The adequacy requirement tends to be much-analyzed, but–at least from a defense perspective–wildly under-enforced. As Dean Robert Klonoff recently wrote, one reason for this may be that it is so difficult for class counsel to actually identify plaintiffs that can serve as adequate class representatives. But, as a result, there are numerous cases that
adequacy
Selling Out Absent Class Members – Dewey v. Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft
By The Editors on
Posted in Certification, Settlement
Nobody likes a leaky roof, but few people make a federal case out of it. Several plaintiffs’ lawyers did, however, when they sued Volkswagen alleging that the sunroofs on certain vehicles would clog with debris, allowing water to leak in and ruin the interior of the car. The resulting case, Dewey v. Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft…
Klonoff on Class Action Decline – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
By The Editors on
Posted in Certification, Scholarship
Robert Klonoff, Dean of the Lewis & Clark Law School, has produced a new article, The Decline of Class Actions (forthcoming from the Washington University Law Review), that provides a much-appreciated overview of recent developments in class action law from a plaintiff’s perspective. (Disclosure: Dean Klonoff provided a very nice blurb for…
The Uses of the Named Plaintiff Deposition II – Burns v. Bayer Corp. (S.D. Ill. 2012)
By The Editors on
Posted in Discovery
I’ve written before about the uses to which defense counsel can put a well-taken named plaintiff deposition. And, once again, an opinion has come along that showcases just how important the named plaintiff deposition is as a weapon to defeat class certification.
The case, Burns v. Bayer Corp., 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33183 (S.D.
Classic Cases – London v. Wal-Mart Stores, inc.
By The Editors on
Posted in Certification
Todays’ classic case asks the question: how close an attorney-client relationship is too close an attorney-client relationship?
In London v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (11th Cir. 2003), the plaintiff, Roger London, sued Wal-Mart and a group of banks, alleging that they had sold insurance without providing the proper disclosures, violating the Truth in Lending…
Book Review – Wholesale Justice
By The Editors on
Posted in Strategy
Last month, I received a flurry of email from various people who wanted to point me towards Mark Herrrman’s column on Above the Law, "Torpedoing Class Actions." In that column, Herrmann reviewed Martin Redish’s 2009 book Wholesale Justice, which argues that class actions are an unconstitutional delegation of state power to private…
The Cause Lawyer and the Class Action
By The Editors on
Posted in Lawyers, Settlement
I’ve spent a lot of time over the last two years poking (as best I can) into the head of the entrepreneurial plaintiff’s lawyer. That is, the plaintiff’s lawyer that treats her lawsuits like business opportunities, keeping a diversified portfolio and working to maximize the profit from each opportunity. But there is another kind…
Insight from Other Strategists – Ronald Coase on Blackmail
By The Editors on
Posted in Strategy
For those unfamiliar with Ronald Coase, he is the 101-year-old Nobel Laureate who laid a number of the foundations for law and economics when he published his Nature of the Firm (which explained why people would use corporate forms instead of just contracts) and Problem of Social Cost (which explained why law should seek…
Classic Cases – In re GM Pick-Up Truck Fuel Tank Litigaton
By The Editors on
Posted in Settlement
Today’s classic opinion comes from a time that may seem foreign to most modern class-action practitioners. Not only is it pre-Dukes, it is pre-Amchem. And yet it’s likely one of the most influential class-action opinions of the last twenty years. In re GM Pick-Up Truck Fuel Tank Products Liability Litigation (3d…
The Ten Most Significant Class Action Cases of 2011
By The Editors on
Posted in Certification
This was a busy year for class-action jurisprudence. Clearly, most of the Supreme Court cases had some effect on class action practice. But the district and appellate courts also rendered a host of rulings this year that significantly affect class-action practice. Despite what a number of academics and plaintiffs’ lawyers have claimed, the class action…