On March 30, 2021, the United States Supreme Court heard oral argument in Transunion LLC v. Ramirez, No. 20-297, a case that could have far-reaching implications on absent class member standing, particularly where the injuries of these absent class members would be impossible or difficult to establish. The Court agreed to address whether Article III or Rule 23 permits a damages class action where the vast majority of the class suffered no actual injury, let alone an injury like what the class representative suffered.
Continue Reading Will No-Injury Class Actions Have Any Leg to Stand on? U.S. Supreme Court Hears Argument in TransUnion v. Ramirez
The New, Improved FICALA – What’s In the House Class Action Bill?
The House of Representatives has reintroduced the Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act (FICALA), and it’s more substantial than the 2015 version. The previous version, you may recall, attempted to reinforce the typicality requirement to minimize the number of “no injury” class actions brought. It cleared the House, but died in the Senate. It
Typicality Applies to Relief, Too – Ubaldi v. SLM Corp.
In Ubaldi v. SLM Corp., No. 11-01320, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 38587 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 24, 2014), the plaintiffs sued student-loan institution Sallie Mae for allegedly imposing unenforceable choice-of-law provisions on some of its borrowers, as well as charging improper late fees and "usurious" interest.
The trial court denied certification on a number of
The typicality burden – Henke v. Arco Midcon, L.L.C.
Class action lawyers are well aware that the burden to affirmatively demonstrate compliance with Rule 23 rests on the plaintiffs. Over the years, courts have elaborated somewhat on the burdens plaintiffs must meet for numerosity and commonality, but have remained somewhat vaguer when it comes to typicality.
Last week, a trial court in the
Typicality, Adequacy, and the Motion to Deny – Labou v. Cellco Partnership
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
Individual Investors in Securities Class Actions
It turns out that Elizabeth Chamblee Burch is not the only law professor currently worried about adequacy in securities class actions. Boston University law professor David H. Webber has an article in the Northwestern University Law Review on The Plight of the Individual Investor in Securities Class Actions.
While Professor Burch was concerned with
More on Fail-Safe Classes and Structural Flaws- Northside Chiropractic Inc. v. Yellowbook, Inc.
Northside Chiropractic doctor Michael Dubick made the mistake of–after a cold call from salesmen–buying advertising space in Yellowbook. He negotiated for a certain kind of advertisement, but the published ad looked nothing like what he had asked for, and lacked even basic information about his business (like his name). So he sued, and added class
Class Action Summer Camp – Typicality
Typicality tends to be a useful, if not always used, way of framing various class action issues. Its primary purpose is to ensure that the class action is really a representative lawsuit rather than just an individual case with pretensions. Given the rulings on typicality so far, it’s worth asking how defendants might argue it
The Uses of the Named Plaintiff Deposition II – Burns v. Bayer Corp. (S.D. Ill. 2012)
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.
Rothman v. GNC – Why Pure Statutory Violations Don’t Make Good Classes
Like many health-minded individuals, Norma Rothman has shopped at GNC stores. And, like many others, she has bought items there with her credit card. And, like many consumers everywhere, she didn’t like it when the cashier allegedly asked her for her ZIP code when she made her purchase. Unlike many consumers, Ms. Rothman tried to