Insights & News / Zohar Haim Levinger

In a new article, Adv. Zohar Haim Levinger, a partner in our Litigation Department, examines the growing use of class actions based on technical violations and the erosion of the requirement for a personal cause of action. The article considers how these proceedings can place disproportionate economic pressure on small businesses and calls for a better balance between consumer protection and preventing misuse of the class action mechanism.

Adv. Eyal Nachshon, Adv. Zohar Haim Levinger, and Adv. Anna Elenport represented Bank Hapoalim in a class action lawsuit filed by the Association of Representatives of Society and the Environment. The motion for certification claims that the bank charged excessive exchange fees when converting monies in foreign currency. The court rejected the motion out of hand and stated that its submission constitutes  bad faith conduct and misuse of a legal process.

We are pleased to announce the appointment of three new partners—Adv. Inbar Gorelick from the Corporate Department, Adv. Zohar Haim Levinger from the Litigation Department, and Adv. Hani Shraier from the Kibbutz Sector Department.

A tumultuous seven-year family dispute concluded with a ruling by Israel's Supreme Court in favor of our client. The Court held that funds our client had allocated for the benefit of his daughter, which were managed by his former son-in-law through various investments, were intended to be held in trust and were not a gift, as the former son-in-law had claimed.

The Supreme Court ordered the appointment of a trustee to manage the trust in accordance with its objectives and directed the former son-in-law to return the funds to the trust. The trustee is authorized to take all actions necessary to recover the trust's assets, including funds allegedly misappropriated by the former son-in-law. The Court also ordered him to pay our client's legal fees and expenses totaling ILS 1.25 million.

Adv. Zohar Lande, Adv. Gal Livshits, Adv. Adi Shoham, Adv. Zohar Haim Levinger, and Adv. Liron Dahan represented our client in this matter.

In a landmark ruling, the Tel Aviv District Court dismissed 66 motions to certify class actions filed against dozens of public companies. The motions alleged the companies’ financial reports and reporting to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange’s MAYA system were not accessible to people with disabilities. Adv. Eyal Nachshon, Adv. Zohar Haim Levinger, and Adv. Naama Ben Arosh Moshe represented a large number of the companies.

Adv. Eyal Nachshon and Adv. Zohar Haim Levinger represented the Maadaney Gourmet butcher chain against a motion for certification of a class action filed against it. The claim alleged the chain violated provisions of the Economy Ministry's competitive procedure for 2018 regarding the import of fresh meat exempt from customs duty. After a long and in-depth mediation process, the parties reached a settlement agreement. Maadaney Gourmet agreed to donate food products to those in need, thus bringing the litigation process to an end.

The Tel Aviv District Court ruled the non-profit organization Shavei Israel had operated improperly for two decades in reporting to the Registrar of Associations that Sarah Green was a member of the organization. Green’s ex-husband, the founder of the nonprofit, was apparently falsifying her signature on documents submitted to the Registrar. Green was represented by Adv. Zohar Lande, Adv. Gal Livshits, Adv. Zohar Haim Levinger, and Adv. Naama Ben Arosh Moshe.

In a landmark ruling, a family court ordered the losing side in a family dispute to pay the winning side attorney's fees and court expenses in the extraordinary and unprecedented amount of ILS 2 million. This ruling indicates a sweeping change in the Israeli legal world, following new regulations that came into effect in January 2021.