OUR PRACTICE AREAS
Belt Law Firm, P.C., is devoted exclusively to representing plaintiffs in litigation, including class actions. Our class action practice focuses on cases involving: consumer fraud litigation, product liability litigation, securities fraud, wage and hour litigation, environmental and toxic tort litigation, and antitrust litigation, as well as other complex class action litigation matters.
CONSUMER PROTECTION CLASS ACTIONS
Consumers who have been the victims of fraudulent conduct, unfair business practices, data breaches/identity theft, and faulty products have recourse to sue the companies responsible for these products, practices, and events. Unfortunately, often times, corporations resort to such unfair business practices, reasoning that the individual consumer will be powerless to take on the large manufacturer in a court of law. By employing the class action device, consumers have a mechanism to challenge such corporate misconduct.
Belt Law Firm, P.C. has experience in litigating consumer fraud class action cases on behalf of consumers. We litigate these cases across the country and in a wide array of industries. This includes an active practice of representing consumers victimized by unscrupulous real estate developers, brokers and lenders under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) and Interstate Land Sales Act (ILSA). If you believe you are the victim of some type of fraudulent conduct or unfair business practice, we would be happy to discuss this matter with you.
WAGE AND HOUR CLASS ACTIONS
There are numerous federal and state laws dictating how and when employees are to be paid overtime, which employees are salaried employees exempt from overtime laws, among other wage related issues. These laws are frequently the basis of class action suits against employers alleging misclassification of employees as overtime exempt, failure to pay overtime wages, and failing to pay for all hours worked (so called “break and mealtime” cases). Some of the most common wage and hour claims include:
- Not allowing employees to receive minimum 30-minute meal periods within the first five hours of work.
- Employers must clearly communicate that employees are authorized and permitted to take paid ten-minute rest periods for every four hours or major fraction worked.
- Forcing employees to work over eight hours per day or forty hours per week without paying required overtime wages.
- Forcing employees to perform any tasks before clocking in or clocking out (including getting in or out of uniform, running errands, etc.)
- Forcing employees to report to work without providing at least half their regular shift. These employees may not be sent home without being paid for at least a half day’s shift of not less than two nor more than four hours.
- Improperly classifying employees as salaried workers in order to avoid paying required overtime wages.
Belt Law Firm, P.C. has experience in litigating wage and hour class actions on behalf of employees. If you believe your employer has violated any of the wage and hour laws, feel free to contact us to discuss the particulars of your situation.
SECURITIES CLASS ACTIONS
Many of you are familiar with the corporate misconduct committed by the Enron, Worldcom, Tyco and Healthsouth corporations. These instances of corporate fraud resulted in a number of class actions. Many of these were claims filed pursuant to the anti-fraud provisions of Federal and State Securities laws, including Section 10(b) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 and the Securities Act of 1933. A securities class action is a lawsuit filed by a person or an entity who purchased a company’s debt or equity securities and who has suffered economic injury due to the disclosure of information about the company in violation of the securities laws.
Belt Law Firm, P.C. has experience in litigating securities class actions. If you have a potential securities claim, feel free to contact us to discuss the particulars of your situation.
ENVIRONMENTAL AND TOXIC TORT CLASS ACTIONS
Environmental law is a combination of state and Federal statutes and regulations, local ordinances, and case law governing clean air practice, water pollution, hazardous and solid waste, wetlands, and wild lands. The class action vehicle is an effective method of fighting environmental contamination. Damages commonly sought include monetary damages for dimunition in the value of real property or clean-up costs, and injunctive relief such as remediation.
Belt Law Firm, P.C. has experience in litigating environmental class actions. If you believe you have suffered damage as a result of some type of environmental contamination, feel free to contact us to discuss the particulars of your situation.
PRODUCT LIABILITY CLASS ACTIONS
Our product liability class action practice focuses on seeking redress for consumers who have been victimized by the purchase of a product that was negligently designed, negligently manufactured, or contained inadequate warnings as to its hazards. Not only do such defective products carry the potential to cause personal injury, but they also injure consumers by causing them to pay money for a product that does not perform as it should.
Belt Law Firm, P.C. is experienced in litigating product liability actions against some of the largest manufacturers and vendors in a wide variety of industries. If you have a potential product liability class action, feel free to contact us to discuss the particulars of your situation.
ANTITRUST CLASS ACTIONS
Antitrust laws are designed to ensure that markets are free from unlawful price-fixing, market division, monopolization, or other attempts to restrain trade. The benefit being that only in marketplace free from antitrust violations, can consumers hope to obtain the rewards of a competitive marketplace such as lower prices and enhanced quality of goods and services. Victims of antitrust violations include the individual consumer, who is forced to purchase a good or a service at a price higher than would otherwise prevail in the marketplace. Similarly, small business owners and other competitors of the antitrust violator are also often harmed because the antitrust violator frequently achieves its unlawful aims by putting such competitors out of business in order to monopolize the market.
Belt Law Firm, P.C. has experience in litigating antitrust class action
cases on behalf of consumers or competitors. If you are a consumer or
business owner and believe you were injured as a result of an antitrust
violation, feel free to contact us to discuss this matter.
