Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein

If it’s high-profile, high-dollar mass torts and class actions, it’s a good bet that Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein is on the case. In July 2012, a federal jury awarded the only verdict to come out of the multidistrict litigation involving liquid-crystal display flat-panel screens: $87 million against Toshiba Corp. Under the Sherman Act, that amount could have been trebled. Richard Heimann figures it wasn’t enough. “I was unhappy, to be honest about it,” said Heimann, a partner at San Francisco-based Lieff Cabraser, who was co-lead plaintiffs’ counsel for the direct-purchaser class.

Toshiba, the only defendant not accused of criminal wrongdoing in the price-fixing scandal, moved to offset the verdict award, citing $443 million in settlements the firm obtained with other companies. Heimann, unsure of his prospects, agreed to a $30 million settlement. “When you have two experienced trial attorneys like Richard and myself, egos can sometimes get in the way,” said co-counsel Bruce Simon of Pearson, Simon & Warshaw. “But that didn’t happen, and we fed off each other’s strong desire to win.”