Richard Golomb and Kenneth Grunfeld of Golomb Legal are part of a legal team which has been named a finalist for the Trial Lawyer of the Year Award for 2012. Together, the team has held some of the country’s largest banking institutions responsible for a deceptive accounting practice that wrongfully charged customers millions of dollars in overdraft fees. Among these banks are JP Morgan and Bank of America.
The banks in question collected approximately $29 billion a year from customers by arranging the order of their transactions from highest to lowest rather than in chronological order. The smallest transactions were posted last, with each transaction counting towards overdrafting the account. Customers would face multiple overdraft fees regardless of whether they had sufficient funds in their account at the time they made a purchase. The legal team has negotiated numerous settlements returning millions of dollars to wronged consumers.
A total of 14 cases were nominated for this year’s award, involving a range of issues. Led by Bruce Rogow, Aaron Podhurst, and Robert Gilbert, the legal team is among 42 lawyers involved in four cases named as finalists for their outstanding legal work in the public interest.
The Trial Lawyer of the Year Award is presented each year by the Public Justice Foundation. The winner will be announced at the Public Justice Foundation Annual Gala and Awards Dinner in Chicago on July 31, 2012.