The money that's riding on the appeal in a class action against Bank of America is almost unfathomable.
Consider the stakes: A San Francisco judge awarded $284 million in compensatory damages and restitution to the class represented by The Sturdevant Law Firm and the Brandi Law Firm -- plus statutory damages likely to surpass $1 billion. Not to mention another $12 million or so in interest. And that's saying nothing of the potential attorney fees.
Then there are the potential copycat suits that could attack others in the banking industry for seizing money from customer accounts where government benefits get directly deposited.
Already, class counsel James Sturdevant, a past president of the Consumer Attorneys of California, says his firm has filed a second suit in San Francisco against Bank of America on behalf of a later class, and yet another one in San Diego against Wells Fargo.