Richard C. Beaulieu reports below on the Iowa Supreme Court’s affirmation of the trial court’s order certifying a class of individuals asserting claims against a corn milling facility based on allegations of air pollution.
Over the past two decades, large agricultural operations have become a popular target for plaintiffs’ attorneys. Bringing claims under common law…
While it remains popular among settling lawyers and courts, the doctrine of cy pres in class actions (where defendants wind up paying charities with an ostensible link to the gravamen of a lawsuit) has been garnering criticism for some time. A few federal district courts (including the Southern District of New York and the District…
The last few weeks have been exceptionally busy for appellate decisions involving class actions. In addition to Judge Easterbrook’s In re Aqua Dots opinion, the Sixth Circuit’s Pipefitters opinion, the Second Circuit’s Literary Works opinion, and the Ninth Circuit’s reversal of the Bluetooth settlement, the Third Circuit has offered up a pair of opinions…
Class definitions can be extremely difficult for plaintiffs. In addition to holding that merits-based class definitions cannot support certification, courts have begun to hold that some definitions are simply too broad. Overbroad definitions usually are symptomatic of other problems with the proposed class.
Want an example? Take the case of Kemblesville HHMO Center LLC…
Lately, there’s been a lot of discussion in the class-action world about commonality. Which is why it’s so refreshing to see the Fifth Circuit take on a case where the defendants argued predominance under Rule 23(b)(3).
The case–Madison v. Chalmette Refining–is a toxic tort case. As Judge Edith Jones, writing for…
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’…
