Mass Torts vs. Class Actions: A Tale of Two Strategies
Eighth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Putative Class Claims
Class Action | Eleventh Circuit Reinstates No Hire Antitrust Claims Against Burger King
John Lewis of BakerHostetler Discusses Use of Social Media in Gawker Class Action
Wearables and the Future of Intellectual Property Law
On May 28, 2024, Chief Magistrate Judge Donna M. Ryu, of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, certified a class of consumers in an action against Barilla Foods....more
Several appellate decisions addressed the “implicit” class action requirement of ascertainability during the second quarter of 2023, with the Third, Tenth and D.C. Circuits weighing in. Meanwhile, the Fifth Circuit maintained...more
A federal district court in Florida denied a plaintiff’s motion for class certification in a putative class action asserting claims on behalf of ticket purchasers against Viagogo, a secondary ticket marketplace platform, for...more
Recently, the Middle District of Florida denied a motion for class certification, finding that the plaintiff had not sufficiently shown that the putative classes were ascertainable. Sliwa v. Bright House Networks, LLC &...more
On Wednesday, August 7, 2019, Seyfarth partners Robert Milligan and Joseph Escarez reviewed the latest consumer class action law developments affecting companies that do business in California. It is no secret that...more
In a unanimous decision that will make it easier for plaintiffs in California state courts to obtain class certification, the California Supreme Court ruled that the ascertainability requirement for certification of class...more
Our prior blogs have discussed the Third Circuit’s “rigorous” ascertainability requirement for 23(b)(3) classes. We have also explored how district courts in the Circuit, such as the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, have...more
This edition focuses on rulings issued between February 16, 2018, and June 15, 2018. In this issue, we cover three decisions granting motions to strike/dismiss class claims, five decisions denying such motions, 27 decisions...more
This edition focuses on rulings issued between November 16, 2017, and February 15, 2018. In this issue, we cover five decisions granting motions to strike/dismiss class claims, seven decisions denying such motions, 15...more
The Eastern District of New York recently declined to certify a putative class action filed by merchants against the four major credit card providers alleging antitrust violations. ...more
A New Jersey district court denied certification to a putative class of Tropicana orange juice purchasers from “Members Only” or “Loyalty Card” stores in California, New York, New Jersey, and Wisconsin. Plaintiffs alleged...more
Have the GOP’s Hopes for Enacting the Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act Been Dashed? – Passed in March 2017 by the U.S. House of Representatives, the Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act of 2017, H.R. 985, has...more
Since 2006, Robert Bratton regularly purchased 5 oz cardboard boxes of Whoppers and 4 oz cardboard boxes of Reese’s Pieces several times a month. Although Mr. Bratton initially “expected the boxes to be full,” he guessed...more
A group of former Google employees just filed an amended complaint in California federal court in an attempt to breathe new life into their equal pay class action lawsuit, which had been dismissed in December for failing to...more
Defendants BMW and Creditsmarts were parties to a marketing agreement through which BMW offered its direct automotive “up2drive” loans to borrowers at participating independent car dealers through Creditsmarts’ internet-based...more
What is seemingly a growing divide between circuits has developed on the appropriate standard for assessing ascertainability in federal class actions, including Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) class actions....more
On Friday, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision in In re Petrobras Securities refused to adopt what it called a “’heightened’ two-part ascertainability test in class action cases. The Second Circuit agreed that...more
The Second Circuit held recently that putative securities class actions involving transactions in non-U.S.-listed foreign securities require careful scrutiny to determine whether the class members' claims can be litigated on...more
The Ninth Circuit affirmed certification of putative class actions brought against ConAgra Foods, Inc. (“ConAgra”) by consumers who claimed that ConAgra’s “100% Natural” labels on Wesson cooking oils were false or misleading....more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has allowed the defendants in the Petrobras securities litigation to pursue an immediate appeal from the District Court’s order certifying classes of investors who had...more
In its first conference since the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an important Seventh Circuit case that emphatically rejected a ''heightened'' standard for ascertaining class members...more
Last month, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California issued the latest in a string of decisions denying class certification in cases of alleged misconduct regarding residential mortgage loan...more
A putative class action got burned at the certification stage earlier this month when U.S. Magistrate Judge Edwin G. Torres for the Southern District of Florida found that the proposed class failed to satisfy the...more
The concept of “ascertainability” serves as an important arrow in the quiver of a defendant seeking to prevent certification of a putative class action in federal court. Recently, the issue of what a plaintiff must...more
It has been a busy summer for federal appellate courts deciding class action issues. Amidst all the sound and fury, this summer's decisions so far highlight two splits among the federal circuits, while also diminishing if...more