If, like me, you grew up during (or otherwise lived through) the 1980s, you’ll recall the ever-present jingle “The best part of wakin’ up is Folgers in your cup” (and perhaps some creative modifications thereof by the...more
When a class action is removed to federal court under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA), plaintiffs sometimes amend their pleadings to try to defeat federal jurisdiction. The recent U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth...more
A recent Missouri Court of Appeals decision provides helpful precedent for liability insurers facing legacy environmental claims and class actions. The court strictly construed the policy period, concluding that claims based...more
When a class action settlement is objected to and subsequently approved by the court, objectors sometimes appeal, which can substantially delay the settlement process including distribution of settlement funds to class...more
At a recent meeting, the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules of the Judicial Conference of the United States discussed, at an early stage, potential amendments to the federal class action rule, as well as a potential rule...more
A recent Ninth Circuit decision reconciled other decisions within that circuit involving auto insurance total losses, concluding that individual questions predominated and therefore affirming the district court’s denial of...more
The Supreme Courts of Pennsylvania and North Carolina have issued two of what are presumably the last state supreme court decisions in COVID-19 business interruption insurance cases. While they reached split results (with the...more
The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Trump v. CASA, Inc., –– S. Ct. ––, 2025 WL 1773631 (U.S. June 27, 2025), restricting the use of “universal injunctions” by federal district courts, is receiving extensive attention...more
Some data breach class actions settle quickly, with one of two settlement structures: (1) a “claims made” structure, in which the total amount paid to class members who submit valid claims is not capped, and attorneys’ fees...more
On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings v. Davis, No. 24-304, to decide “[w]hether a federal court may certify a class action pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil...more
In class actions involving more than one defendant and at least one local defendant, two exceptions to jurisdiction under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) potentially come into play. The “home state” exception applies if...more
Plaintiffs sometimes seek to certify an “issues class” under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(c)(4) (or an equivalent state court rule) if they anticipate difficulty certifying the entire case for class treatment, but...more
These days it seems like nearly every data breach results in a multitude of class action filings. Some of these cases settle quickly with minimal litigation. In such a case, the Eighth Circuit recently reversed an attorneys’...more
A recent Texas Supreme Court decision in a class action caught my eye because it addressed several significant class certification issues, including one that I’ve seen regularly and another that the court analyzed in a new...more
6/3/2024
/ Article III ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Insurance Claims ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Standing ,
TX Supreme Court ,
USAA
Suppose that the central issue in a putative class action is a legal issue pending before the Supreme Court. Depending on how the Supreme Court rules, the plaintiffs will recover either nothing or up to $600 million. But...more
5/16/2024
/ Attorney's Fees ,
Auto-Dialed Calls ,
CAFA ,
Class Action ,
Class Members ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Settlement ,
Statutory Violations ,
TCPA ,
Text Messages
When a class certification decision overlaps with merits issues, can a court of appeals deciding an interlocutory appeal from a class certification order also review an earlier decision on a motion to dismiss if it was...more
Think twice about whether the Class Action Fairness Act’s “local controversy” exception applies to your case. Even if more than two-thirds of the proposed class members are citizens of the forum state, there is a significant...more
In today’s world nearly everyone’s name, address and various other pieces of arguably personal information reside on many companies’ computer servers. Sharing of such information between companies has resulted in countless...more
When class certification is denied because the named plaintiff’s claim fails for some reason, sometimes an absent class member will try to intervene rather than filing their own separate suit. Their goal is usually to attempt...more
In analyzing class certification issues, courts have said that common issues may predominate in some cases even though damages would have to be determined individually for each class member. But what about where some class...more
A recent Ninth Circuit decision highlights the importance of the defendant clearly pleading the basis for alleging the amount in controversy in a notice of removal under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA). In this case,...more
A recent Ninth Circuit decision clarified that the benefit to the class is the “touchstone for determining the reasonableness of attorneys’ fees in a class action.” Under this decision, the fee should not be based on the...more
Federal courts of appeals have disagreed on whether a named plaintiff in a proposed class action can sue defendants who have not injured that plaintiff but allegedly have injured putative class members. This is not an...more
A recent Ninth Circuit decision illustrates how defendants can use evidence on an individualized defense to potentially defeat class certification.
In Van v. LLR, Inc., — F.4th –, 2023 WL 2469909 (9th Cir. Mar. 13, 2023),...more
Last week the Second Circuit issued a new decision affirming, with one exception, the approval of a $5.6 billion revised class action settlement in the long-running Visa/Mastercard antitrust litigation. (See my blog post on...more