Class Action Litigation
Our attorneys have extensive knowledge and experience representing individuals in class actions. We have successfully served as lead counsel or co-counsel for plaintiffs in numerous class actions including securities, retirement plans, health insurance, HMOs and vanishing insurance premiums in South Carolina and throughout the Southeast.
The attorneys in our firm have been involved in five national class actions regarding the alleged practice of discriminatory pricing of life insurance premiums based upon race.
Our attorneys have also been involved in one state and one national class action case involving Healthsource Inc., which alleged the insurer misled certificate holders into making coinsurance payments that exceeded the amount actually due under the terms of their health plans. The Amended Complaint included statutory claims under both the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”), 29 U.S.C. § 1132, and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”), 18 U.S.C. § 1962, as well as common law claims, such as breach of contract, fraud, fraudulent concealment, negligent misrepresentation, unjust enrichment, accounting and punitive damages. The alleged scheme worked as follows: Assume an inpatient procedure was performed during the Class Period on a Plan subscriber with a list price of $1,000. The subscriber pays her percentage coinsurance, for example 20% or $200, unaware that the insurer negotiated a secret provider discount whereby the actual allowed cost of the procedure is $600. Since the subscriber has paid $200 out of the actual allowed cost of $600, the Plan now pays only $400 to the provider. As a result of this scheme, the subscriber has paid 33.33% of the actual cost, instead of 20% and the P insurer has paid only 66.67% of the cost, instead of the 80% called for under the terms of the Plan. Since the subscriber’s correct coinsurance obligation is, in this example, 20% of the actual cost of $600, or $120, the insurer has wrongfully overcharged the subscriber $80 for the covered service.
Bill Hopkins, along with his former partner T. English McCutchen, has been lead counsel or co-counsel in the following class actions:
- Lead counsel in the class action case of Oliver G. Wood, Jr., as Trustee of the Oliver G. Wood, Jr. Revocable Trust UA dated November 1, 1995, W&B Inc., Woodrow W. Watford, Woodrow W. Watford, Jr. Claude T. Sullivan and Haberman Value Fund, LP, a Delaware Limited Partnership, by Ross Haberman,General Partner, v. C. Robert Herron, Herman E. Honeycutt, Patricia M. Stone, Edwin L. Barnes, Hugh L. Harrelson, Sr., Richard S. Pow, Jerry H. Padgett, Elvin F. Walker,William C. Beaty, Jr., ClaudeW. Burns, III, and Jean M. Gaillard individually and as officers and/or directors of RHBT Financial Corporation and Tourville Simpson & Caskey, L.L.P., Civil Action Number: 02-CP-46-2144, involving the loss of investments by citizens who held stock in a local bank. The bank was closed after its President made numerous fraudulent loans. The case was brought against the officers and directors of the bank, as well as its accountants, for negligence, breach of fiduciary duty and accounting malpractice. The case was settled in 2006 for $2,195,000.00.
- Co-counsel for plaintiffs in a national class action captioned Donna Mercer, et al. v. Life Insurance Company of Georgia, Civil Action Number: 2000 RCCV-27 (Superior Court of Richmond County, Georgia) involving vanishing premiums on life insurance products. The value of the settlement, including attorneys' fees and costs, was $8,450,000.
- Co-counsel in a state class action captioned Michael Hellstrom, M.D., and Lawrence Weiner, M.D., on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated South Carolina Medical Association v. Connecticut General Corporation, CIGNA Insurance Services Company: Physicians' Health Systems, Inc.; Healthsource, Inc. and CIGNA Healthcare of South Carolina, Inc., Civil Action Number 02-CP-40-2015, (D.S.C., Columbia Division), which has been transferred to In re: Managed Care Litigation, MDL Number 1334, in the United States District Court for the District of Florida, Miami Division.
- Co-counsel in a national class action captioned Rosa Belle Thorn, Rosa M. Thorn, individually and as Personal Representative of the Estate of Leroy Thorn, Deceased v. Jefferson-Pilot Life Insurance Company, Civil Action Number: 3:00-2782B10, (D.S.C., Columbia Division); involving allegations of discriminatory pricing of life insurance premiums to African-Americans based upon race.
- Co-counsel in a state class action captioned Mozell Powell, et al. v. Atlantic Coast Life Insurance Company, Civil Action Number: 00-CP-40-3723, (Richland County, South Carolina), which was settled for approximately $534,000, not including attorneys fees and costs. The allegations in the Powell case were similar to Thorn.
- Co-counsel in a national class action captioned Henry Stradford, Alveter Stradford, John E. Truesdale, Sr. and Mary S. Truesdale v. Monumental Life Insurance Company, Civil Action Number: 3:00-2778-10, (D.S.C., Columbia Division), which was consolidated in In Re: Industrial Life Insurance Litigation, MDL Number 1371, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, New Orleans Division. The allegations in Monumental are similar to Thorn.
- Co-counsel in a national class action captioned Tara G. Satterfield, Louise Melvin, Gladys Marks and Sammie Marks v. United Insurance Company of America, Civil Action Number: 3:00-3026-19, (D.S.C., Columbia Division), which was consolidated in In Re: Industrial Life Insurance Litigation, MDL Number 1382. The allegations were similar to Thorn. The case was settled in 2002 and the settlement value was $41.8 million.
- Co-counsel in a national class action captioned Azalee Morris, et. al v. Life Insurance Company of Georgia, et al., Civil Action Number CT-00424-00 (Circuit Court of Shelby County, Tennessee), which was consolidated in In Re: Industrial Life Insurance Litigation, MDL Number 1390, United States District Court for the Eastern Division of Louisiana, New Orleans, Division. The case settled in 2002 and the settlement value was $51 million.
- Co-counsel in a national class action captioned Chester Scott, et al. v. American National Insurance Company, as successor to Calhoun Life Insurance Company, Civil Action Number 3:01-0207-22, (D.S.C., Columbia Division), which was consolidated in In Re: Industrial Life Insurance Litigation, MDL Number 1391. (The allegations are similar to Thorn.)
- Co-counsel in In Re: American General Life and Accident Insurance Company Industrial Life Insurance Litigation, MDL Number 1429, in the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, Columbia Division. The allegations in American General are similar to Thorn.
- Co-lead counsel in a national class action captioned Willie B. Martin, et al. v. Liberty Life Insurance Company, Civil Action Number: 00-CP-40-3000 (Richland County, South Carolina. The allegations in Liberty Life are similar to Thorn.
- Kenisha Brantley and Greg Brantley, on behalf of themselves and all other similarly situated v. Republic Mortgage Insurance Company, Civil Action Number: 2:04-0805-PMD
- Donald S. Horner, M.D., Amity Obstetrics & Gynecology Associates, P.A., G. William Haggerson, M.D., Forsyth Surgical Associates, P.A v. Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, Civil Action Number: 04-21207, Master File Number: 00-1334-MD-MORENO
- Joseph K. Newsom, M.D., Joseph K. Newsom, Jr., Cheraw Family Medicine, P.A., John R. Nobles, M.D., Marlboro OB-GYN, P.A., and Robert C. Waters, M.D., on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, v. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of South Carolina; Companion Healthcare Corporation and Planned Administrators, Inc., Civil Action Number: 02-CP-40-4997
Representative Cases:
Sylvester v. CIGNA Corp., 401 F.Supp.2d 147 (D. Me. 2005)
Thorn v. Jefferson Pilot Life Ins. Co., 445 F.3d 311 (4th Cir. 2006)