Richard M. Heimann

San Francisco

Practice type: Litigation

Specialty: Securities, Consumer Protection, Antitrust, Mass Torts

In 2010, Heimann served as lead plaintiffs' counsel in a class action against Wells Fargo & Co., which garnered one of the year's largest class action and consumer protection judgments.

After a three-week bench trial, Heimann persuaded U.S. District Judge William Alsup that Wells Fargo violated California law by improperly and illegally assessing overdraft fees. Alsup penned a damning 90-page opinion that ordered the bank to pay nearly $203 million in restitution. Gutierrez v. Wells Fargo Bank, 07-05923 (N.D. Cal., Filed Nov. 21, 2007).

"This case involves one of the more pernicious ways that banks gouge customers," Heimann said.

Heimann argued during trial that instead of posting each transaction chronologically, Wells Fargo deducted the largest charges first, drawing down available balances more rapidly and triggering a higher volume of overdraft fees.

The case is currently before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Dozens of similar complaints have been lodged against banks across the country, many of which have been consolidated into multi-district litigation in the Southern District of Florida.

Heimann also sued Broadcom Corp.'s two billionaire co-founders for stock option backdating in Los Angeles federal court. He secured a partial settlement worth $118 million from the company's insurers in December 2009. In May, a federal judge approved a settlement worth $79 million with the three remaining defendants - former Chief Financial Officer William J. Ruehle, co-founder and former Chief Executive Officer Henry T. Nicholas III and co-founder and former Chief Technology Officer Henry Samueli.

- JILL REDHAGE