Advocates for Justice

Criminals and fraudsters often target senior citizens and military veterans – residents who have given much, and who are sometimes among the most vulnerable members of a community. According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, 70 percent of assets in the United States are in the hands of seniors (defined as citizens who are over 65 years of age.)

The California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (CANHR) has reportedly observed a disturbing uptick in elder abuse centered on the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (“VA”) Aid and Attendance benefit. Aid and Attendance is a financial need-based benefit to help senior veterans who need assistance to pay for in–home care, assisted living facilities, or nursing homes. The program provides an important benefit to our nation’s elderly veterans. Unfortunately, due to the reality that some opportunists view senior veterans as attractive targets for scams, proceeding with caution is paramount.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank), signed into federal law by President Barack Obama on July 21, 2010, created a ground-breaking new agency: the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The CFPB aims to protect Main Street America from Wall Street abuses. Moreover, the Bureau operates under an explicit mandate to protect senior citizens.

Defendants often attack actions brought under the California False Claims Act by arguing that the complaint does not provide sufficient specificity. Such attacks ignore two fundamental principles of pleading.

Citing a half-century of trial experience spanning the gamut of the law—from civil rights to antitrust, securities fraud to the representation of outed CIA spy Valerie Plame—Law360 selected CPM founding partner Joseph Cotchett as a “Titan of the Plaintiffs Bar” in September. 

More than five years have passed since President Obama signed into law several important, relator-friendly amendments to the False Claims Act as part of the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009 (“FERA”), S. 386 (introduced by Senators Leahy and Grassley). Those amendments, however, are as important today as they were then, and thus a review of those changes—and how they affect FCA whistleblowers (“relators”) and whistleblower attorneys—is warranted.

Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy has been honored as America’s Elite Trial Lawyers by The National Law Journal. The list is composed of firms that pulled in huge victories in complex cases that have wide impact on the law and legal business. 

Congratulations to Niall McCarthy for being honored with the Defender of Justice Award by the California Judicial Council. 

What is personal injury law?

Personal injury law is an area of law that allows one who has been wrongfully hurt to seek to recover money for injuries sustained because of the fault of another person.  This could include an automobile injury, an injury at a business or restaurant, or a defective product.  A person can be deemed at fault based on violating an established law, such as laws in the Vehicle Code, or by whether such behavior was deemed to be unreasonable.

How does someone who is hurt obtain monetary recovery?

Personal injury law is designed to compensate the victim, through money, for ...