Mr. Walendziak says he foresees a role for those lawyers in any negotiations, which the Germans hope will result in all class action lawsuits being dropped.

Specific alleged violations that have resulted in Federal sanctions and/or class action lawsuits include:

One such class action lawsuit was settled out of court in 1980.

The case was settled in 1996 for US$333 million, the largest settlement ever paid in a direct action lawsuit in US history.

In 1964, the farmers claimed rightful ownership of the land and brought several civil action lawsuits against the government.

The company also faces class- action lawsuits over the practice.

Mr. Cooper cleared a major obstacle by negotiating a recent $55.4 million settlement, announced two weeks ago, in a class- action lawsuit against Laidlaw.

Nevertheless, the company was hit with two-class action lawsuits contending accounting irregularities.

And although the court date for an impressive4ooking class- action lawsuit wasn't set until next August, the insinuation of wrongdoing was as plain as day.

They added that most shareholder class action lawsuits were settled out of court.