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
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
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
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
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
As it stands, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) has taken the position that class action waivers in individual employee/employer arbitration agreements are illegal and the agency continues to invalidate these...more
9/11/2015
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Arbitration ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Collective Actions ,
D.R. Horton ,
D.R. Horton v NLRB ,
Employment Contract ,
Murphy Oil USA ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
SCOTUS
Circumscribing an individual’s power to subject companies to class and collective actions has been on the forefront of corporate litigation for several years, particularly in light of the growing trend of class action...more
On May 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Commil USA LLC v. Cisco Systems, Inc., 575 U. S. ____ ( 2015), rejecting the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals’ recognition of a defense to induced patent...more
5/29/2015
/ Cisco ,
Cisco v CommilUSA ,
Frivolous Lawsuits ,
Good Faith ,
Honest Belief Defense ,
Induced Infringement ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Invalidity ,
Patents ,
Presumption of Validity ,
Scienter ,
SCOTUS
The practice of restricting plaintiff access to class procedures through binding arbitration agreements has garnered significant attention over the last five years on the heels of several U.S. Supreme Court decisions...more
Congress v SCtPatent litigation reform has been on the U.S. House Judiciary Committee agenda, with the recent reintroduction of legislation seeking to address patent litigation abuses and a hearing examining recent U.S....more
3/9/2015
/ Affirmative Defenses ,
Appellate Review ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Cisco v CommilUSA ,
Claim Construction ,
CLS Bank v Alice Corp ,
Definiteness ,
Frivolous Lawsuits ,
Good Faith ,
Highmark v. Allcare ,
Induced Infringement ,
Innovation Act ,
Limelight v Akamai ,
Nautilus Inc. v. Biosig Instruments ,
Octane Fitness v. ICON ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Reform ,
Patent Trolls ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Pleadings ,
SCOTUS ,
Standard of Review ,
Teva Pharmaceuticals
In the wake of several favorable U.S. Supreme Court decisions, companies increasingly are using arbitration agreements to control their exposure to class action liability. Although recent cases have reinforced the power of...more
The Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (“CAFA”) has found its way to the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court several times in the last two years, as plaintiffs and defendants seek to define the parameters of the federal law...more
Employers continue to face an increasing number of lawsuits (including class and collective actions) claiming they violated the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) based on a wide variety of policies and conduct. ...more
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court denied Family Dollar Stores, Inc.’s petition for writ of certiorari seeking review of the Fourth Circuit’s decision in Scott, et. al. v. Family Dollar Stores, Inc., No. 12-1610 (4th Cir....more
The highly anticipated U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Halliburton Co. v. Erica P. John Fund, Inc., 573 U. S. ____ (2014) (June 23, 2014) left intact the fraud-on-the-market theory established by the Supreme Court in Basic Inc....more
Over the last few years, securities class actions have given rise to several critical questions ripe for U.S. Supreme Court review, including whether the foundation of the fraud-on-the-market theory established more than...more
In response to recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions addressing utility patent subject matter eligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101, the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office issued new guidance and training materials for patent examiners...more
Defining the power of arbitration agreements has been a hot topic at the federal and state levels for the past couple of years. In a recent post, we discussed two North Carolina Court of Appeals decisions that validated the...more
On February 24, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari in three “moldy” washing machine class actions, which presented questions regarding Fed. R. Civ. P. 23’s commonality and predominance requirements as clarified by...more
3/6/2014
/ Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Comcast ,
Comcast v. Behrend ,
Commonality ,
Dukes v Wal-Mart ,
Mold Litigation ,
Predominance Requirement ,
SCOTUS ,
Wal-Mart ,
Whirlpool