>Bill Me Later
Date Filed: January 4, 2010
Court: U.S. District Court
Location: California
Ticker Symbol: EBAY

Hagens Berman filed a class-action lawsuit against Bill Me Later, Inc., an eBay-owned company (NASDAQ: EBAY) offering consumers instant credit for online purchases.

The complaint claims Bill Me Later violates California consumer-protection laws by charging customers inflated interest fees and late penalties. According to the complaint filed in the Northern District Court of California some consumers report that annual interest rate Bill Me Later charges exceed 100 percent per year.

The suit contends that Bill Me Later - which is not a government-regulated financial institution - has entered into a relationship with CIT Bank to create the appearance that the bank is extending credit terms. In fact, Bill Me Later controls the entire transaction.

Under California law, organizations other than state-chartered banks cannot charge interest greater than 10 percent per annum.

Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro is asking to represent California residents, who believe they have paid excessive fees to use the Bill Me Later option, and may be interested in participating in an action to stop these practices.

If you are interested in joining this case, contact Jeff Friedman at billmelater@hbsslaw.com.

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Key Attorneys

Jeff D. Friedman

Mr. Friedman is a former federal prosecutor and currently a partner in Hagens Berman’s San Francisco office, where he specializes in class actions against some of the largest companies in the United States. He litigates cases involving antitrust violations, securities fraud, and consumer protection matters.

Mr. Friedman’s antitrust practice includes litigation against technology companies and cutting-edge competition policy issues. Mr. Friedman is part of our team of lawyers in the following cases in which Hagens Berman is lead or co-lead counsel:

  • In re Electronic Books Antitrust Litig., No. 11-md-02293 (DLC) (S.D.N.Y.): A nationwide class of eBook consumers allege five of the largest book publishers in the United States and Apple conspired to raise the prices of eBooks and restrain competition.
  • In re Optical Disk Drive Prods. Antitrust Litig., No. 3:10-md-2143 RS (N.D. Cal.): An action on behalf of consumers in more than two dozen states against the manufacturers of optical disk drives, the plaintiffs allege defendants conspired to increase the price of ODDs that were sold to original equipment manufacturers. Defendants’ conduct allegedly caused millions of consumer electronics products, such as computers, to be sold at illegally inflated prices.
  • Pecover et al. v. Electronic Arts Inc., No. 3:08-cv-02820-CW (N.D. Cal.): A nationwide certified class of consumers who bought interactive football video games. Plaintiffs allege Electronic Arts entered into a series of exclusive licenses with football intellectual property owners, such as the NFL, in order to lock-up the market. This resulted in increased prices, lower quality games, and reduced consumer choice.

Mr. Friedman has also been extensively involved in the firm’s representation of government entities, successfully recovering hundreds of millions of dollars for these cash-strapped entities. A recent series of cases include government entities seeking to recover monies wrongfully paid due to a scheme McKesson Corp. perpetrated. These cases include:

  • San Francisco Health Plan v. McKesson Corp., No. 1:08-CV-10843-PBS (D. Mass.); State of Utah v. McKesson Corp., No. CV 10-04743 SI (N.D. Cal.); The Commonwealth of Virginia v. McKesson Corp. et al., No. CV-11-02782 SI (N.D. Cal.); State of Oregon v. McKesson Corp., No. CV-11-5384-SI (N.D. Cal.).

From 1997-2000, Mr. Friedman was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Criminal Division of the United States Attorney's Office for the Central District of California (Los Angeles). As an AUSA, Mr. Friedman tried numerous federal cases and prosecuted matters involving investor, bank, and real estate fraud, tax evasion, narcotics trafficking, and money laundering. Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney's office, Mr. Friedman clerked for the Honorable Manuel L. Real, United States District Court Judge, Central District of California.

Mr. Friedman graduated with a B.A. degree in political science from the University of Washington in 1991, where he was a member of the varsity baseball team. Mr. Friedman obtained his J.D., magna cum laude, from Santa Clara University School of Law in 1994, where he was on the Dean's list, an Emery School of Law Merit Scholarship Recipient, and a research assistant to the Dean of the law school. He is licensed to practice law in California and admitted in the Central and Northern Districts and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

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