Lieff Cabraser
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Lieff Cabraser is an American plaintiffs' law firm headquartered in San Francisco. The firm was founded in 1972 by Robert L. Lieff. Elizabeth Cabraser became a partner in 1981. Elizabeth Cabraser is a prominent gay leader, and the firm has been active on gay rights issues, most prominently
2008 California Proposition 8 Proposition 8, known informally as Prop 8, was a California ballot proposition and a constitutional amendment, state constitutional amendment intended to ban same-sex marriage. It passed in the California state elections, November 2008, Novemb ...
. The firm has also been involved in antitrust litigation against several
Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley ...
firms and has supported donor disclosure laws.


Lawsuits

The firm was a leader against
2008 California Proposition 8 Proposition 8, known informally as Prop 8, was a California ballot proposition and a constitutional amendment, state constitutional amendment intended to ban same-sex marriage. It passed in the California state elections, November 2008, Novemb ...
, a
California ballot proposition California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
and state constitutional amendment intended to ban same-sex marriage. In 2014, Lieff Cabraser represented four plaintiffs who sued
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,
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,
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, and
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in an antitrust lawsuit. The case was set to go to trial, but the companies agreed to settle for $324 million. In a highly unusual move, one of the four plaintiffs wrote to the judge in the case, asking her to reject the deal negotiated by his own lawyers. Michael Devine said "The class wants a chance at real justice. We want our day in court." Devine said "he told his lawyers that he found the settlement inadequate as it was being negotiated but they ignored him." Lieff Cabraser and Joseph Saveri Law Firm would have benefited from the proposed settlement by making up to $75 million in fees while class members would have received a maximum of several thousand dollars each. Judge
Lucy Koh Lucy Haeran Koh (born August 7, 1968) is an American lawyer serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Koh previously served as a United States district judge of the United States Distri ...
agreed with Devine and rejected the initial settlement offer. ''The New York Times'' wrote that "Judge Koh appeared annoyed that the lawyers for the class were taking the easy way out by settling rather than going to trial." In 2015, a new settlement of $425 million was proposed, with the lawyers' share of the settlement as much as 25%. The settlement was approved in September 2015. In 2017, Lieff Cabraser brought a suit against
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, alleging that the company systematically pays women less than men. In 2018, Lieff Cabraser represented 56 U.S. cities and counties who opposed President Trump's efforts to use executive authority to withhold federal funding from sanctuary cities that failed to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. In March 2021, Lieff Cabraser filed an '' amicus'' brief spearheaded by Democratic U.S. Senator
Sheldon Whitehouse Sheldon Whitehouse (born October 20, 1955) is an American lawyer and politician serving since 2007 as the junior United States senator from Rhode Island. A member of the Democratic Party, he served from 1993 to 1998 as the United States Att ...
in ''
Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta ''Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta'', 141 S.Ct. 2373 (2021), is a United States Supreme Court case dealing with the disclosure of donors to non-profit organizations. The case challenged California's requirement that non-profit organiz ...
''. The ''amicus'' brief supported the state of California in its demand for tax documents identifying donors to nonprofit organizations. Opponents of the state's actions included the
American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. T ...
and the
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (NAACP LDF, the Legal Defense Fund, or LDF) is an American civil rights organization and law firm based in New York City. LDF is wholly independent and separate from the NAACP. Although LDF ca ...
, who argued that California's donor disclosure demands "infringe the First Amendment right to associational privacy, in light of the state's demonstrated inability to maintain the confidentiality of that information." In July 2021, the Supreme Court ruled in a 6–3 decision that California's requirement burdened the donors' First Amendment rights and was not narrowly tailored, and thus invalid. In February 2022, Lieff Cabraser lost an appeal of sanctions it received after a judge found it and other firms behind a $300 million class action settlement with
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had engaged in misconduct while pursuing fees. Lieff Cabraser was found to have been "culpably careless" in misrepresenting typical fees in order to justify $60 million in attorneys' fees in a class action lawsuit.


Affiliations

In 2022, Lieff Cabraser was a founding member of the
Legal Alliance for Reproductive Rights Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the art ...
, a coalition of United States law firms offering free legal services to people seeking and providing abortions in the wake of ''
Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ''Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization'', 597 U.S. 215 (2022), is a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, United States Supreme Court in which the court held ...
'', which overruled ''
Roe v. Wade ''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protected the right to have an ...
''.


References

{{reflist Law firms established in 1972 Privately held companies of the United States Law firms based in San Francisco