Class Action

Sovereignty, Federalism and Class Actions

Posted on November 19, 2009
Daniel Wise of the New York Law Journal has an interesting article out today on a recent New York state court decision involving a complex dispute over assets of former Philippines dictator, Ferdinand Marcos, being held by Merrill Lynch in New York.  The court ordered that the funds be paid to satisfy part of a $2 billion judgment awarded to class [...

Another Common Reliance Theory Fails in Colorado

Posted on November 13, 2009
In April, the Colorado Supreme Court decided Farmers Ins. Exchange v. Benzing, 206 P.3d 812 (Colo. 2009), in which it rejected the “fraud on the market” theory of reliance in a consumer class action.  Now, Garcia v. Medved Chevrolet, Inc., No...

Bulletproof Blog Offers Expert Insight on Key Canadian Class Action Trend

Posted on November 12, 2009
In the latest installment of Bulletproof Blog’s series on class action trends from the plaintiffs’ perspective, Larry Smith interviews Canadian lawyer Won Kim.  Kim discusses a recent Ontario court ruling that allows U.S. plaintiffs’ firms to provide administrative support and legal expertise to their Canadian counterparts for class action litigation in Canada...

Notes from the 13th Annual National Institute on Class Actions (San Francisco)

Posted on November 05, 2009
I was not able to attend the National Institute on Class Actions program in San Fransisco, but class action notice expert Dr. Shannon R. Wheatman (swheatman@gmail.com), was there and she graciously agreed to send me her notes of what sounds like another great conference...

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7th Circuit Issues Report on E-Discovery Principles

Posted on November 04, 2009
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has begun implementation of an electronic discovery pilot program, which will be conducted between October 1, 2009 and May 1, 2010.  The program is the result of recommenations of an e-discovery committee of private practitioners, in-house counsel, judges, and e-discovery consultants, “formed to consider what can be done to reduce the costs of [...

More on Cy Pres

Posted on October 29, 2009
Over the past week, I have received two separate requests for comment on cy pres awards to charity in class action settlements.  Evidently it’s on readers’ minds, so I thought I’d give some thoughts on the subject here. Cy pres distributions to charity are one of several ways of dealing with a common problem in class action settlements: unclaimed [...

In Case You Care, ClassActionBlawg Has Just Rented the Video ?Class Action? Starring Gene Hackman

Posted on October 27, 2009
Venkat Balasubramani over at Spam Notes has been covering developments in an interesting group of class actions against Blockbuster Video and Facebook.  The cases arise out of Facebook’s Beacon feature, which causes news feed stories to be automatically generated about users’ purchases and other actions with online partners like Blockbuster...

Healthy Smoker Case Offers Lesson in Pre-Certification Legal Analysis

Posted on October 20, 2009
Robert J. Ambrogi of Legal Blog Watch posted this article today discussing the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts’ decision holding in Donovan v. Phillip Morris USA, which recognized the viability of a claim seeking medical monitoring as a remedy for smokers who do not have lung cancer but have an increased risk of lung cancer due to their use of cigarettes...

What Should We Do With Unclaimed Class Action Funds, Pres Tell?

Posted on October 12, 2009
The cy pres doctrine has become a hot topic in class action circles in recent years.  For those not familiar with the concept as used in the class action context, cy pres awards are awards to third parties, typically charities, of unclaimed settlement funds or unclaimed portions of class action judgments...

International Securities Class Action Trial Begins

Posted on October 07, 2009
An international securities class action trial against French media conglomerate Vivendi International started today in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.  For a report on the trial’s first day, see this article by Larry Neumeister of the Associated Press...

Q & A with National Institute on Class Actions Chair John B. Isbister

Posted on October 06, 2009
John B. Isbister, founder and chair of the ABA’s annual National Institute on Class Actions, graciously agreed to offer his insights into this year’s programs, the history of the event, and trends in class action litigation generally.  This year’s two programs are being offered in San Fransisco on October 30, 2009 and Washington, D...

