A group of Florida landowners sued Raytheon Company, accusing it of contaminating their groundwater by improperly disposing of hazardous waste. The plaintiffs put up an expert who testified that he could construct a statistical model that would demonstrate liability and damages on a classwide basis. Raytheon put up its own experts, who argued that plaintiffs’
Dukes v. Wal-Mart
A Little More on Wal-Mart v. Dukes
By The Editors on
Posted in Certification
If you’ll forgive the second piece of self-promotion in a week: the Washington Legal Foundation (which keeps the always-interesting Legal Pulse blog) has just published a Legal Opinion Letter evaluating several of the arguments in favor of overturning the 9th Circuit’s Dukes v. Wal-Mart decision, written by yours truly.
I’ll be participating in a…
Rhetoric – Does Size Matter?
By The Editors on
Posted in Certification
When the Supreme Court granted certioriari in Dukes v. Wal-Mart Inc., the Vanderbilt Law Review grabbed a number of law professors who study mass torts and asked them to contribute essays to its En Banc feature. One of these–Richard Nagareda’s Common Answers for Class Certification–was one of the most interesting articles published…
The 10 Most Significant Class-Action Decisions of 2010
By The Editors on
Posted in Certification
Since it’s the end of the year, it’s worth taking a look back at what were the most significant class-action decisions of 2010. What do I mean by significant? A significant case does not have to be well-reasoned, or pro-defense, just one that will have an effect on class-action practice. Some of these are not…
Supreme Court Grants Certiorari in Wal-Mart v Dukes
By The Editors on
Posted in Certification
In a decision that has already garnered massive press coverage and commentary the Supreme Court yesterday granted certiorari in the case that will be known as Wal-Mart v. Dukes. The 9th Circuit’s opinion affirmed certification of the largest-ever employment class action. (Too large, in Wal-Mart’s opinion.)
The Supreme Court will not review…
Class Action Collation
By The Editors on
Posted in Certification
Many apologies for providing you all with just a linkdump for my Tuesday entry, but I’m lying in bed with a triple-digit fever. Still, there are certainly other legal blogs that do a thoughtful job of covering class-action issues, and I’m lucky that several of them have great entries right now.
- Justice Scalia has stayed
…
What Makes a Common Question Common?
By The Editors on
Posted in Certification
All too often, courts and class-action litigants take the question of commonality for granted. But, when framed properly, the question of commonality can provide a court with the tools necessary to engage in a truly rigorous analysis of a proposed class.
In his recent essay "Common Answers for Class Certification," noted professor…
The Effects of the New Dukes Decision
By The Editors on
Posted in Certification
While I was on my self-imposed editing hiatus (shameless plug: The Class Action Playbook comes out in September), the Ninth Circuit handed down its en banc opinion in Dukes v. Wal-Mart. The court worked overtime to tie its opinion to the specific facts and arguments in front of it, which may prevent some…