A sometimes-overlooked aspect of class action law is how class certification rules interact with the Rules Enabling Act, which provides that rules of procedure and evidence “shall not abridge, enlarge or modify any...more
Multinational corporations operating in the United States and abroad encounter complex and dispositive legal frameworks that govern not only substantive rights, but also procedural rules that dictate who may assert such...more
In Resh v. China Agritech, No. 15-55432, published May 24, 2017 (Resh), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a would-be class action is not time barred where (1) the plaintiffs were unnamed plaintiffs in two earlier...more
On October 17, 2016, in a case of first impression, the Sixth Circuit held that ascertainability is not a requirement in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(2) class actions. The Sixth Circuit joined three other Circuits...more
Perhaps no field of class action litigation in California is more fraught with complex certification issues than determining whether the administrative exemption applies to network, internet, and database administrators or...more
The Second Circuit recently held that under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23, a district court judge can decertify a class after a jury verdict in favor of the class but before entering judgment, upholding a Southern...more
Issues surrounding network rules made headlines recently, with the Second Circuit Court of Appeals rejecting a $7.25 billion deal between Visa and MasterCard and approximately 12 million merchants claiming the networks worked...more
The plaintiffs, three plan participants, filed their lawsuit in 2012 and purported to assert claims on behalf of a class of all plans serviced by the defendants, affiliated entities that provided services to the plans and/or...more
The Impact of National Same-Sex Marriage for Employers - Why it matters: How will employers feel the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges? The landmark ruling that the Fourteenth...more
It’s hard enough to predict what the Supreme Court will do on a given case even after it has been briefed and oral argument has been heard. It’s even harder when all we have is the decision accepting certiorari, but this one...more
The U.S. Supreme Court’s March 2013 decision in Comcast was heralded by many as a class certification “game-changer” that raised the bar for plaintiffs seeking class certification in competition and other class cases —...more