In re: Bail Bond Antitrust Litigation, 4:19-CV-00717-JST (N.D. Cal.)
The class action lawsuit attacks illegal price fixing by the California bail bonds industry. The case was filed against the surety companies that underwrite bail bonds alleging that an unlawful antitrust conspiracy has kept bail bond premiums higher than they would be if the California bail-bonds market functioned competitively. This scheme, ongoing since at least 2004, has not only made bail bonds costlier for California consumers, but also resulted in more people spending time in jail while awaiting trial—separated from their families, jobs, and lives. The suit seeks damages for the hundreds of thousands of Californians who have overpaid for unlawfully inflated bail bond premiums and also injunctive relief to end the overcharges going forward.
In April 2020, January 2021, and November 2022, the court denied the defendants’ motions to dismiss. Among other things, the court held that plaintiffs had adequately pleaded an antitrust conspiracy and other violations of state and federal law regarding defendants’ collusion to not offer rebates and to fix bail bond pricing at an above-market rate, and it found that claims dating back to 2004 were not barred by the statute of limitations.
Co-counsel: Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP, Justice Catalyst Law, Public Counsel, and Towards Justice