Class Action Foe Files Class Action Lawsuit

Those who follow California law are familiar with the “Civil Justice Association of California,” an organization that seeks to curb access to the courts or to justice in the name of curtailing those scurrilous lawyers. You may have been exposed to some their handy work.

One of the leaders of CJAC is its general counsel, Fred Heistand, a tort reformer who has made a career of railing against plaintiff injury lawyers, and the evils of consumer class-action lawsuits, calling them “shakedown lawsuits” and “the weapon of choice for … vexatious litigants.” Funny thing happened. When Heistand’s car was towed from a Sacramento no-parking zone, he got very upset. Apparently there were no signs that said that that illegally parked cars could be towed. So what did the anti-class-action crusader do? He filed a class action lawsuit, seeking damages from the city, the police chief, police officers, and the two truck company itself.

“It’s hysterical,” said Timothy Blood, a lawyer who specializes in unfair competition lawsuit. “The whole PR campaign during Prop 64 was that 17200 [the law Heistand used to sue under] was driving businesses out of California. So what does do? He sues a small business.”

Heistand is not getting any love from CJAC, either. Its president had this to say about Heistand:

“I was concerned this might happen,” he said. “Fred has been fighting against frivolous lawsuits for decades, and like a doctor fighting malaria, he’s become infested himself — and with the worst strain of the disease — class actions.”

Source: LA Times

The San Diego accident and injury lawyers at Walton Law Firm LLP represent individuals and families who have been injured in all types of accidents, including car accidents, motorcycle accidents, work site incidents, animal bites, elder abuse, and malpractice matters. Call (760) 571-5500 for a free consultation.