Our lawyers have extensive experience in class action litigation, including specialized experience in student loan class action litigation.

For example, Charles Messer litigated a class action filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California (Los Angeles). Plaintiff brought claims under the California Unfair Business Practices Act and Business and Professions Code, Section 17200, claiming that the collection of contingent collection fees from defaulting debtors on student loans was per se unlawful under an old line of decisions by the California Supreme Court, and therefore, was a violation of the State and Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Acts. On cross motions for summary judgment, the Federal District Court ruled in favor of our client on all issues. Plaintiff's counsel subsequently dismissed a related class action, which we had removed to federal court.

In addition, we have successfully defended several recent "quasi class actions" brought under California Business and Profession Code, Section 17200, et seq. alleging "unfair business practices." One key case in which we prevailed in the Superior Court and the Court of Appeal is currently under review by the California Supreme Court.

Some of the representative cases we have handled include:

• An as-yet uncertified class action involving a letter requesting the debtor call to settle at a discount, and when the debtor calls, there is no such discount. The complaint alleges that this activity is fraudulent under FDCPA section 1692(e).
  
  
• A case involving an initial notice in which the validation notice did not include language as to the debtor's right to dispute "any portion" of the debt.
  
  
• A case involving an agency's letters to debtors in which the agency's letterhead included a misleading logo which looked similar to a government seal. It was also contended that the agency misrepresented itself as a credit bureau.
  
  
• A class action matter in which plaintiffs alleged that language in the dunning letters referring to debtors' having a "valid reason" not to pay overshadows the validation notice. We prevailed on this issue on a summary judgment motion.
  
  
• Physical threats and harassment by a debt collector attempting to collect a debt.
  
  
• A debt collector who used a subterfuge and called an elderly debtor saying he was calling to advise her that her son (who was in the military) had been injured, in order to get her to the telephone, and then berated her for not paying her debts. The woman suffered a stroke and was hospitalized as a result of the collector's action.
  
  
• A case involving letters on an agency's letterhead that allegedly misrepresent the agency's affiliation with certain credit bureaus.
  
  
• A matter in which plaintiff filed a class action against a debt collector alleging various threatening and harassing activities by the debt collector, in which we were able to obtain a dismissal of the class allegations during the pleading stages of the litigation.
  
  
• Many cases involving claims of intentional infliction of emotional distress, abuse of process, invasion of privacy, battery and other causes of action.