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
In Potovsky v. Lincoln Benefit Life Co., the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of the insureds’ complaint for failure to sufficiently allege damages regarding the denial of a long-term care claim....more
The US District Court for the District of Minnesota has ruled that plaintiffs may proceed in a putative class action lawsuit brought against a Medicare Advantage organization (MAO) to challenge its alleged use of an...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
Plaintiff Jeremy Jong filed a putative class-action complaint against Blue Shield of California (Blue Shield), one of the largest medical insurance companies in the United States....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
On December 5, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the District of Georgia held that a total pollution exclusion (TPE) in a CGL policy relieved the insurer of any obligation to defend or indemnify a recycling company in a...more
The issuance of various governmental orders requiring businesses to temporarily modify or close their operations during the COVID-19 pandemic led to an immediate avalanche of claims and lawsuits involving first-party...more
In Citizens Ins. Co. of Amer. v. Thermoflex Waukegan, LLC no. 20-05980 (N.D. Ill. Mar. 1, 2022), the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois rejected the application of three separate general...more
Among the many unusual aspects of 2021 is that the same insurance company was before a federal appellate court on two separate but contemporaneous cases – one in which the insurer was asserting a lack of insurance coverage...more
In March 2020, Mudpie Inc.—a San Francisco children’s store—ceased operations when California Governor Gavin Newsom ordered all “non-essential” businesses to close due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of the shut-down,...more
Shareholder Matthew A. Goldstein was quoted extensively in a Law360 article covering COVID coverage cases in New Jersey. New Jersey federal and state courts have proven to be troublesome for policyholders in coverage...more
"The overwhelming majority of courts have concluded that neither COVID-19 nor the governmental orders associated with it cause or constitute property loss or damage for purposes of insurance coverage." So concluded the...more
Welcome back to the Class Action & MDL Roundup! Our winter edition covers notable class actions from the fourth quarter of 2020. In this edition, we find a common theme among COVID-19 class actions, the Tampa 2 defends...more
Insurers have prevailed in several lawsuits filed by restaurants in connection with losses related to COVID-19. For example, in Emerald Coast Restaurants, Inc. v. Aspen Specialty Ins. Co., No. 3:20cv5898-TKW-HTC, 2020 WL...more
Approximately 1,300 COVID-19 business interruption and civil authority insurance coverage cases are working their way through federal and state courts throughout the country. Decisions continue to be rendered and tracking...more
The results of the ninth annual Carlton Fields Class Action Survey confirms Foley & Lardner LLP’s recent forecast that businesses should be prepared for a sharp uptick in class action lawsuits. Even pre-pandemic, there was an...more
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have significant economic consequences in the US, a key issue for insurers and businesses throughout the country will be whether all or a portion of losses may be covered by insurance....more
A recent decision by a Washington federal district court caught my eye because it involved a circumstance I often see—a new development in the law results in a class action lawsuit being filed before the defendant has an...more
The Fourth Circuit found in favor of an insurer on a claim for life insurance benefits, finding the insured’s failure to submit the required evidence of insurability was not excused by his employer having wrongly deducted...more