Results

Girard Sharp represents IVF patients of Pacific Fertility Center whose eggs and embryos were damaged or destroyed in a cryopreservation tank failure. On June 11, 2021, after a three-week trial, a jury found the tank manufacturer, Chart Industries Inc., liable for a defect in the tank and for its negligent failure to recall a part that malfunctioned, a “controller” meant to monitor liquid nitrogen levels. The jury awarded more than $14 million in damages to three women who lost eggs and a married couple who lost embryos in the catastrophic March 2018 tank failure. The three women were each awarded between $2 million and $3 million, and the couple was awarded $7.2 million. Girard Sharp represents over 80 families who lost reproductive material in the tank failure.

Girard Sharp served as co-lead counsel in a class action against the University of Southern California and campus gynecologist Dr. George Tyndall on behalf of women who were sexually abused by Tyndall during his long tenure at USC. The case generated $215 million in recoveries for survivors. In addition to requiring that USC recognize the harm done to all of Tyndall’s patients, the settlement requires USC to adopt and implement procedures for identification, prevention and reporting of sexual and racial misconduct.

Girard Sharp served as lead counsel in a consolidated class action brought on behalf of investors against a major bank for furthering a Ponzi scheme. After several years of litigation in bankruptcy court and district court, the parties reached a $54.5 million settlement approved by the court in December 2021.

Girard Sharp lawyers filed a class action lawsuit against UCLA on behalf of women treated by UCLA gynecologist Dr. James Heaps. Heaps was charged with sexual battery and exploitation of patients while working as a staff gynecologist at UCLA—a position he held for almost thirty years. The UC Regents agreed to resolve the claims for $73 million and injunctive relief measures, and the court granted final approval of the settlement.

Girard Sharp serves as co-lead counsel in this indirect purchaser antitrust class action alleging suppression of competition in the market for generic drugs. The firm helped secure a $30 million settlement, which is pending final approval, for the certified end-payer class. 

Girard Sharp served as an Executive Committee member in the largest EB-5 fraud in the history of the United States, involving more than 800 foreign investors owed over $400 million. The firm helped to secure a $150 million recovery from Raymond James and additional recoveries from other parties.

Girard Sharp served as co-lead counsel representing consumers who bought LG refrigerators prone to stop cooling, resulting in spoiled food and medicine, due to a defective linear compressor part. In 2020, the court approved a settlement that made each class member eligible for several thousand dollars in recovery; those without documentation could recover up to $450. The class members also received a five-year extended warranty covering the full cost of repairs for cooling failures. The settlement provided relief to over a million and a half American consumers.

Girard Sharp served as co-lead counsel in this action in the Western District of Texas.  The lawsuit alleged that USAA overcharged policy owners in excess of allowed charges under their policies’ “cost of insurance” terms. The court in 2021 approved a $90 million settlement with USAA Life Insurance Co. Class members will receive distribution checks by mail without the need to make claims. The average recovery is over $500 per class member.  

Girard Sharp and co-counsel brought this action on behalf of investors who faced a complete loss on their investments in The Parking REIT. The case proceeded in Circuit Court for Baltimore, Maryland against the CEO and Chairman and the REIT’s directors. After deposing whistleblowers, Girard Sharp coordinated negotiations among counsel for various stakeholders, including plaintiffs in a separate suit in federal court in Nevada, and a potential acquirer, to reach at a settlement that provides cash payments to the stockholders, an injection of new capital into the company, and forfeiture of the CEO’s right to receive additional shares.

Girard Sharp served as co-lead counsel in an action alleging that Wells Fargo used an automatic telephone dialing system to repeatedly call the cellular phone numbers of persons with no prior affiliation with Wells Fargo. On December 10, 2019, the Honorable Manish S. Shah of the Northern District of Illinois granted final approval of a settlement that established a fund of $17,850,000 for class members.

Girard Sharp serves on the Executive Committee in this price-fixing class action on behalf of direct purchasers of aluminum, tantalum, and film capacitors. Plaintiffs allege that the capacitor manufacturers, faced with declining demand, agreed to raise, fix, and stabilize capacitor prices. The litigation has generated recoveries to date of over $600 million. 

Girard Sharp serves on the Executive Committee in this class action on behalf of traders in NYMEX platinum or palladium futures contracts and/or COMEX silver futures or gold futures contracts asserting market manipulation (“spoofing”) claims against JPMorgan Chase & Co. Girard Sharp helped plaintiffs secure a $60 million settlement for the class, which will supplement a $920 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice.