Mass Torts vs. Class Actions: A Tale of Two Strategies
Eighth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Putative Class Claims
Class Action | Eleventh Circuit Reinstates No Hire Antitrust Claims Against Burger King
John Lewis of BakerHostetler Discusses Use of Social Media in Gawker Class Action
Wearables and the Future of Intellectual Property Law
On November 14, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court declined StarKist Company’s petition to review the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit’s en banc opinion upholding certification of three subclasses of tuna purchasers in Olean...more
On January 3, 2024, the defendant in Heppard v. Dunham’s Athleisure Corporation filed an interlocutory appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, arguing that the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District...more
Imagine you are an investor and you decide to file a lawsuit after a company that you invest in suffers a stock drop. When you get to the courthouse, you find that you are the first person to file a federal securities class...more
The Second Circuit and Ninth Circuit recently issued opinions vacating class action settlements, with both courts taking issue with the attorneys’ fees awarded to class counsel. These decisions — Lowery v. Rhapsody Int’l,...more
Two recent decisions highlight that the viability of the established business relationship, or EBR, exemption defeating class certification in a Telephone Consumer Protection Act case may depend on the defendant company’s...more
Defendants on the losing side of a class certification order were recently provided with a roadmap of how to challenge a district court’s analysis on appeal. On April 12, 2023, the United States Court of Appeals for the...more
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
A federal judge has dismissed a putative class action case brought by a plaintiff asserting ERISA violations against The Prudential Company of America (“Prudential”) and Tufts University (“Tufts”), stemming from premium rate...more
For businesses using independent contractor vendors, misclassification claims are usually well-suited for class certification. A plaintiff’s path toward certifying a class can be relatively smooth when all vendors of a...more
On August 10, 2021, a divided Ninth Circuit panel vacated a trial court’s certification of two nationwide classes, finding that the defendant had not waived its personal jurisdiction objection to class certification by not...more
Recently, the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania granted a Motion to Dismiss, dismissing ERISA breach of fiduciary duty claims based on excessive recordkeeping fee allegations. The district...more
Federal Reserve Hints at Government-Backed Cryptocurrency; Third Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Securities Fraud Class Action Against Shutterfly Inc. Regarding Allegedly Misleading Financial Projections; Ninth Circuit Holds...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 Ninth Circuit recently clarified what standard applies when a party seeks relief from judgment under Rule 60(b). In so doing, the court allowed two plaintiffs who had previously voluntarily dismissed their class action...more
On December 2, 2019, the United States government submitted a brief to the Supreme Court urging it to deny review of a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling holding a provision of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)...more
Late last year, we wrote about Shore v. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hospital Authority, et al., in which former Atrium Health employees filed a putative class action in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North...more
On August 7, 2019, New York State Supreme Court Justice Andrew Borrok issued a stay of discovery, pending resolution of a motion to dismiss, in a putative class action asserting claims under the Securities Act of 1933. In re...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
Rule 23 gains a toehold in certain bankruptcy proceedings. Generally impermissible until 1987, class action proofs of claim have increasingly been used by class creditors to their advantage. ...more
Effective December 1 of this year, Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure – governing class action lawsuits – was amended. Among other things, the amendments modernize the rule with respect to electronic...more
Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Chris Lazarini examined a case in which plaintiffs sought relief from the court after a ruling granting defendants' motion to dismiss the plaintiffs' putative class action alleging ERISA...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
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