Class Action

From Extremes To Balance...New Class Action Lawsuits Bunched Into Three Groups But Labor Law Class Actions Barely Hold Top Spot Of New Class Action Filings During Past Week In California State And Federal Courts

By Michael J. Hassen

To assist class action defense attorneys anticipate the types of claims against which they will have to defend in California courts, we provide weekly, unofficial summaries of the legal categories for new class action lawsuits filed in California state and federal courts in the Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, San Diego, San Mateo, Oakland/Alameda and Orange County areas. We include only those categories that include 10% or more of the class action filings during the relevant timeframe. This report covers the time period from April 30 - May 6, 2010, during which time 50 new class actions were filed in these California state and federal courts. New labor law class actions often account for more than half of the new class action filings in any particular week, and last week was the only case that broke the 10% reporting threshold. This past week, however, there was remarkable balance in the filing of new class actions, with labor law class actions just taking the top spot with 12 new filings, representing only 24% of the total number of new class actions filed -- the lowest percentage in a very long time. Two other categories of cases broke the 10% threshold, with Unfair Competition Law (UCL) claims, which include false advertising claims, coming in a close second with 11 new filings (22%), and class action alleging securities fraud coming in third with 9 new filings (18%).

Full post as published by Class Action Defense Blog on May 08, 2010 (boomark / email).