When a business is sued in a proposed class action and there is only a small amount at stake on the named plaintiff’s claim, often one of the first thoughts that comes to mind is: can’t we just pay the full value of the named...more
On Friday April 12, 2019, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court confirmed that plaintiffs seeking to bring class actions asserting Massachusetts Wage Act (“Wage Act”) violations must meet the certification standards set by...more
Just days ago I wrote about a district court opinion rejecting a tender of complete relief to pick off a named class representative’s claim in a putative TCPA class action. Well today the Second Circuit Court of Appeal has...more
Defense counsel facing potential multimillion-dollar judgments from the threat of class action proceedings—particularly class actions brought under statutes providing for treble damages and attorney’s fees, such as the...more
Takeaway: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in January 2016 in Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez that an unaccepted Rule 68 offer of judgment has no legal effect and therefore does not serve to moot a class action. 136 S. Ct. 663...more
Over the years, Rule 68 offers of judgment have been touted as a means of picking off class representatives and a potentially easy way to terminate a class or collective action before it starts. It rarely really works that...more
On June 20, 2017, the Seventh Circuit ruled that a defendant cannot moot the individual claims of a putative class representative by depositing an unaccepted settlement offer with the court covering all relief purportedly...more
Rien n’est eternel. Nothing lasts forever. In TCPAland, things don’t even last a week. Just days after a Chicago district court endorsed the tactic in A Custom Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc. v. Kabbage, Inc., 2017 U.S....more
In January 2016, the Supreme Court issued its Campbell-Ewald v. Gomez decision and definitely ruled that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 68 could not be used to moot the claims of a named plaintiff. Prior to that ruling,...more
In a world pushed forward by new technology, it’s a “junk fax” case that advances two case dispositive TCPA defense bar arguments: (1) a plaintiff lacks Article III standing post-Spokeo unless there is a sufficient...more
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals recently confronted (again) a situation where a defendant made an offer of judgment to the putative class representative to provide all of the relief available to the individual plaintiff....more
FCC Combats Spoofed Robocalls - As part of an initiative that would enable voice service providers to better protect subscribers from illegal and fraudulent robocalls, the Federal Communications Commission has released a...more
Lanham Act False Advertising - Lanham Act Liability for Native Advertising Violations - Casper Sleep, Inc. v. Mitcham, --- F. Supp. 3d ---, No. 16 Civ. 3224 (JSR), 2016 WL 4574388 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 1, 2016) - ...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: As profiled in our recent publication of the 13th Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report, the U.S. Supreme Court’s rulings have a profound impact on employers and the tools they may utilize to...more
With all the drama of a get-away chase, the Third Circuit recently brought to a screeching halt plaintiffs’ counsel’s elaborate maneuvers to end run repeated decertification of their FLSA actions, and held as a matter of...more
On January 20, 2016, the Supreme Court held in Campbell-Ewald v. Gomez, 136 S. Ct. 663, 672, 193 L. Ed. 2d 571 (2016) that an unaccepted pre-certification settlement offer of complete relief in a putative class action, made...more
Relying on the Supreme Court’s 2016 opinion in Campbell-Ewald, the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina ruled that a class action plaintiff need not file a “placeholder” motion to certify to avoid a...more
On July 6, the Sixth Circuit addressed a question apparently left open by the Supreme Court in its recent Campbell-Ewald case. In Campbell-Ewald, the Supreme Court ruled that an unaccepted Rule 68 offer of judgment did not...more
Chief Judge Saris and Judge Sorokin of the District of Massachusetts recently tackled questions left unanswered by the Supreme Court’s opinion earlier this year in Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez, 136 S. Ct. 663 (2016)....more
As we reported earlier this year in Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez, 136 S. Ct. 663, 672 (2016), the Supreme Court held that a putative class action does not become moot when a defendant merely offers a named plaintiff full...more
Following an interlocutory appeal, in which the First Circuit ruled that a Rule 68 offer made prior to class certification did not moot the plaintiff’s claim, defendant returned to the Massachusetts district court seeking...more
On April 12, 2016, in Chen, et al. v. Allstate Insurance Co., No. 13-16816, the Ninth Circuit considered whether an unaccepted offer of judgment and tender of payment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 68 to fully...more
BREAKING: SCOTUS Rules on Spokeo, Significant Implications for TCPA Cases - The Supreme Court of the United States ruled yesterday in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins that a plaintiff must show an injury in fact before pursuing a...more
On April 6, 2016, the Third Circuit, in Weitzner v. Sanofi Pasteur, Inc., considered whether an offer of judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 68 moots a plaintiff’s entire action, including class claims, thereby...more
In Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez, a decision released in January, a majority of the United States Supreme Court held that an unaccepted Rule 68 offer of judgment by a defendant cannot moot a putative class action....more