Helen Zeldes | San Diego Class Action Lawyer

Zeldes & Haeggquist is dedicated to representing clients throughout California in general business litigation matters (particularly, small to medium sized businesses seeking assistance with contractual disputes, business fraud, interference with business relations, employment matters and partnership issues), in employment litigation representing employees who have been wrongfully terminated from their jobs, suffered violations of employment contracts or otherwise experienced discrimination in the workplace. We also represent clients throughout California and the nation in consumer and insurance class action and antitrust litigation. Zeldes & Haeggquist bring more than 20 years business experience to the table and more than 15 years of litigation experience to their practice. Ms. Zeldes' practice focuses on class action litigation, employment discrimination, general business litigation and human rights.

Ms. Zeldes has 20 years small business experience: from retail and manufacturing to importing and wholesaling to e-commerce, Helen has owned and operated eight businesses over the past two decades. Helen brings a business owner's sensibilities to the table in her litigation practice, understanding both the concerns of the employer and employee, and what litigation means to your bottom line.

Helen also has extensive experience litigating complex consumer class actions with an emphasis on actions brought by policyholders against life, auto and other insurers for deceptive sales practices, mortgage lending and banking fraud, product defect claims, wage/hour violations, and human rights, civil rights and antitrust class actions. Ms. Zeldes is currently representing a nationwide class of plaintiffs in an action against Public Storage, Inc. for its alleged deceptive and misleading advertising practice of failing to inform consumers until they arrive at a Public Storage facility (often with their goods in tow) that they must buy add-on products such as locks and insurance before they can actually move in to their reserved storage unit, Hilary v. Public Storage, Inc., Case No. BC382782; a nationwide consumer product defect class action against Apple, Inc. on behalf of a class of over two million purchasers of an alleged defective power adapter. Gordon v. Apple, Inc., Case No. 5:06-cv-05358-JW (N.D. Cal). A nationwide settlement has been reached wherein eligible class members would receive from $25 - $79 each. Settlement is pending final approval. Ms. Zeldes is also representing a nationwide class of indirect purchasers of iPods (i.e. people who bought an iPod from someone other than Apple, like Best Buy, Costco, etc.) alleging that Apple, Inc. maintains an illegal monopoly on the digital music market and illegally tied the purchase of digital music and video files from its iTunes Store to the purchase of an iPod by making it impossible to play music and video purchased on iTunes using other portable players, Somers v. Apple, Inc., Case No. 5:07-cv-06507-JW.

Prior to starting Zeldes & Haeggquist, LLP, Ms. Zeldes worked for many years at the nation's largest plaintiff's class action firm, Lerach Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins, LLP ("Lerach Coughlin") (formerly known as Milberg Weiss) in its consumer and insurance fraud class action practice group. At Lerach Coughlin, Ms. Zeldes was instrumental in litigating a series of nationwide senior annuities fraud class actions in which her former firm, Lerach Coughlin, was appointed Co-Lead Counsel. Other nationwide class actions Ms. Zeldes litigated at Lerach Coughlin included: a wage/hour overtime action against Cintas, one of the nation's largest commercial laundries for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act for misclassifying truck drivers as salesmen to avoid payment of overtime wages; race discrimination underwriting class actions against large insurance companies for their practice of intentionally charging African-Americans and other minorities more for life insurance than similarly situated Caucasians (cases that collectively recovered over $400 million for African-Americans and other minority class members as redress for the civil rights abuses they were subject to); race discrimination underwriting class actions against insurance companies based upon the improper use of credit scoring or geographical redlining to charge minorities higher premiums against insurance giants like Allstate and State Farm; a statewide consumer class action over the propriety of a private contractor operating "red light camera" systems throughout California, Red Light Photo Enforcement Cases, Judicial Council Coordinated Proceeding No. 4305, a case which Ms. Zeldes co-chaired at trial; A multi-state antitrust action entitled In re Medical Waste Services Antitrust Litigation, MDL No. 1546 (D. Utah), in which plaintiffs brought claims for defendants' alleged conspiracy to allocate customers and territories in the market for the collection, transportation and disposal of medical waste, as well as for unlawful monopolization. Ms. Zeldes was also involved in the Carbon Fiber Antitrust Litigation, Case No. CV-99-7796 (C.D. Cal), in which a class of purchasers alleged that the major producers of carbon fiber fixed the price of carbon fiber from 1993 to 1999. The case ultimately settled for $675 million.

Ms. Zeldes is licensed to practice law in the States of California and Hawaii and is admitted to practice before all the federal district courts in both states.

Personal

Have traveled extensively for business and pleasure to: Guatemala, Mexico, Bali, Singapore, Thailand, and throughout Europe. Hobbies include hiking, paddling on an outrigger racing team and interior design.

• Member | California State Bar Association

Helen Irene Zeldes has been a Premium Member since April 03, 2023.
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