19 Rothschild Blvd. Tel Aviv 6688122, Israel
972-3-7549998

Areas of Practice

Service Details
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e have been dealing with class actions since 1997. Since then, we have filed over 100 class actions on various issues, including banking, companies, antitrust, consumer protection, real estate, and environmental issues.

In the past we also took part in class action lawsuits in the US against Israeli companies traded on the NASDAQ in collaboration with American law firms. The lawsuits ended in settlement agreements with extremely high amounts.

In 2006, a class action law was enacted and since then the issue has continued to develop. This is a field that requires expertise and a great investment of work.

The extensive experience we have gained in over 20 years of specialization in the field and the fact that more and more class actions filed every day (mainly in matters of consumer protection and accessibility laws) led to our being hired to also represent defendants in class actions, mainly in these areas. To date, we have represented defendants in approximately 200 class actions.

The issue is well known to us both from the plaintiffs’ side and from the defendants’ side.

We believe that a class action is also a type of public mission and a first-rate tool for private enforcement in places where the relevant authority has run out of resources or where the criminal law does not have a sufficient answer. For this reason, we have also filed several “non-economic” class actions, aimed, for example, at correcting injustices in environmental issues and in other fields.

This is how we previously represented “green” parties in a class action lawsuit against the Yarkon River Authority and other authorities regarding the pollution of the river, the Consumer Council against a company that defrauded consumers and other lawsuits.

The class action lawsuits we filed resulted in refunds of tens of millions of NIS to consumers. Thus, a lawsuit we filed against the First International Bank regarding an illegal change of the Libor interest rate in foreign currency loans resulted in a refund of approximately 15 million NIS to the bank’s customers. A lawsuit against the Maccabi Health Insurance Fund resulted in refunds of over 6 million NIS. A lawsuit against the Ministry of Transportation led to refunds of approximately 7.5 million NIS license fees that were paid in excess and future savings of approximately 22 million NIS, a class action against the five major banks in Israel due to allegations of fee coordination resulted in a refund of approximately 35 million NIS. A class action lawsuit against ICL regarding the pollution of Ashalim river ended in a compromise in which the defendants pay over NIS 100 million as compensation to the group and the restoration of nature.

The procedure does not always end with the payment of money to the plaintiffs. The defendants wage difficult battles, the discussions last for many years and the courts do not make it easy for the plaintiffs. Sometimes the achievement is only a deterrent, only a statement or a change in the behavior of the defendant that also results in a consumer achievement from that moment on.

This is how some of the lawsuits ended in settlement agreements that brought various benefits to the group. For example, in the lawsuit we conducted against paving manufacturers and marketers who were convicted of violating the Antitrust Law, after years of legal battle we reached a compromise settlement in which the consumers were compensated in the form of significant discounts for a certain period. A lawsuit against one of the municipalities resulted in a change in the invoices sent to citizens. A lawsuit against a bank resulted in the cessation of SWIFT fee collection in certain cases. So are class actions against Bezeq, Yad-2 and others.

It is indeed not always possible to obtain financial compensation and in every case, there are legal or factual problems for the plaintiff to face. At the same time, we believe that compromises of this type also have a first-rate deterrent and educational effect.

In 2023, two large class action lawsuits that we filed were approved – one against the organizers of student trips to Poland who were accused of violating the Antitrust Law and the other a class action that we filed against the major banks alleging excessive collection of correspondent fees in bank transfers abroad. These lawsuits are in very advanced stages.

Another and tangential area for class actions is the derivative actions. In this matter, we filed several proceedings on behalf of public companies against directors in the case of personal liability towards the companies.

In a derivative lawsuit that we filed on behalf of Discount Investments against the officers, a settlement was reached in 2018. According to this settlement the bank was paid a total of NIS 100 million by the insurance companies.

Another derivative claim filed on behalf of the Teva company against directors because of fines imposed on Teva in the USA – ended in a compromise arrangement in 2022. The insurance company paid Teva a total of approximately NIS 175 million.

In a derivative action that we requested to file on behalf of Bank Hapoalim against officers and directors of the bank due to fines imposed on the bank by the US authorities – the insurance companies paid the bank in a settlement agreement in December 2023 a total of half a billion NIS ! This is the largest amount ever paid in Israel in a derivative claim.

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e represent various companies and businesses on a regular basis, in which framework we provide advice on various legal problems generally encountered by a commercial company. This includes giving an expert opinion, commercial contracts, conducting negotiations, resolving business disputes, collection proceedings and various lawsuits, licensing procedures, administrative petitions and High Court of Justice petitions, contacts with the authorities, the purchase and sale of shares, partnerships, labor agreements and the like, and everything involved in the legal aspects of the regular, day-to-day conduct of a commercial business.

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or many years our office has been specializing in the representation of clients in confrontations and negotiations with banks. Our clients include large and middle-sized entities, companies and private individuals, local authorities, kibbutzim, enterprises and businesses of various sizes, which we represent in diverse disputes vis-a-vis the banks.

We have handled hundreds of such cases involving a variety of legal proceedings, including financial claims filed by the banks against those same clients or by the clients against the banks, liquidation cases, bankruptcy cases, realization of mortgages, various guarantees, etc.

We have extensive experience in working with liquidators, accountants, auditors, controllers, banking experts, particularly with the company Sagi Interest Computations, which provides professional opinions on banking matters.

In the framework of the legal proceedings we have conducted against banks, our clients have won millions of shekels in reimbursements. Some of the claims filed have also been conducted as class actions on behalf of a large public of clients, a point that is further elaborated in the section pertaining to class actions.

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e believe that the issue of environmental protection is of great importance. We have been engaged in that subject for over twenty years. Most of our activity was “Pro-Bono” as a service to the public.

Cases of this type are conducted against authorities and entities and represent a great challenge.

For many years we have represented the “Green Association” in many procedures on environmental issues. We submitted petitions on its behalf to the Supreme Court of Justice regarding the radiation from cellular antennas and the restriction of television advertisements encouraging minors to use cell phones. We also filed lawsuits against the bus companies “Dan” and “Egged” regarding air pollution and a class action lawsuit against the Yarkon River Authority and 12 local authorities regarding the pollution of the water.

This is how we initiated ourselves (attorney Ram Dekal served as the representative plaintiff) filing a class action lawsuit against the municipality of Netanya for collecting a fee for those who come to the beach in Poleg, at the end of which the municipality committed to establish an alternative parking lot free of charge.

In the same way, attorney Ohad Antman served as a representative plaintiff in a class action lawsuit filed against ICL for negligent pollution of Ashalim river in the south of Israel. This lawsuit ended in a settlement agreement according to which the defendants pay over NIS 100 million as compensation to the members of the group and to various funds dealing with environmental issues in the area and, of course, to restore the damage to nature .

Another class action lawsuit is currently underway against the Israel Land Authority and other authorities for heavy damages caused by soil and air pollution at neglected waste sites in the Ashdod area.

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part from the intensive activity in the areas mentioned above, the office also deals with many other, varied legal domains, including specific matters in individual special cases, such as commercial disputes within the family, arrangements with creditors, bankruptcy and liquidation, special issues of property law and more.