Fees, Fees, and More Fees

Posted on September 30, 2009
In another I must be living under a rock moment, for the first time this evening I came across Octagon Publishing’s Class Action Attorney Fee Digest Blawg.  The Blawg, which supplements Octagon’s subscription service, Class Action Attorney Fee Digest, focuses exclusively on orders, decisions, and trends in attorneys’  fee awards in class actions...

From the Annals of Class Action Jurisprudence ? 1973 ? Second Circuit Decision Could ?Bring an End to Mass Class-Action Lawsuits?

Posted on September 23, 2009
While doing some research today on anther issue, I came across this news clipping from the May 3, 1973 issue of the St. Petersberg Times discussing a federal court of appeals decision in a class action decided a few days before.  The article begins: NEW YORK – A three-judge panel of the U...

What?s Next in Healthcare Reform? How About More Class Actions?

Posted on September 21, 2009
Levick Strategic Communications’ Bulletproof Blog has an interesting interview with Ohio attorney D. Brian Hufford, who offers a plaintiffs’ class action attorney’s perspective on the latest trend in class actions against healthcare insurers...

The Cycle of Victimization

Posted on September 16, 2009
In an article today entitled “Unscrewing Shareholders,” Daniel Fisher of Forbes reviews a decision by U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of New York Jed Rakoff rejecting a settlement between the Securities and Exchange Commission and Bank of America...

Class Actions and the Universal Health Care Debate

Posted on September 10, 2009
A pair of recent letters to the editor of the Yuma, Arizona online newspaper the Yuma Sun debate the impact of class action lawsuits on the success of national healthcare reform in Canada. The first letter, from David P. Bossler, argues that the success of universal health care in Canada can be attributed in part to [...

Check Out The Learned Lawyer, an Online Resource for Colorado Lawyers

Posted on September 09, 2009
I must have been living under a rock, but today for the first time I came across The Learned Lawyer, a great Colorado-centric law blog published by the Colorado Bar Association’s nonprofit education affiliate, CLE in Colorado, Inc. The Learned Lawyer offers a variety of articles of interest to practitioners of all ilks...

Save the Date(s): 2009 National Institute on Class Actions Coming to a Coast Near You

Posted on September 07, 2009
The ABA’s 13th Annual National Institute on Class Actions, the gold standard in class action CLE conferences, is coming up this fall.  This year’s format is a little different.  They will be holding two sessions, one on each coast.  The dates and locations are: Friday, October 30, 2009 San Francisco, CA 8:00 AM ? 5:00 PM PT Friday, November [...

Class Actions Finally Come to Italy

Posted on July 10, 2009
A Securities Docket post today tipped me off to this Reuters article discussing the enactment of “Italy’s first law establishing class actions.”  The law will take effect January 2010 and will apply only to conduct occuring after the law’s effective date...

Expert Testimony and the Rigorous Analysis Standard

Posted on July 10, 2009
Economist David Gulley, Ph.D., of Navigant Consulting, has authored an informative white paper entitled Recent Trends in Rule 23 Class Certification Expert Analysis.  Dr. Gulley’s article explores the expanding role of experts and increased scrutiny over expert opinion testimony in class certification proceedings in light of recent federal appellate decisions placing renewed emphasis on the rigorous analysis standard...

In Defense of the BigLaw Blog

Posted on July 07, 2009
The guys at the Drug and Device Law Blog have a post outlining “six things we’ve heard” about why no lawyers from the ten most profitable law firms have blogs.  Perhaps wisely, the’ve chosen to stay out of the fray by commenting further...

Credit Crisis Litigation Trends

Posted on July 02, 2009
Jaclyn Jaeger of Compliance Week authored a comprehensive article published yesterday highlighting trends in credit crisis-related securities class action lawsuits.  The article summarizes a June 15, 2009, NERA Consulting report entitled “An Update on the Credit Crisis Litigation: A Turn Towards Structured Products and Asset Management Firms...

