Class Actions and Mass Torts

• In re Broiler Chicken

  Lipe Lyons is currently one of the firms defending Tyson Foods and Keystone Foods against billion-dollar antitrust, RICO, and state tort claims alleging output reduction and index manipulation which have been brought by three classes and more than one hundred and fifty direct action plaintiffs in the In re Broiler Chicken Antitrust Litigation pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

• Durica et al. v Commonwealth Edison Co. et al.

  Lipe Lyons successfully defended a large tree cutting contractor in a class action lawsuit alleging that our client, along with Commonwealth Edison, improperly removed trees from properties owned by the plaintiffs and members of the putative class. The class exceeded 5,500 members; it was defined as all individuals in the State of Illinois who own property underneath or adjacent to Commonwealth Edison power transmission lines. After we defeated Plaintiffs' motion for class certification, the case settled and was dismissed with prejudice.

• Johnson et al. v. Barzda et al.

  Defended a municipality and its police officers against a civil rights class action lawsuit that arose out of the police department’s alleged policy of conducting unreasonable searches and seizures for over 25 years.

• Paul et al. v. Aviva Life and Annuity Company

  Prosecuted a RICO class action against an insurance broker and its agent on behalf of individuals and corporations who purchased life insurance policies and were led to believe that they could deduct the premium payments and make tax free withdrawals. The Internal Revenue Service determined that the life insurance policies were tax shelters, disallowed the deductions, and assessed penalties and interest against the purchasers.

• In re Walters Bus accident

  Defended a repair shop against numerous consolidated lawsuits that arose out of a motor coach rollover accident in Arkansas that killed or seriously injured the bus’s driver and 28 passengers. The bus veered off of the highway while traveling between 60 and 70 miles per hour, fishtailed, and then rolled over one and a half times. The bus's roof ripped off and multiple passengers were ejected. The driver and 14 passengers died in the accident, and the other 14 remaining passengers were seriously injured. Several years before the accident, the bus had been stored in a warehouse that caught fire. The plaintiffs alleged the bus' structural integrity was weakened in the fire, and the repair shop failed to remedy the issue. Additionally, the plaintiffs alleged that the repair shop welded steel panels to the top of the bus that made it top-heavy and more prone to roll over. The repair shop argued that it repaired the bus in accordance with the instructions it was given by the insurance company that funded the repairs, and that the panels welded to the top of the bus did not weigh enough to raise its center of gravity. Before trial, the repair shop settled for a small fraction of the total amount paid by the other 12 defendants 

• In re Blitz USA Gas Can litigation

  Acted as local counsel for an international retailer in product liability lawsuits that arose out of its sale of gas cans which were allegedly prone to catching fire and exploding because they lacked flame arresters.