A defendant by any other name does not smell as sweet when it comes to removing class actions from state court to federal court, even under the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (“CAFA”). Congress passed CAFA to address...more
8/25/2019
/ CAFA ,
Class Action ,
Co-Defendants ,
Counterclaims ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
General Removal Provisions ,
Home Depot USA Inc v Jackson ,
Jurisdiction ,
Remand ,
Removal ,
SCOTUS ,
Third-Party
The U.S. Supreme Court issued two 5-4 decisions in as many months regarding class procedures. Lamp Plus, Inc. v. Varela, 587 U. S. ____ (2019) was favorable to corporate defendants by limiting the availability of class...more
6/12/2019
/ Ambiguous ,
Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
CAFA ,
Class Action ,
Class Arbitration ,
Co-Defendants ,
Consent ,
Counterclaims ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Federal v State Law Application ,
General Removal Provisions ,
Home Depot USA Inc v Jackson ,
Jurisdiction ,
Lamps Plus Inc v Varela ,
Motion to Compel ,
Preemption ,
Remand ,
Removal ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Third-Party
We have been following the Frank v. Gaos, 586 U. S. __ (2019) class action case, which presented an opportunity for the U.S. Supreme Court to determine the limits on the use of the cy pres doctrine in the context of class...more
What is the value of the class action mechanism if no redress is provided to plaintiffs at all? Is the class action about providing a remedy to plaintiffs, is it just about getting the defendant company to pay something to...more
11/28/2018
/ Article III ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Briefing Schedule ,
Charitable Organizations ,
Class Action ,
Class Members ,
Cy Pres Funds ,
Data Privacy ,
Disclosure ,
Frank v Gaos ,
Fund Distribution ,
Google ,
Internet Privacy ,
Judgment on the Merits ,
Jurisdiction ,
Oral Argument ,
Search Terms ,
Settlement ,
Standing
We have been talking about Frank v. Gaos, (No. 17-961), since the U.S. Supreme Court decided to tackle the extreme case of the use of the cy pres doctrine in the context of class action cases. The settlement is a cy pres-only...more
11/28/2018
/ Appeals ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Charitable Organizations ,
Class Action ,
Class Members ,
Cy Pres Funds ,
Frank v Gaos ,
FRCP 23 ,
Fund Distribution ,
Judgment on the Merits ,
Oral Argument ,
Standing
Class actions challenging corporate merger transactions often result in settlement agreements in which the only remedy obtained by the plaintiff class is the company defendants’ additional disclosure of information related to...more
8/29/2018
/ Attorney's Fees ,
Business Court ,
Class Action ,
Disclosure-Based Settlements ,
Fee Awards ,
Litigation Fees & Costs ,
Merger Agreements ,
Mergers ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Shareholders
There has been a lot of discussion surrounding class action litigation over the course of the last several years. The U.S. Supreme Court has tackled a variety of issues ranging from the use of class action waivers in...more
It is easy to overgeneralize the outcome of a legal dispute as pro-plaintiff or pro-defendant to paint a picture of which way a court is leaning and who is finding favor. This week, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its second...more
6/15/2018
/ American Pipe & Construction Co. v. Utah ,
China Agritech Inc v Resh ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Class Members ,
Equitable Tolling ,
FRCP 23 ,
PLSRA ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities Fraud ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Subsequent Litigation
In 2017, federal securities class actions were filed at a rapid clip, averaging more than one per day – a level not seen in nearly 20 years according to survey data. It was the third year of growth and a 44% increase over...more
4/30/2018
/ Class Action ,
Cyan Inc v Beaver Cty Emps Ret Fund ,
Jurisdiction ,
PSLRA ,
Removal ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities Litigation ,
Securities Violations ,
SLUSA ,
State Law Claims
This year important questions regarding the viability of class action waivers in arbitration agreements have moved close to resolution. In July, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a long-awaited final rule...more
12/18/2017
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Employment Contract ,
Epic Systems Corp v Lewis ,
Ernst & Young v Morris ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Murphy Oil v NLRB ,
NLRA ,
NLRB
U.S. businesses have the good fortune to be on the receiving end of a favorable U.S. Senate vote nullifying the hotly-contested Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rule banning class action waivers in certain consumer...more
11/1/2017
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Banking Sector ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Consumer Contracts ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Financial Services Industry
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently announced the release of its final rule prohibiting the use of class action waivers in certain consumer finance arbitration agreements. The rule has been several years...more
