Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP

Law Firm Overview

Our Beginnings

Based in Seattle, Washington, Hagens Berman LLP was founded in 1993 by Carl Hagens and Steve Berman with one purpose - to pursue the type of law that most interested the founders. This involved representing plaintiffs in class actions and multi-party, large-scale complex litigation and becoming engaged in cases that had the potential for having a positive impact on protecting the rights of investors, consumers, workers, and the environment.

Since then, the firm has stayed true to that purpose and become one of the nation's leading firms in these fields, earning an international reputation for excellence and innovation.

Our Focus

Our main focus is to represent plaintiffs in securities, investment fraud, product liability, tort, antitrust, consumer fraud, employment, environmental, and ERISA cases. In doing so, our firm has become particularly skilled at managing multi-state and nationwide class actions through an organized, coordinated approach that implements an efficient and aggressive prosecutorial strategy in order to place maximum pressure on the defendant.

A New Era

A large part of our success is due to the excellent group of attorneys whose expertise and talent set them apart. The firm recognized two of its senior partners, Thomas Sobol and Anthony Shapiro, for their outstanding contributions and leadership. And in February 2005, the firm ushered in a new era by unveiling a new name - Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP.

Our Offices

At Hagens Berman we all work towards the same goal - protecting the rights of our clients, whether they are consumers, investors, workers or stewards of the environment. Over the years, we've expanded our national reach to better serve our clients. Since the firm's founding in 1993, we've developed a successful and far-reaching network of branch offices in Phoenix, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago and San Francisco.

Founded in 1995, our Phoenix office has driven important litigation and has a strong legal presence in Arizona and the southwest. Shortly thereafter in 1996, we founded the Los Angeles office, which manages our significant case load in California.

In June 2002, our firm opened an office in Boston. This office leads our drug litigation efforts, challenging the prices of dozens of prescription drugs, and claiming that manufacturers artificially drove up drug prices through numerous anti-competitive practices.

In another step to become the nation's premier law firm in class-action and large-scale litigation, we created a Chicago branch in 2004. The firm first created a presence among the Illinois legal and political scene with the landmark litigation against the tobacco industry, in which Steve Berman served as special assistant attorney general for the state.

We opened our sixth national and second California office in San Francisco in 2007. The second California office is a reflection of our continuing growth in one of the most vibrant parts of the country. Having offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco will help ensure our firm is on the leading edge of important social and governmental change within the legal landscape.

Areas of Practice

• Antitrust
• Consumer
• ERISA
• Personal Injury
• Securities
• Special Circumstance Litigation
• Drug/Pharmaceuticals

West Practice Categories

Antitrust Law, Consumer Protection, Drug Violations, Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) -- Employee, Litigation & Appeals, Personal Injury -- Plaintiff, Pharmaceutical Products, Securities Law