Consumer Protection Attorneys
Kneupper & Covey specializes in consumer protection cases—which generally just means that if you’re an average person who buys something from a business, and you get mistreated somehow, we sue using laws designed to protect people from abusive business practices. As experienced consumer protection attorneys, we leverage state consumer laws that can require the business to pay your attorney’s fees if you win your lawsuit. There are also federal laws for many types of consumer claims that do this as well. That’s important because most people don’t have the money to hire a lawyer, and especially not the kinds of lawyers a big business can afford. But we use fee-shifting laws to take cases on contingency, and if we win and prove that a business engaged in unfair or deceptive practices, they have to pay our attorney’s fees. We take most of our cases on contingency because of this (which means if we lose, we don’t charge you anything, but if we win, the defendant pays the fees).
We’ve represented people in all kinds of cases. As consumer protection attorneys, we’ve filed claims relating to fraudulent billing for solar panels, over pet products that killed or injured people’s dogs and cats, over fake “vehicle warranties” that would never actually pay for repairs, and over automatic subscription billing practices that the consumer was never even told about.
If you have a dispute relating to a product you’ve purchased, call us at 657-845-3100. We represent consumers in most of our cases on contingency, where we only charge a fee from the money we recover. We don’t charge for consultations and don’t charge a fee to evaluate your claim.
What kind of cases do consumer protection attorneys handle?
The short answer is: if a business treated you badly, we’ll try to help. If you feel like a company has wronged you, usually there’s actually a law in place to stop it. But you’d be surprised at how often companies just ignore the law and do as they please. A few examples of the kinds of cases our consumer protection attorneys handle are below:
1) Abusive Debt Collectors – This is one of the worst industries in terms of following the rules. We see things you’d never expect to happen – but they do. Debt collectors sue people on expired debts, call to harass you, lie, and generally do things that the law doesn’t allow. We’ve filed actions to stop these kinds of practices.
2) Dangerous Products – We’ve seen lots of products that pretend to be safe, but aren’t. It’s cheaper for a business to import something dangerous from countries with no regulations than to sell something safe. Just as examples, we’ve seen pet food products that tested positive for flea poison. We’ve represented dog owners whose dogs suffered brain seizures. We’ve represented people who used shampoos only to find their hair falling out from chemical exposure. If a product you used wasn’t safe, we may be able to help. You shouldn’t have to take those risks just because someone wanted to save a little bit on the cost of their product.
3) False Advertising – If a company doesn’t tell the truth in its ads, then it isn’t living up to its promises. When people sue to ensure that advertising is truthful they’re protecting everyone else, not just themselves. If a business lies about the price of its products, about its warranties, about what the product does—you’re not the only one they lied to. Lawsuits are sometimes the only way to stop that kind of behavior.
4) False Credit Reports – We’ve represented people who found out that they had false information on their credit report, and even after they filed a dispute, the company wouldn’t quit reporting it. From identity theft to similar names, sometimes companies don’t care whether your credit gets ruined. We do.
5) Lemon Law – One of the bigger areas where consumers get hit with problems is when they try to buy a car. Most people aren’t car experts—and that makes it easy for a dealer to take advantage of you. The same thing goes with Recreational Vehicles, Vans, Boats, and other big ticket purchases. There are laws that protect people for each of those kinds of products—and someone who’s selling or repairing your car has duties they owe to you. If they lied about the price, damaged or destroyed your property, or generally acted unfairly, you may have a legal claim.
We won’t know without looking at your case whether you’ll have a good legal claim, but we don’t charge for case evaluations or consultations. Call Kneupper & Covey at 657-845-3100, or e-mail us at contact@kneuppercovey.com. Our consumer protection attorneys handle lawsuits and arbitrations by consumers against businesses who treat them badly, and if you’ve got a good claim, we take most cases on contingency and we may be able to help.