The issue of personal jurisdiction in class action litigation continues to be addressed by the federal appellate courts. We recently published an article about the Seventh Circuit’s decision in Mussat v. IQVIA, No. 19-1204,...more
Takeaway: The Ninth Circuit recently held “that each class member must have standing to recover damages.” Ramirez v. TransUnion, LLC, 951 F.3d 1008 (9th Cir. 2020). But the panel held this requirement only applies to the...more
Takeaway: Where a plaintiff alleges that product labeling does not comply with pronouncements by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA), it can be difficult for a class defendant to obtain the dismissal of false advertising...more
Takeaway: To have standing to sue in federal court, Article III of the Constitution requires an injury in fact caused by the challenged conduct. Federal RICO standing requires a bit more: a RICO plaintiff must demonstrate an...more
Takeaway: The issue of whether a federal RICO plaintiff may obtain equitable relief may be the longest-running circuit split under the federal RICO statute. In Scheidler v.National Organization for Women, 537 U.S. 393 (2003),...more
Takeaway: To have standing to assert a civil RICO claim, federal RICO’s proximate cause requirement demands that there be a “direct relation” between the RICO violation and injury. ...more
Takeaway: The concept of class arbitration has recently faced stiff headwinds. In Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varella, 139 S. Ct. 1407 (2019), the Supreme Court ruled that a party cannot be required to participate in a class...more
Takeaway: In a prior post, we reported on the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Sali v. Corona Regional Medical Center, 889 F.3d 623 (9th Cir. 2018) that class certification evidence need not be admissible (Ninth Circuit deepens...more
In a prior post [First Circuit addresses an issue that continues to vex (and split) the circuits: should a class be certified that includes uninjured class members? (October 24, 2018)], we reported on a First Circuit...more
Takeaway: In a prior post – Leveraging Comcast – beating predominance where challenged product has some value (April 16, 2019) – we reported on a decision by Judge Lucy Koh of the Northern District of California...more
Takeaway: The ascertainability requirement for class actions has divided both California and federal appellate courts. In Noel v. Thrifty Payless, Inc., --- P.3d ----, No. S246490, 2019 WL 3403895 (CA July 29, 2019), the...more
Takeaway: In prior posts, we have reported on the dismissals of putative class actions asserting that the “diet” in “diet soda” is false or misleading. See Second Circuit: another nail in the diet soda coffin (April 30,...more
Takeaway: A federal court should not lose jurisdiction under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) when it denies a motion for class certification. In a prior post – Getting it wrong – remanding a removed class action back...more
Recently, the Supreme Court imposed yet another roadblock to class arbitration in Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela. Relying on Stolt-Nielsen S.A. v. AnimalFeeds Int’l Corp., the Court ruled that ambiguous language in an...more
Takeaway: In the wake of Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, 136 S. Ct. 1540 (2016), defendants in data breach class actions regularly move to dismiss on standing grounds, arguing the complaint’s allegations do not plausibly allege an...more
Virtually every state has adopted The Uniform Trade Secrets Act (“UTSA”) in one form or another. As enacted, the UTSA typically preempts “other laws of this State providing civil remedies for misappropriation of trade...more
Takeaway: Adhesion contracts are ubiquitous in modern internet commerce, and the rules of contract formation are generally the same for paper and on-line contracts. Parties are generally bound by terms and conditions...more
A consumer fraud class action must be grounded on allegations of false or deceptive statements of fact. Opinions, including estimates clearly labeled as estimates, do not constitute statements of fact that can support a...more
In Gumm v. Ford, No. 5:15-CV-41 (MTT), 2019 WL 2017497 (M.D. Ga. May 7, 2019), Judge Marc Treadwell of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia approved a landmark class settlement involving...more
In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision in Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varella, No. 17-988, 2019 WL 1780275 (U.S. Apr. 24, 2019), a lot of ink has been spilled on the issue of class arbitration. The Lamps Plus majority,...more
5/13/2019
/ Ambiguous ,
Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Class Arbitration ,
Consent ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Federal v State Law Application ,
Lamps Plus Inc v Varela ,
Motion to Compel ,
Preemption ,
SCOTUS
Takeaway: In prior posts, we have reported on the dismissals of putative class actions asserting that the “diet” in “diet soda” is false or misleading. See N.D. Cal. sounds the death knell on “diet” soda class actions...more
Takeaway: According to the United States Supreme Court, federal district courts have “the virtually unflagging obligation . . . to exercise the jurisdiction given them.” Colorado River Water Conservation Dist. v. U.S., 424...more
As we predicted in a January 2019 post [Cy pres-only class settlements – anticipated Supreme Court decision may never come to pass], the United States Supreme Court, in a closely-watched case, declined to rule on the fairness...more
3/29/2019
/ Class Action ,
Cy Pres Funds ,
Frank v Gaos ,
FRCP 23(e) ,
Remand ,
SCOTUS ,
Settlement ,
Spokeo v Robins ,
Standing ,
Stored Communications Act ,
Vacated
Takeaway: In Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, 569 U.S. 27, 34 (2013), the Supreme Court confirmed that Rule 23 “does not set forth a mere pleading standard,” and that, absent a showing damages can be calculated on a class-wide...more
Takeaway: There are two ways to beat a class action – defeat class certification or defeat the class claims on the merits. Individual RICO actions tend to be complex and expensive to defend, and they increase a defendant’s...more