U.S. auto dealers have until Jan. 9, 2025 to submit a claim in the recent $129.5 million class action lawsuit settled by CDK Global, LLC (CDK) and The Reynolds and Reynolds Company (Reynolds). The deadline to object to the...more
The authors examine settlement outcomes of derivative lawsuits linked to securities class actions, focusing on 110 cases associated with securities class action settlements between 2019 and 2023....more
Consumers frequently receive only a paltry fraction of class action settlement funds, which are instead doled out to plaintiffs’ lawyers, cy pres recipients, and administrators. Now this problem is compounded by a recent...more
In re AMC Entm't Holdings, Inc. S'holder Litig., Consol. C.A. No. 2023-0215-MTZ (Del. Ch. July 21, 2023) - In re AMC Entm't Holdings, Inc. S'holder Litig., Consol. C.A. No. 2023-0215-MTZ (Del. Ch. Aug. 11, 2023) - The...more
In Vizio Inc. v. Arch Insurance Co., a case stemming from a class action settlement, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals clarified several areas of California law involving the interaction of primary and excess insurance...more
Takeaway: When evaluating the fairness of a proposed class settlement, Federal Rule 23(e)(2) requires a district court to take into account, among other considerations, the terms of any proposed award of attorneys’ fees and...more
In re AMC Entertainment Hldgs., Inc. S’holder Litig., 2023-0215-MTZ (Del. Ch. May 20, 2023) - Under Delaware law, class members are entitled to access to the discovery record to assess the terms of a proposed class action...more
On August 7, California Attorney General Rob Bonta led a coalition of five state attorneys general (AGs) in filing an amicus letter concerning a proposed class action settlement between DuPont, Chemours, and Corteva, and...more
Limiting exposure to future claims is a crucial aspect of settling class action litigation. A recent opinion out of the Northern District of Georgia serves as a reminder that the definitions of settlement classes and released...more
Parallel class actions filed in multiple provincial jurisdictions are a common feature in Canadian class action litigation that often frustrate one of the very purposes of class proceedings—to support judicial economy....more
Takeaway: We have written about Eleventh Circuit decisions on Article III standing and its relationship to the proper approval of a class action settlement. See Eleventh Circuit holds that every class member must have...more
Updated March 21, 2025 to include all of 2024 data and trends. Pierce Atwood's Class Action Defense group is pleased to present this New England and First Circuit Class Action Tracker, which focuses on the filings and...more
In early 2023, the District of Maine was the first district court to apply and interpret a recent and notable First Circuit ruling that should be top-of-mind for class action attorneys and litigants seeking approval of...more
Carlton Fields is pleased to share its 12th annual Class Action Survey, which provides an overview of important issues and practices related to class action matters and management. This annual publication reports on...more
Most class-action lawyers know about Johnson v. NPAS Solutions., LLC—an Eleventh Circuit panel decision that outlawed service awards to lead plaintiffs in class actions, which “compensate[] a class representative for his time...more
When you finally reach an agreement to settle a hotly contested class action, you want more than anything for the court to approve your settlement agreement and for the case to be over. But, to get to the end of the case,...more
When negotiating a class action settlement, lawyers on both sides may need to consider whether subgroups within the class need to be separately represented by different counsel. The First Circuit recently reached that...more
On November 30, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court’s finding that a settlement was not a coupon settlement when applying the three factors outlined in In re Online DVD-Rental...more
It’s been almost two years since a divided panel of the Eleventh Circuit held that incentive payments (a/k/a service awards) in class action settlements are unlawful, a startling and controversial result given the ubiquity of...more
Recently, the Ninth Circuit joined its sister circuit, the Eleventh, in vacating class settlements on standing grounds. In Harvey v. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, the court vacated the district court’s approval of the...more
In a 7-4 split decision, the Eleventh Circuit declined to rehear en banc a panel decision issued in September 2020, holding a class settlement that included an incentive award to the class representative was improper. The en...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, on March 18, 2022, applying de novo review, affirmed the district court’s dismissal of plaintiff Cesar Moreno’s wrongful termination claims against his former employer,...more
Explaining for the first time “who bears what burdens when a class member objects to a proposed settlement,” the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed in an insurance case a district court’s order approving a...more
A recent Ninth Circuit decision—In re Cathode Ray Tube Antitrust Litig., 20-15697, 2021 WL 4306895 (9th Cir. Sept. 22, 2021)—that prevented a group of plaintiffs from challenging the approval of a settlement award in a...more
Class action settlements can be structured in a variety of ways. Many include a common fund, consisting of an agreed-to amount the defendant deposits into a Qualified Settlement Fund, or “QSF,” a tax vehicle that facilitates...more