It had to happen didn’t it, and the prize for being first out of the gate goes to Ward & Ward PLLC and Charles A. Gilman LLC, who have filed a class-action lawsuit against both Apple and AT&T for a wide variety of claims, all centered around the phone’s antenna.

The legal folk have included general negligence, defects in design and manufacture, a breach of warranty, deceptive trade practices and plenty more in their suit, which was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland.  The two names attached to the complaint are Kevin McCaffrey and Linda Wrinn.

Their issue with the iPhone 4 is as expected and reads as follows:

Plaintiffs were sold defective iPhone 4 units, which drops calls and data service when held in a manner consistent with normal wireless use.  Plaintiffs have experienced numerous dropped calls, and as a result, Plaintiffs are left with a device that cannot be used for the normal purpose and in the normal manner in which such devices are intended to be used.

It then goes on to add that they cannot return the phone without a restocking fee and they have suffered ‘monetary damages’.

This case has been joined by two more complaints filed in federal court in San Francisco.  The complaint follows a similar line, with a New Jersey resident and Massachusetts resident adding their own class action case based around an ‘unannounced defect’ which defrauded customers.

So how many more can we be expected to hear about over the coming days?  And will they ever get anywhere?  We have a feeling that Apple’s team of lawyers are probably pretty good and although the case seems strong enough to us outsiders – especially those with an affected iPhone 4 – we fear we won’t see much more than rich(er) lawyers at the end of the line.

If you’re interested, Gizmodo has published the complete Maryland suit over on the site.  Us?  We’re off to read John Grisham’s The King of Torts again…