We have written about class actions filed against State Farm and other carriers alleging systematic undervaluation of damaged vehicles. One of our articles focused on a decision by the Middle District of Georgia dismissing...more
In the wake of a series of U.S. Supreme Court decisions upholding individual arbitration agreements with class action waivers, numerous companies have included such arbitration agreements as part of their terms and...more
Takeaway: Class certification of damages claims frequently turns on whether individual issues predominate over common issues under Federal Rule 23(b)(3). Class plaintiffs facing predominance problems may attempt to circumvent...more
Takeaway: In Morgan v. Sundance, Inc., --- S. Ct. ----, No. 21-328, 2022 WL 1611788 (May 23, 2022), the Supreme Court rejected the arbitration-specific rule requiring a finding of prejudice for a waiver of the right to...more
Takeaway: To survive summary judgment, a false-advertising plaintiff must offer evidence that the challenged representations are likely to mislead a reasonable consumer. In Weaver v. Champion Petfoods USA Inc., --- F.4th...more
Takeaway: In a prior post, we reported on a Central District of California decision granting an early motion to strike class allegations. Don’t miss the chance to strike out class actions (Feb. 27, 2019). But on appeal,...more
The issue of personal jurisdiction in class action litigation continues to be addressed by the federal appellate courts. We recently published an article about the Seventh Circuit’s decision in Mussat v. IQVIA, No. 19-1204,...more
Takeaway: To have standing to sue in federal court, Article III of the Constitution requires an injury in fact caused by the challenged conduct. Federal RICO standing requires a bit more: a RICO plaintiff must demonstrate an...more
Virtually every defendant facing a state court class action will examine its potential removability under the Class Action Fairness Act (“CAFA”). Indeed, CAFA’s entire point was to move large class actions to federal court. ...more
Recently, the Supreme Court imposed yet another roadblock to class arbitration in Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela. Relying on Stolt-Nielsen S.A. v. AnimalFeeds Int’l Corp., the Court ruled that ambiguous language in an...more
Virtually every state has adopted The Uniform Trade Secrets Act (“UTSA”) in one form or another. As enacted, the UTSA typically preempts “other laws of this State providing civil remedies for misappropriation of trade...more
A consumer fraud class action must be grounded on allegations of false or deceptive statements of fact. Opinions, including estimates clearly labeled as estimates, do not constitute statements of fact that can support a...more
Federal Rule 23(c)(4) allows class certification of “particular issues.” The question of “issue” certification has divided the Courts of Appeals, with some courts taking a “narrow” view that issues cannot be certified unless...more
Takeaway: Many courts instinctively have a negative view of motions to strike. For decades courts have referred to such motions – at least when directed to individual allegations under Rule 12(f) – as “disfavored,” a...more
Takeaway: In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s continued vigorous enforcement of class action waivers, more and more corporate parties can be expected to include broad class action waivers in their contracts with consumers...more
The desire to avoid Spokeo’s standing requirements constitutes yet another reason for class action plaintiff’s counsel to seek to litigate in state courts, as state courts may not require a Spokeo injury-in-fact test to...more
Takeaway: The decision in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, 136 S. Ct. 1540 (2016), where the U.S. Supreme Court evaluated Article III standing in the context of a federal statutory violation, continues to generate controversy. Since...more
Takeaway: The Class Action Fairness Act (“CAFA”) was enacted to broaden federal diversity jurisdiction over class actions. While CAFA’s local controversy provision requires district courts to “decline to exercise [diversity]...more
President Trump has nominated Tenth Circuit Judge Neil M. Gorsuch to replace Justice Antonin Scalia on the United States Supreme Court, and we expect that his nomination will eventually be confirmed. Since 2006, Judge Gorsuch...more
On May 16, 2016, the United States Supreme Court issued its opinion in Spokeo v. Robins, No. 13-1339, which presented the question of whether a plaintiff has standing in federal court to assert a claim where the only...more
“Picking-off” a named class representative is a class action defendant’s dream. Faced with a class action in which the named plaintiff seeks a small recovery on an individual basis but an enormous recovery on a class basis,...more