Consumer Rights
The law of the land used to be caveat emptor (let the buyer beware) but, fortunately, the law now imposes certain restrictions on those providing or selling goods or services to consumers. In our complex and interdependent society, merchants may no longer act as they please with impunity. There are myriad Federal and state laws, regulations and common law that protect consumers from a host of improper acts by merchants. These laws protect consumers from merchants by prohibiting unfair and deceptive acts and practices, fraud, breach of warranties or contracts, false and/or unsubstantiated claims, etc.
Although certain types of businesses or industries have traditionally been associated with consumer fraud, today virtually every industry has in some way taken unfair advantage of consumers and the types of methods used are too long to list here. Gottlieb & Associates combats this fraud and deception through class action litigation. Through class action litigation, if a business has improperly and/or illegally taken advantage of a group of consumers, one member of that group has the right to sue that business on behalf of him/herself as well as the group (the “class”). This type of litigation, and the laws and rules governing its use, is designed to aid groups of people whose individual damages may be small or nominal but collectively may be substantial. It may not be worth the cost and effort for one member of the group to sue individually, especially against a large, financially well endowed and legally savvy corporation, but, in a group, it can level the playing field. If you think that you have been improperly taken advantage of, you are probably not the only one and the practices that you are complaining about, probably happen to many others as well.