SAN DIEGO (Legal Newsline) - A class action settlement has been reached with LG Electronics MobileComm USA Inc. regarding an alleged defect in some of its mobile phones.
LG has denied the allegations but agreed to settle the class action lawsuit to avoid the uncertainty and expense of trial.
Consumers who purchased an LG G2x mobile phone between April 15, 2011, and Oct. 30 were eligible to receive $19 from the settlement.
The court granted the plaintiffs' motion for final approval of settlement on Jan. 13, and awarded the class counsel $1.6 million in attorneys fees and $30,166.01 in reimbursement of expenses.
The class action lawsuit alleged that LG G2x mobile phones had defects that caused the phones to either repeatedly freeze, shut down and power off randomly, or bleed or leak backlight from the edges of the phones' screens, according to a complaint filed July 18, 2011, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California at San Diego.
The defendant knew or should have known of the defects prior to selling or placing the mobile phone into the stream of commerce and was aware of hundreds, if not thousands, of consumer reports and complaints about the power-off and screen bleeding defects plaguing the LG mobile phones, the complaint says.
"The defects result in the inability of plaintiff and class members to use their LG mobile phones for their intended purposes," according to the complaint.
The defendant harmed the plaintiff and other class members throughout the country by manufacturing and selling defective mobile phones. LG has failed to remedy the harm consumers suffered and has earned substantial profits from its unlawful conduct.
The class action plaintiffs were being represented by William J. Doyle II, John Lowther and James R. Hail of Doyle Lowther LLP; Thomas E. Glynn of Glynn Law Group; and Alan M. Mansfield of the Consumer Law Group.
LG was represented by Jiyoun Chung, James Donato and Christopher LaVigne of Sherman & Sterling LLP.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California at San Diego case number: 3:11-cv-01576
From Legal Newsline: Kyla Asbury can be reached at classactions@legalnewsline.com.
LG phone owners get $19 in class action settlement; counsel awarded $1.6M
