On December 17, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit handed down its published opinion in Stafford v. Bojangles’ Restaurants, Inc., 2024 WL 5131108 (4th Cir. 2024). In a rare move, the Fourth...more
Earlier this year, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued its decision in Lytle v. Nutramax Labs, Inc., finding that a class action plaintiff may rely on a model to demonstrate that damages are susceptible to...more
On February 2, 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued a significant decision holding that a putative class representative does not need to establish an administratively feasible method to...more
District courts within the Third Circuit have historically applied different standards when analyzing a renewed motion for class certification. The Third Circuit used the recently issued Hargrove v. Sleepy's LLC as an...more
The parties to class action litigation frequently contest whether plaintiffs are entitled to pre-certification discovery aimed at identifying additional or replacement class representatives. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the...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
• A U.S.-style class action regime looms large in the European Union. • The current draft legislation imports certain hallmarks of the system celebrated by U.S. plaintiffs’ lawyers, but there is uncertainty over what...more
Consumer advocates, defense attorneys, tort reformists, and trial judges are all eagerly awaiting a decision by the Ninth Circuit which all hope will clarify the process for certifying a nationwide settlement class in the...more
A few weeks ago, Judge Leigh Martin May in the Northern District of Georgia denied a Defendant’s Rule 12(b)(2) motion to dismiss brought on the basis that, under Bristol-Myers Squibb, the court lacked subject matter...more
In Mussat v. IQVIA, Inc., 2018 WL 5311903 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 26, 2018) Judge Virginia M. Kendall of the Northern District of Illinois held that Bristol-Myers Squibb applies to Rule 23 class actions, and consequently struck the...more
On June 11, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States held that the tolling rule first stated in American Pipe & Construction Co. v. Utah, 414 U.S. 538 (1974) cannot salvage otherwise-untimely successive class claims. ...more
The Supreme Court of the United States issued four decisions today: China Agritech, Inc. v. Resh, No. 17-432: In American Pipe & Constr. Co. v. Utah, 414 U.S. 538 (1974) and subsequent decisions, the Court has held that...more
Once class action certification has been denied, a putative class member may not start a new class action beyond the applicable statute of limitations, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled, 9-0, in an opinion by Justice Ruth...more
The U.S. Supreme Court in China Agritech v. Resh, 2018 WL 2767565 (June 11, 2018) ruled that the American-Pipe doctrine—under which filing a class action tolls the statute of limitations for later-filed individual claims—does...more
The U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in China Agritech v. Resh et al., a decision concerning the U.S. Court of Appeals’ application of the tolling rule first stated in American Pipe & Constr. Co. v. Utah and later...more
On June 11, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States decided China Agritech, Inc. v. Resh, No. 17-432, holding that a member of a failed federal class action may not use the tolling rule of American Pipe & Construction...more
We’ve noted several times in this blog the difficulties parties may face when trying to obtain court approval for a settlement they have reached. Recognizing many of these issues, new amendments to Federal Rule of Civil...more
The amendment of Wis. Stat. section 803.08, which takes effect July 1, 2018, modernizes and brings needed clarity to class action practice in Wisconsin state courts. Precedent from the federal courts should help guide...more
As we previewed last week, the Supreme Court is considering whether the filing of a class action tolls the statute of limitations for absent class members so that they can pursue a separate class action if the initial action...more
Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Chris Lazarini examined a case in which the New York Court of Appeals provided guidance on Rule 908 of the New York Civil Practice Law and Rules, deciding that Rule 908 requires sending notice of a...more
Many class actions are won or lost at the class certification stage. Because FRCP 23(c) requires a district court to determine whether a class action is to be maintained (i.e., certified) “[a]t an early practicable time after...more
Facts - On June 12, 2017, in Microsoft Corporation v. Baker, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that federal courts of appeals lack jurisdiction to review orders striking class allegations after the named plaintiffs...more
The Supreme Court, in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, 131 S. Ct. 2541 (2011), set a high standard for class certification under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 (“Rule 23”). Under Rule 23(a), the party seeking...more
Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Chris Lazarini analyzed a putative class action case that posed whether common questions of law or fact predominate on the reliance element of Plaintiffs' Section 10(b) claims. The court concluded...more
The Ninth Circuit’s decision this week in Briseno v. ConAgra Foods, Inc., No. 15-55727, refused to engraft an “administrative feasibility” requirement to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23’s prerequisites for certifying a...more