It is our distinct pleasure to call attention to this piece in BNA’s Class Action Report, authored by McGuireWoods associate Arsen Kourinian. It’s well worth the few minutes it will take you to read.
Motions Practice
Second Circuit Holds Data Breach Class Action Plaintiff Lacks Sufficient Injury to Support Standing
By R. Locke Beatty on
Posted in Motions Practice, Strategy
Those who tuned in to McGuireWoods’ data breach class action webinar last month know that attacking the plaintiff’s standing can be an effective defense strategy in these cases. Here’s our analysis of the most recent appellate decision on that issue.
Last Tuesday, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s dismissal of a…
Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez – Court Leaves Mootness Question Open
By The Editors on
Posted in Motions Practice
As you probably know, on Wednesday, the Supreme Court finally issued its long-awaited opinion in Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez. Tammy Adkins & Helen Arnold of McGuireWoods’s Chicago office wrote up an excellent summary, which I’m quoting below:
On January 20th, 2016, in Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez, a case closely watched by both sides
…
Rule 23 Study Agenda – FRCP 68 and Mootness
By The Editors on
Posted in Motions Practice
Courts look down on offers of judgment in class actions as a procedural trick. Used properly, however, they are an effective early screen for cases that can’t be certified.
One of the most heated debates in the last five years of class action practice has been the proper use of Rule 68’s offer of judgment. …
Can Class Counsel Use Discovery to Find Their Named Plaintiffs?
By The Editors on
Posted in Motions Practice
Two couples, the Varsamises and the Giannopolouses, sued Iberia Air Lines for not properly compensating them after their international flights were delayed. Their counsel soon ran into plaintiff-related difficulties: the Giannopolouses were not typical of the class (and wound up accepting Iberia’s Rule 68 offer of judgment); the Varsamises’ claims were dismissed at the summary…
How Valuable Are Confidential Witnesses to Class Action Complaints?
By The Editors on
Posted in Motions Practice
Securities class actions are interesting for many reasons. They involve large stakes, and so they also attract outsized personalities. They are also more strictly regulated than other class actions. And, as a result, they often lead to unusual tactics for class action litigation. For example, as Professor Mark Gideon points out in his article…
Rule 68 and Statutory Damage Claims – Franco v. Allied Interstate LLC
By The Editors on
Posted in Motions Practice
In Franco v. Allied Interstate LLC, No. 13 Civ. 4503, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 47077 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 2, 2014), the named plaintiff sued the defendant for sending him a debt collection letter that implied he could face garnishment of his wages if he did not pay his debt. He did not allege any actual…
Typicality, Adequacy, and the Motion to Deny – Labou v. Cellco Partnership
By The Editors on
Posted in Motions Practice
In Labou v. Cellco Partnership, No. 2:13-cv-00844-MCE-EFB, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 26974 (E.D. Cal. Mar. 3, 2014), the named plaintiff sued cell phone company Verizon. She alleged that Verizon had used an automatic dialer to call her cell phone in an attempt to get her former brother-in-law to pay his cell phone bill, a…
The Cost-Limiting Rule 68 Offer
By The Editors on
Posted in Motions Practice
Rule 68 offers of judgment have been controversial in the class action context. Defendants will often use them in an attempt to moot the class claims of the named plaintiff: offering full relief first, and then moving to dismiss the case on jurisdictional grounds should the plaintiff decline the offer.
But there is a second…
Bifurcating Discovery to Reduce Costs
By The Editors on
Posted in Discovery, Motions Practice
It’s a tale as old as the Telephone Consumer Protection Act ("TCPA"): defendant Janssen Pharmaceuticals sent out a fax reporting on the reclassification of its drug Levaquin for insurance purposes. The plaintiff sued it for violating the TCPA, claiming the fax was an advertisement; Janssen responded that the content of the fax was informational. …