William A. Kershaw of Kershaw, Cutter & Ratinoff Appointed to the Plaintiff's Discovery Committee in the DePuy Orthopedics Multi-District Litigation

    SACRAMENTO, CA, January 15, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Kershaw, Cutter & Ratinoff partner William A. Kershaw was named to the Discovery Committee on Monday, January 9, in the MultiDistrict Litigation (MDL) against DePuy Orthopedics (In re: DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc. Pinnacle Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation "MDL No. 2244" by Judge James E. Kinkeade), which is currently proceeding in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

More than a hundred lawsuits have been filed against Johnson & Johnson, parent company of DePuy, over the all metal version of their Pinnacle hip replacement system. The DePuy hip replacement lawsuits were centralized in the Northern District of Texas on May 23, 2011, by order of the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation.

William Kershaw has represented clients in class actions and complex litigation in state and federal courts, including coordinated and multi-district proceedings, for over 27 years. He has served as court-appointed lead class counsel and/or liaison counsel on behalf of plaintiffs in numerous class actions, mass torts and consumer-related proceedings throughout the United States.

During his career, some of his notable cases include:

- Currently serving as lead class counsel in a class action against PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP (PwC) alleging failure to pay PwC Audit Associates overtime and other compensation due under California wage and hour laws.
- A $39 million settlement against VeriSign, Inc. on behalf of a nationwide class alleging misrepresentation to U.S. businesses regarding the degree of security provided by VeriSign's Secure Site Pro encrypted security certificates.
- An $87 million settlement against United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS) on behalf of a class of 23,600 UPS drivers to recover unpaid wages based on allegations that the employer failed to provide meal and rest periods. The cases settled in 2006 for an $87 million cash payment and other benefits to class members valued at more than $4 million. This is believed to be the largest "meal and rest period" settlement in California history, and was one of the largest nationwide wage and hour settlements of 2007.
- Multiple mass tort settlements in the $20 to $40 million dollar range involving a broad spectrum of medical devices (court protective orders preclude identification of defendants, which are well-known pharmaceutical companies).
- Served as lead counsel in a seven-month trial to verdict of a class action alleging bad faith insurance practices against the California State Compensation Insurance Fund, California's largest workers compensation carrier.
- $330 million class action settlement against American Honda Motor Co., Inc. arising out of MDL proceedings on behalf of all present and former Honda dealers alleging RICO violations relating to misallocation of vehicles in a nationwide bribery conspiracy.

Mr. Kershaw has also been named to the California Super Lawyers List as one of the top attorneys in California every year from 2005 to 2011.

Kershaw, Cutter & Ratinoff represents individuals and businesses in personal injury lawsuits, insurance bad faith cases, product liability cases and class action lawsuits. They have demonstrated their ability to devote substantial resources in pharmaceutical lawsuits, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, consumer fraud, defective medical devices and wage and hour lawsuits, generating hundreds of millions of dollars in recoveries for their clients and the classes they have represented.

Website: http://www.kcrlegal.com

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