With the year ending, and McGuireWoods’s webinar next week on class actions’ Hot Issues of 2017 approaching, this seems like a good time to take note of a few of the trends we have seen arising in class actions over the last year. Consider these appetizers for the main course on December 19. So, with
The Editors
No Written Consent, But Still No Harm: TCPA Class Certification Denied Under Spokeo
By The Editors on
Posted in Certification
Chicago-based litigators Sarah Zielinski and Jason Chrestionson bring us an update on the issue of individualized inquiry and Article III’s injury-in-fact requirement under the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins.
Earlier this year, the Northern District of Illinois declined to certify a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) class action even though…
Supreme Court Asked to Clarify that Class Certification Evidence Must Be Admissible
By The Editors on
Posted in Class Action
Below, Chicago partner Michael R. Phillips shares his thoughts on a petition for certiorari that could have a big impact on the evidentiary standards applied to plaintiffs pursuing class certification.
A major California grower has asked the Supreme Court to resolve a circuit split by holding that evidence used to support class certification must be…
“Opt Out” Provisions May Provide Path Forward for Class-Action Waivers in Employment Contracts
By The Editors on
Posted in Class Action
Los Angeles labor and employment litigators Michael Mandel and Amy Beverlin bring us perspective on three class-action waiver cases currently awaiting decision by the Supreme Court, as well as a potential path forward for class-action waivers in employment contracts.
Everyone is talking about the future of class-action waivers in employment arbitration agreements after the Supreme…
District Court Dismisses Class Action for Failure to Plead Fraud Claim with Particularity
By The Editors on
Posted in Class Action
This week, partner Alicia A. Baiardo and associate S. Virginia Bondurant Price report on a recent dismissal of a product liability class action.
A recent 40-page opinion from the Central District of California illustrates how a Rule 12(b)(6) motion is still a viable vehicle to fight back against putative class actions. We have seen an…
The Advance of UK Antitrust Class Actions
By The Editors on
Posted in Class Action
Brussels-based antitrust partner Matthew Hall brings us an update on two ongoing UK antitrust class actions and one on the horizon.
Antitrust class actions in the UK are beginning to take hold before the specialist Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), but progress is not all smooth. Two cases have been filed and another is about to…
Supreme Court Reins in California Courts’ Approach to Specific Jurisdiction
By The Editors on
Posted in Motions Practice, Strategy
Below, Chicago-based litigator Matt Gold weighs in on the implications of last week’s Supreme Court decision rejecting the sliding scale approach to specific jurisdiction in mass tort proceedings.
On June 19, 2017, the Supreme Court reinforced its narrow application of specific jurisdiction in mass tort proceedings in an 8-1 decision in Bristol-Myers Squibb Company v. …
Posner Pounces on Class of “Dissatisfied” Eye Drop Purchasers
By The Editors on
Posted in Certification
Raleigh-based litigator Joan Dinsmore brings us a discussion of yet another memorable opinion by Seventh Circuit Judge Richard Posner.
Earlier this year, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit refused to reconsider en banc its decision reversing certification of a class of glaucoma sufferers who claimed that eye drop containers dispense drops…
A Cautionary Tale: Counterclaim Class Action Stuck in State Court
By The Editors on
Posted in Strategy
Diane Flannery and Annie Cai Larson provide their thoughts below on a Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals decision from earlier this year that held a counterclaim-defendant could not rely on CAFA to avoid state court.
The Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) was enacted in 2005 to expand the subject-matter jurisdiction that Federal courts had over…
Supreme Court Says No to Appellate Gamesmanship
By The Editors on
Posted in Certification, Motions Practice
Washington, DC-based litigator James Freije brings us an analysis of the Supreme Court’s latest class certification decision.
Resolving a current split amongst multiple federal circuits, the United States Supreme Court recently ruled in Microsoft Corp. v. Baker that federal courts of appeals lack jurisdiction to review orders denying class certification after plaintiffs voluntarily dismiss their…