Hulett Harper Stewart LLP's antitrust practice focuses on the representation of businesses and individuals which have been victimized by price-fixing, illegal or unfair business practices or other anticompetitive conduct. Various federal and state laws are designed to promote full and fair competition among businesses and to assure that business, consumers and the economy at large benefit from a marketplace which is free from anticompetitive practices. Many of these laws allow for the recovery of actual and treble damages, attorneys fees and costs and injunctions prohibiting future anticompetitive conduct. Hulett Harper Stewart has successfully represented businesses and consumers in antitrust and unfair trade practice actions in a variety of industries. Our recent antitrust cases include:

Hulett Harper Stewart LLP represents select individuals who have been victimized by careless, reckless or even criminal stock brokers. Virtually all persons who buy and sell stocks or mutual funds and who have lost money due to stock broker error, neglect or fraud, are required to file an arbitration claim instead of filing a lawsuit. This is so because most brokers refuse to handle an account unless one first agrees to resolve all conflicts which may arise with a broker in this less formal, but equally binding forum.

Instead of a jury of your peers deciding your case, you will have a panel of up to three experts, some of whom are industry specialists.

The type of claims most typically brought against brokers are:

• Failure to act according to the client's needs or requests;
• Directing clients into “unsuitable” investments; and
• The over-trading or “churning” of an account in order to generate excessive fees for the broker.

Hulett Harper Stewart has successfully represented victims of alleged broker abuses, including recently representing a victim of one of Wall Street's largest broker fraud cases in U.S. history. In that case, the broker misappropriated from his clients over $300 million in stocks and bonds. Hulett Harper Stewart was successful in achieving a very sizeable recovery for an individual victim of the fraud.

Our practice also includes the representation of both public and private companies. These disputes typically result in litigation by one company against another arising from breaches of contract, interference with business prospects and securities fraud claims arising in connection with mergers.

Our recent business litigation matters on behalf of corporations include:

• The successful prosecution to a $30 million judgment of a business interference case on behalf of the Pauma Band of Luiseño Mission Indians against a major gaming company.
• The successful prosecution to trial by the Board of Directors of a publicly traded construction company against its former Big 4 auditing firm.
• The successful prosecution of claims by a publicly held company against certain of its former officers and directors for alleged insider trading and misuse of corporate assets. The company has also stated as yet unresolved claims against its former auditor, arising from allegations that the auditor failed to perform as agreed.
• The representation of a medical device designer and developer against the purchaser of the business. These claims arise from alleged breaches of contract and securities violations.
• The representation of the majority ownership of a $600 million telecommunications company against WorldCom for alleged fraud arising from the purchase of its business

Federal and state law allow for the consolidated prosecution of claims held by large numbers of consumers or businesses who have been injured by a common course of misconduct. Such actions, known as class actions, permit the aggregation and litigation of common claims in a single proceeding. Class actions are designed to assure that violations of law which have resulted in widespread injury do not go unremedied in the court simply because the cost of asserting any one individual claim is prohibitive.

The members of Hulett Harper Stewart LLP have extensive experience in successfully litigating large national and state-wide class actions in a variety of practice areas both on behalf of consumers and businesses. They have been lead, principal and trial counsel in class actions involving antitrust, consumer protection, securities fraud, defective product and wage-and-hour cases.

A variety of state and federal laws are designed to protect consumers from deceptive and unfair advertising and business practices. The attorneys at Hulett Harper Stewart LLP have played leading roles in consumer protection lawsuits. Our recent experience includes successfully representing consumers in securing restitution of hidden fees charged by credit card companies and obtaining refunds for victims of alleged false advertising and promotion of medical products. The firm is currently actively engaged in prosecuting actions on behalf of consumers who were allegedly charged hidden and excessive fees by on-line travel distribution services.

Securities fraud claims typically arise from misrepresentations or omissions of material fact in connection with the purchase or sale of securities, such as stocks or bonds. Federal and state securities laws and the common law all provide remedies to persons or entities harmed by such conduct, pursuant to a public policy of honest and complete disclosure of all material facts to investors. In addition, corporations and their shareholders are sometimes harmed by a breach of fiduciary duty by a company's officers and directors, particularly where they act in their own interest instead of the interest of the company. In these situations, a derivative-type claim may be asserted by a shareholder.

The members of Hulett Harper Stewart LLP have extensive experience in the prosecution of all types of securities fraud litigation. We are co-counsel in two of the largest securities class actions currently ongoing. We represent large individual investors in a securities suit against WorldCom and a former subsidiary of WorldCom, which is partially settled. We also currently represent a bankruptcy trustee in a securities and negligence action against the former officers and directors of a public company and its auditors.

We have successfully prosecuted the following major securities cases:

• A $127.5 million settlement arising from alleged broker kick-backs.
• An action against two brokerage firms, whose representative stole over $40 million from our client's account, for whom we obtained a substantial recovery.
• A shareholder class action against the former officers and directors of First Security Corporation for alleged breach of fiduciary duty, settled in 2003 for $29,950,000, plus interest.
• Our firm played a significant role in prosecuting In re Broadcom Securities Litigation, No. SACV 01-275 (GLT) (MLGx) (C.D. Cal.), settled in June 2005, subject to court approval, for $150,000,000.
• Our Firm played an active role in prosecuting, with other firms, In re AOL Time Warner Securities Litigation, Case No. 02 MDL Docket No. 1500 (SWK) (S.D.N.Y.), settled in 2006 for $2.5 billion.
• A multi-million dollar arbitration for an individual who alleged he was defrauded in the sale of his company for stock in a public company.