On March 13, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit vacated the district court’s order of class certification in Van v. LLR, Inc. under Rule 23(f).…

Continue Reading Ninth Circuit Vacates District Court’s Order of Class Certification

On January 20, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed the district court’s decision to certify a class under Title II of the Americans With Disabilities Act (“ADA”), which prohibits public entities from discriminating on the basis of disability.…

Continue Reading Fifth Circuit Reverses ADA Class Certification Because the Class is Not Ascertainable

The Eighth Circuit recently held that a district court “applied the wrong legal standard” when it remanded a case after removal under the Class Action Fairness Act (“CAFA”).  In Leflar v. Target Corp.,[1] the district court held that “all doubts about federal jurisdiction” must be in favor of remand.  While this presumption may apply to “mine-run diversity cases,” the Eighth Circuit reinforced that no anti-removal presumption applies under CAFA.…

Continue Reading Eighth Circuit Confirms That No Anti-Removal Presumption Applies under CAFA

On Jan. 4, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals made an important ruling in a Title IX class action seeking to compel creation of a girls-only high school football team.

Read on for details about this case, which highlights the gravity of precisely applying the standard of commonality of interest and demonstrates that a…

On November 30, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court’s finding that a settlement was not a coupon settlement when applying the three factors outlined in In re Online DVD-Rental Antitrust Litig., 779 F.3d 934, 950 (9th Cir. 2015).…

Continue Reading Ninth Circuit Renders Section 1712 of CAFA Inapplicable to a Class Action Settlement

On October 28, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Alig v. Rocket Mortgage vacated and remanded for reconsideration a district court order certifying a class of mortgage borrowers, highlighting an important Article III standing issue in class action lawsuits.  See Alig v. Rocket Mortgage, LLC, 52 F.4th 167 (4th Cir. 2022).  The Alig decision relies on the United States Supreme Court’s decision in TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez and follows a grant of certiorari, vacatur, and remand from the U.S. Supreme Court.  The decision provides further ammunition for the argument that all putative class members must have a demonstrable injury in order to recover damages in a class action.  Indeed, the grant of certiorari by the Supreme Court in Alig is itself a signal that this defense is one that should not be discounted by defendants finding themselves the subject of class action litigation.…

Continue Reading Fourth Circuit Vacates and Remands Class Certification Decision in Accordance with Supreme Court’s Directive to Consider Ramirez’s Effect on Issues of Standing in Mortgage Class Action

On October 7, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit denied a purported class representative’s attempt to intervene in a class action. The class representative had argued that his interests were not adequately represented.…

Continue Reading U.S. Court of Appeals’ Continued Skepticism Over Putative Class Member Motions to Intervene

In a recent case addressing the novel issue of whether foreign law trumped United States law for purposes of class action tolling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit concluded that Colombian law on equitable tolling applied, even though the defendant was based in New Jersey.
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Continue Reading Eleventh Circuit Concludes that Foreign Country’s Equitable Tolling Standards Can Apply in Federal Class Action