NEW YORK, July 22, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Bursor & Fisher law firm announced they filed eleven arbitration cases yesterday seeking to prevent AT&T's proposed takeover of T-Mobile, contending the merger would harm competition in violation of the Clayton Antitrust Act. The firm will file three more arbitration cases today, each on behalf of an AT&T cellphone or iPad customer.
Two federal agencies are reviewing the proposed merger, which must be approved by the Department of Justice and FCC before it can proceed. The customers' lawyer, Scott A. Bursor, explained that "government enforcement is an important part of the antitrust laws, but the Clayton Act also permits private parties who may be adversely affected to challenge a proposed merger. That means any AT&T cellphone, data or iPad customer who will suffer higher prices and diminished service because of this merger can sue to stop it from happening."
Barry Davis, a Miami-based trial lawyer working with Bursor, stated: "We've assembled a team of excellent lawyers across the country who are prepared to represent any AT&T customer who opposes the merger. We've spent months compiling evidence of how this merger will cause higher prices and worse service. The 236-page arbitration demand filed yesterday lays out the extensive evidence demonstrating that this merger will cause serious harm to customers. We've hired experts who are prepared to testify at arbitration hearings across the country. And we are prepared to file hundreds of arbitration cases, any one of which could stop this merger."
At www.FightTheMerger.com, AT&T customers can retain these lawyers to oppose the deal with no out-of-pocket expense. Bursor's firm has already been retained by dozens of customers, and more sign up every day. "We filed the first eleven arbitrations yesterday, we're filing three more today, and we've served AT&T with notice of intent to file on behalf of 46 customers. Just yesterday, ten new clients retained us through the website," Bursor said. "There is a real groundswell against this merger. Thousands of AT&T customers filed comments at the FCC opposing it, and we expect a similar number will be interested in pursuing the issue in arbitration. AT&T's contracts prohibit consolidation or class arbitration, so if 100 arbitrations are filed, each must be handled as an individual case. If AT&T wins 99 of those cases, they lose. There is strength in numbers, and we only need to win one to stop the merger."
AT&T's contracts require AT&T to pay all costs of the arbitration, and provide for a guaranteed minimum recovery of $10,000 if the arbitrator finds in favor of the customer. The $10,000 guaranteed minimum recovery was cited by the United States Supreme Court in the recent Concepcion case as a consumer-friendly provision that allowed the AT&T contract to be enforced even despite prohibiting class actions. "We will put on a strong case, and if we win on any point, we expect to seek that guaranteed minimum recovery for every customer," said Davis.
Scott A. Bursor is the founding partner of Bursor & Fisher, P.A., a New York-based law firm with offices in California and Florida. Bursor has been the lead trial lawyer in several large class action cases against cellphone companies. He has tried four class actions since 2008, and won all four, with awards ranging from $21 million to $299 million.
Barry Davis is the Managing Partner of Thornton, Davis & Fein, P.A., a 25-lawyer firm based in Miami. He has nearly three decades of legal experience, and has acted as lead counsel in more than 50 trials of complex civil litigation matters. Among them are class actions, mass disaster litigation, products liability cases involving drugs and medical devices, tires and industrial equipment, intellectual property, insurance bad faith and fraud.