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
The viability of class waivers in employment agreements has been a closely watched battle in the courts since the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled in D. R. Horton, Inc. and Michael Cuda, Case 12–CA–25764, 357 NLRB...more
5/31/2018
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Epic Systems Corp v Lewis ,
Ernst & Young v Morris ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Murphy Oil v NLRB ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Remand ,
Reversal ,
Savings Clause ,
SCOTUS
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
In the years following the U.S. Supreme Court’s AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion decision, more and more courts enforced class waivers in arbitration agreements based on the commands of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). The...more
10/11/2016
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
AT&T Mobility v Concepcion ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Collective Action Waivers ,
Corporate Counsel ,
D.R. Horton v NLRB ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Labor Disputes ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Split of Authority
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
What began several years ago as a defeated attempt at a class action against the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) ultimately resulted in a win this month for plaintiff landowners in Kirby v. NCDOT (No....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
On May 11, 2016, President Obama signed S. 1890 – The Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) into law, the final step in creating the first federal civil cause of action against those who misappropriate a company’s trade secrets. ...more
Congressional efforts to create a federal remedy to protect company trade secrets have been underway for several years. Last week, S. 1890 – Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016, which would amend the Economic Espionage Act of...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 course of federal civil litigation will take a turn on December 1, 2015, with pending amendments to several rules governing discovery, case management, and the preservation of electronically stored information (“ESI”) set...more
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
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) made clear this week that, in its view, class action waivers should be on the chopping block in the agency’s upcoming rulemaking aimed at regulating the use of arbitration...more
10/12/2015
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
Automotive Loans ,
Banks ,
Check Cashing ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Credit Unions ,
Debt Buyers ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
Richard Cordray ,
Student Loans