8/15/2017
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Banking Sector ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Consumer Contracts ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Financial Services Industry
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently announced the release of its final rule that prohibits the use of class action waivers in certain consumer finance arbitration agreements. This rule banning class...more
8/15/2017
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Banking Sector ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Consumer Contracts ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Financial Services Industry
The reality of class action litigation is that what is supposed to be the court’s preliminary decision of whether to certify a case as a class action is often the end of the litigation. In many cases, plaintiffs will not...more
6/29/2017
/ Article III ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Design Defects ,
Dismissal With Prejudice ,
FRCP 23 ,
FRCP 23(f) ,
Interlocutory Appeals ,
Microsoft v Baker ,
SCOTUS ,
Standing ,
Xbox
The North Carolina legislature recently passed H.B. 239, over Gubernatorial veto, which gives company defendants the right to appeal trial court decisions allowing class certification directly to the North Carolina Supreme...more
As class action litigation has continued to proliferate, we have seen efforts to rein in the perceived abuses of the system on multiple fronts. Over a decade ago, Congress passed the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (CAFA)...more
4/17/2017
/ Ascertainable Class ,
Attorney's Fees ,
CAFA ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Discovery ,
FRCP 23 ,
Jurisdiction ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Removal ,
Settlement
Rolling into the new year, North Carolina attorneys are on notice that the ability to gain approval of class action settlements and related attorneys’ fees may become more difficult in some cases. In recent years, we have...more
Federal class action jurisprudence has been evolving rapidly over the course of the last 5-6 years, with several major U.S. Supreme Court decisions defining and redefining many aspects of class litigation. With the first...more
On May 24, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) long-anticipated Proposed Rule prohibiting the use of class action waivers in consumer finance arbitration agreements was published in the Federal Register...more
Plaintiffs can count the first class action decision to be issued by the U.S. Supreme Court since the death of Justice Scalia as a win; although, they did not receive broad authorization to proceed carte blanche, as some had...more
4/18/2016
/ Admissible Evidence ,
Calculation of Damages ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Doffing ,
Donning ,
Dukes v Wal-Mart ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
FRCP 23(b)(3) ,
Predominance Requirement ,
SCOTUS ,
Statistical Sampling ,
Timekeeping ,
Tyson Foods ,
Tyson Foods v Bouaphakeo ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Wage and Hour
2015 Witnesses Record Securities Class Actions: The National Economic Research Associates, Inc. (NERA) recently released its report, Recent Trends in Securities Class Action Litigation: 2015 Full-Year Review, detailing the...more
3/1/2016
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
Arbitration Awards ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Campbell Ewald v Gomez ,
Class Action ,
Class Representatives ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Federal Jurisdiction ,
Justice Scalia ,
NERA ,
Pending Legislation ,
Rule 68 ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities Litigation ,
Spokeo v Robins ,
Tyson Foods v Bouaphakeo
Class actions consume considerable company resources and can pose significant risk of exposure in the $ millions or $ billions. Therefore, it is critical for companies to prepare themselves – to know the trends in class...more
Class actions consume considerable company resources and can pose significant risk of exposure in the $ millions or $ billions. Therefore, it is critical for companies to prepare themselves – to know the trends in class...more
Class actions consume considerable company resources and can pose significant risk of exposure in the $ millions or $ billions. Therefore, it is critical for companies to prepare themselves – to know the trends in class...more
12/4/2015
/ Article III ,
Campbell Ewald v Gomez ,
Class Action ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Mootness ,
Rule 68 ,
SCOTUS ,
Settlement Offer ,
Spokeo v Robins ,
Standing ,
Statutory Damages ,
TCPA
The North Carolina Court of Appeals considered for the first time whether it is legal in a class action settlement agreement for one party to agree to pay the other’s attorneys’ fees and expenses. The court concluded that it...more
10/28/2015
/ American Rule ,
Appeals ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Business Court ,
Class Action ,
FRCP 23 ,
Judicial Review ,
Mergers ,
Notice of Appeal ,
Prevailing Party ,
Rules of Professional Conduct ,
Settlement ,
Shareholder Litigation