one of their most popular vehicles. By Michael A. Mora | December 09, 2021 Peter Prieto A federal judge in Miami certified a class action in which plaintiff attorneys are seeking damages in the hundreds of millions of dollars against a multi-national automotive manufacturer and its related entities for allegedly violating Florida consumer protection laws. With a class-action lawsuit assigned to U.S. District Judge Federico A. Mor ..read more

By Nathan Hale Peter Prieto Law360 (December 8, 2021, 9:21 PM EST) — Attorneys from Podhurst Orseck PA and Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check LLP will serve as class counsel in a class action over allegedly defective ventilation systems in certain Toyota Camry models just certified by a federal court in Miami, but the class will be smaller than initially sought. U.S. District Judge Federico A. Moreno limited the class to plaintiffs who purchased their cars at an authorized Toyota dealer — a decision that was in keeping with his Oct. 1 summary judgment decision adopting a magistrate’s similar r ..read more