Takeaway: We have written a number of articles about the kinds of intangible injuries that confer Article III standing in the data breach and credit reporting contexts. See Data breach class actions: Southern District of...more
Takeaway: State wiretap acts have been around for a long time, and they can provide greater protection to victims of intercepted communications than the Federal Wiretap Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2510. These statutes generally...more
Takeaway: In the U.S. Supreme Court’s seminal decision in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, 564 U.S. 338, 342 (2011), the court described a class consisting of 1.5 million class members as “one of the most expansive” classes...more
Takeaway: Restrictive covenants have generated a lot of controversy lately, especially with the Department of Justice’s continued focus on illegal no-poach hiring agreements between Silicon Valley companies and other firms. ...more
Takeaway: From the perspective of attorneys representing class action defendants, it seems that some circuits (especially the Ninth Circuit) do not give much deference to district court decisions denying class certification....more
Kilpatrick Townsend partner Jay Bogan, along with three other panel members, recently presented “Class Certification after Olean v. Bumble Bee: Expert Testimony, Uninjured Class Members, and Article III Standing.” This...more
Takeaway: We have posted articles addressing the U.S. Supreme Court’s standing-related decision in Frank v. Gaos, 139 S. Ct. 1041 (2019), as well as its decision in TransUnion, LLC v. Ramirez, 141 S. Ct. 2190 (2021). In a...more
Takeaway: The Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) provides class action defendants with the means to secure federal jurisdiction over putative class actions filed in state court, as well as a mechanism to appeal decisions by...more
Takeaway: In a prior article, we reported on the Second Circuit’s decision in McMorris v. Carlos Lopez & Associates, LLC, 995 F.3d 295 (2d Cir. 2021), in which the court, ruling on an issue of first impression, set out a...more
Takeaway: A year ago we wrote about the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Olean Wholesale Grocery Cooperative, Inc. v. Bumble Bee Foods LLC, 993 F.3d 774 (9th Cir. 2021), where a panel held that a district court abused its...more
Takeaway: The Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) provides class action defendants with the means to secure federal jurisdiction over putative class actions filed in state court, as well as a mechanism to appeal decisions by...more
Takeaway: Federal and state statutes that provide minimum damages awards for each statutory violation, such as the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act and Illinois’s Biometric Information Privacy Act, provide ideal...more
Takeaway: When a district court certifies a damages class action, it often cites the long line of cases holding that, because damages for each class member can be determined after a class action trial on liability,...more
Takeaway: Adhesion contracts have become ubiquitous in modern internet commerce, and we have written a number of articles about how businesses prepare their on-line contracts to shield themselves from liability generally and...more
In a recent post, we reported on the Second Circuit’s affirmance of a district court order dismissing a false advertising class action based on alleged misrepresentations that amounted to nothing more than puffery. See...more
Takeaway: Last year, we reported on a Seventh Circuit decision endorsing a “no injury” pleading strategy for violations of Illinois’s Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). The strategy, calculated to prevent the removal...more
Takeaway: The individual claims asserted by a class representative – as well as the defenses that apply to those claims – form the foundation of any effort to certify a class under Rule 23. If the claims of the class...more
Takeaway: When litigating class certification and motions to compel arbitration, defense attorneys virtually always prefer federal over state courts. In two cases involving home security provider ADT, L.L.C. (ADT), and a...more
Takeaway: Class actions brought under federal RICO present significant risks for defendants. They present the opportunity for certification of nationwide or multi-state classes under a federal statute, and the remedies...more
Takeaway: The quickest, most efficient way to kill a putative class action remains a successful Rule 12 motion to dismiss. But in ruling on such a motion, a district court generally cannot stray beyond the allegations in...more
Takeaway: Antiquated laws can give rise to creative class actions. In the nineteenth century, the Florida Legislature criminalized the use of a food ingredient ultimately declared safe for consumption by the Food and Drug...more
Takeaway: Consumer class actions primarily target a damages remedy. In the antitrust context, state antitrust law provides the path to damages for indirect purchasers, because federal antitrust law bars indirect purchaser...more
Takeaway: Federal Rule 23(c)(4) provides: “When appropriate, an action may be brought or maintained as a class action with respect to particular issues.” Although class plaintiffs often seek “issue certification” as an...more
Takeaway: In theory, class litigation should be fair. Class members should not be permitted to see how a case will play out at trial before deciding whether to opt out of a damages class – a practice known as “one-way...more
Takeaway: Although a district court deciding a Rule 12 motion to dismiss must draw every inference in favor of a plaintiff, courts know puffery when they see it. In George v. Starbucks Corp., --- Fed. Appx. ----, No....more