State and federal laws provide consumers with protections and avenues of recovery from unfair or deceptive acts or practices as well as false or misleading advertising. We are or have been lead counsel for nationwide consumer litigation and have estalished significant law in the consumer protection field, including:
(a) Castillo v. Johnson Utilities, No. CV-17-04688-PHX-DLR (D. Az.), recovery of corruptly increased utility charges; $10.35 million settlement pending, approval hearing March 25, 2022.
(b) Giftcard holders in retail bankruptcies. In re: TSIC, Inc. f/k/a Sharper Image Corp., No. 08-10322 (KG) (U.S. Bk. Ct. Del.) (we represented a certified class of consumer gift card holders in the Sharper Image bankruptcy (Del. Bk.) successfully asserting consumer deposit priority over general business creditors; obtained total refunds for submitted cards).
(c) In re: Borders Group, Inc., et al., No. 11-10614 (MG) (U.S. Bk. Ct., S.D.N.Y.) (asserting of class claim and priority for $156 million in unredeemed outstanding gift cards).
(d) Bass Pro Shops; unlicensed gun trainers. Ambrose v. Security Guard College, No. 2014-CH-5850 (Cir. Ct. of Cook Cnty., Ill.) (Obtained full refund for charges by unlicensed trainer for concealed carry qualification).
(e) Unlicensed Debt Collectors. LVNV Funding v. Trice, 2011 Ill App (1st) 092773,952, N.E.2d 1232 (2011) (ruling that judgments obtained by unlicensed debt collectors are void, even if license is subsequently obtain); petition for leave to appeal denied (Nov. 30, 2011).
(f) Burr Oak Cemetery. In re Perpetua/Burr Oak Holdings of Ill., LLC, No. 09-34022 (U.S. Bk. Ct. N.D. Ill.) (organized committee of families in Bankruptcy Court, involving scandal over re-sold graves and desecrated historic African American cemetery. Obtained meaningful resolution and settlements).
(g) “Ethnic” Hair Charge. Ellis v. Mario Tricoci, No. 05 C 5030 (N.D. Ill.) (settlement refunding charges for separate “ethnic” price list for salon services).
(h) Eviction Costs. Smith v. Brown, 1:19-cv-05238 (N.D. Ill.) (costs imposed on lawyers representing indigent evictees).
(i) Telephone Mergers. South Austin Coalition Community Council v. SBC Comm. Inc., 274 F.3d 1168 (7th Cir. 2001) (customer antitrust challenge to SBC-Ameritech merger).
(j) Faulty Dishwashers.Beckwith Place L.P. v. General Electric Co., No. 99 CH 18240 (Cir. Ct. Cook County, Ill.) (certified nationwide class against General Electric arising from dishwashers containing a defective switch causing fires; case settled).
(k) Undisclosed differences in products. Zapka v. Coca-Cola Co., 2001 U.S.Dist. LEXIS 20155 (N.D. Ill. 2001) (deceptive marketing of diet Coke, without disclosing that fountain version contains saccharin; settled action).
(l) Collector Pens. Zazove v. Pelikan, Inc., 326 Ill. App. 3d 798, 761 N.E.2d 256 (1st Dist. 2001) (establishing Illinois jurisdiction over foreign producer of consumer products for consumer claims under stream of commerce concept).
(m) Medical School Admissions. Brody v. Finch Univ./Chicago Medical School, 298 Ill. App. 146, 698 N.E.2d 257 (2d 1998) (established right of students to enter into medical school under-graduate program; promise to qualify for medical school admission).
(n) Genetically Modified Food. In re Starlink Corn products, MDL 1403 ($9 million settlement for consumers) (lead counsel for consumer claims arising from the dispersion of the genetically engineered Starlink™ corn strain into human food products).
(o) Deceptively Labeling as Discounted. DeGradi v. KB Holdings, Inc., No. 02 CH 15838 (Cir. Ct. Cook County, Ill.) (obtained $3 million settlement from toy store company who allegedly improperly manipulated product prices to the public).
(p) Overcharging Prisoners. Jackson v. Randle (Ill. App. 2011, Petition Pending before Illinois Supreme Ct) challenging State Dept of Corrections’ pricing of commissary goods above State markup limit.
We have also paved the way for Illinois consumer actions against banks and utilities, as lead counsel in the following cases:
(q) Mis-amortization of Home Mortgages. Allenson v. Hoyne, 272 Ill. App. 3d 938 (1st Dist. 1995) (civil RICO cause upheld in state court over mis-amortizing of home mortgage payments interest in advance rather than arrears).
(r) Charges on ADR Shares. Cohan v. Citicorp, 266 Ill. App. 3d 626 (1st Dist. 1993) (charges on ADR shares of foreign securities).
(s) Electrical Power Outages. In re Commonwealth Edison 1990 Chicago Power Outages, Nos. 90-7547 and 90-7637 (Cir. Ct. Cook County, Ill.) (the firm recovered $4 million for some 63,000 low-income customers for damages from extended power outages).
(t) Illegal Late Charges. In re Illinois Bell, Nos. 91-930, 91-1354 and 91-12529 (Cir. Ct. Cook County, Ill.) (recovered $3.5 million over disputed late charges and surcharges); (revived case pending in Illinois Commerce Commission. Seeking refund of $121 million in illegally imposed late fees).
Consumer Protection/Civil RICO
The Krislov firm has also established significant precedent in the consumer protection field, especially in Civil RICO matters.
(a) Undocumented Alien Employment. Commercial Cleaning Services LLC v. Colin Service, 271 F.3d 374 (2nd Cir. 2001) (we established that competitor companies may use Civil RICO against competitors whose hiring of undocumented aliens enabled them to underbid the competition).
(b) Fraudulent Utility Charges. Castillo v. Johnson, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 151067 (D. Ariz. 9/5/2019); class certification order: Feb.26, 2020.customer class action against water company over rate increases obtained by corrupting member of regulatory board.
(c) Mis-amortized Home Mortgage Payments. Allenson v. Hoyne Savings Bank, 272 Ill.App.3d 938, 651 N.E.2d 573 (1st Dis. 1995) (Established federal civil RICO action in Illinois state courts; obtained full recovery for mis-amortized home mortgage payments).
(d) Fuel Surcharges. Wallace Acquisitions v. Allied Waste Industries, Inc., 304 Ill.App.3d 1009, 711 N.E.2d 383 (Ill. App. 1999) (Civil RICO recovery for bogus “Federal Clean Air Fuel Surcharge”).
(e) Tax Reimbursement Surcharges. Iowa Car Rentals (Action in Iowa state court for fictitious “Tax Reimbursement Surcharge”).