South Korea?s First Class Action

Posted on June 26, 2009
The Korea Times reported today that South Korea’s first ever class action has been given a preliminary approval to move forward, as a local court selected a private equity fund as representative plaintiff.  According to the article, the suit is the first filed under a South Korean securities class action law that was passed in 2005...

What if Contingent Fees Worked in Reverse?

Posted on June 25, 2009
CBC business columnist Michael Hlinka has this modest proposal for how to prevent class action abuse in Canada: make unsuccessful plaintiffs’ class action attorneys pay the defendant an amount equal to the amount of the contingent fees that they stood to earn if they had won...

U.S. Supreme Court Considers Class Action Issues

Posted on June 24, 2009
This month’s edition of BNA, Inc.’s Class Action Litigation Reporter (available by subscription) tipped me off to three interesting class action-related cases pending before the United States Supreme Court: 1) Morrison v. National Australia Bank, No...

What Will New Consumer Finance Agency Mean For Class Actions?

Posted on June 17, 2009
According to a story on NPR this morning, the Obama administration is pushing to turn over regulatory power currently within the jurisdiction of the Federal Reserve. One has to wonder whether the creation of a new consumer protection agency will have the effect of reducing class actions, either by preventing corporate misconduct or provoding [...

Judge Jack Weinstein on Judge Jack Weinstein

Posted on June 09, 2009
Senior U.S. District Court Judge Jack B. Weinstein (E.D.N.Y), has become well known for his often-cited and sometimes controversial opinions in mass tort and class action cases.  He recently authored a commentary in the Cardozo Law Review’s new online journal de novo on some of his key decisions in cases involving subjects ranging from Agent Orange, asbestos, and tobacco to breast [...

Dutch Class Action Settlement A Sign of Things to Come?

Posted on June 02, 2009
As reported by various news sources today and summarized in this entry from Ben Hallman at The Am Law Litigation Daily, a Dutch court has approved a settlement of claims of a class of institutional investors against Royal Dutch Shell.  The settlement was approved under a 2005 Dutch law that allows collective settlements on an opt-out basis, although it [...

Litigation Funding for Representative Shareholder Actions in India

Posted on June 02, 2009
According to this article by Anindita Dey of the Business Standard yesterday, an Indian securities regulator has announced plans to fund a program to reimburse litigation expenses actions brought on behalf of investors for alleged illegal securities practices...

Sticking it to the Man in Canada, Class Action Style

Posted on May 28, 2009
While we here in the U.S. continue to litigate class actions over snake oil products and 75 cent charges on our cell phone bills, Canadian class action lawyers have been finding ingenious ways to use class actions to effectuate real social change.  The latest example, according to FP Legal Post,  is a class action filed in B...

Supreme Court Appointee Sotomayor?s Judicial Record in Class Actions

Posted on May 27, 2009
After hearing and reading countless media reports today about how Supreme Court Appointee Sonia Sotomayor’s  judicial record will be scrutinized between now and her confirmation, I got to wondering about her judicial record in class actions.  My research turned up a few key cases on class action issues, which I have summarized below...

More on Sotomayor, Class Actions and Business

Posted on May 27, 2009
To follow up with yesterday’s CAB entry on Supreme Court Nominee Sonia Sotomayor, here are some key quotes from other entries  from around the web discussing her record in class actions and related litigation: Business Week:  ”When it comes to class-action lawsuits and securities-fraud cases, Sotomayor?s record holds as a pragmatist...

Predicting Claims Rates in Class Action Settlements

Posted on May 21, 2009
Thanks to Dan Trudeau of Rust Consulting for recommending a useful article authored by his colleague Tiffaney Allen entitled Anticipating Claims Filing Rates in Class Action Settlements.  The article is dated November 2008, but it was new to me.  The article provides only a basic summary of the many factors that can impact settlement claims rates, but it [...

California Supreme Court Issues Decision on UCL Standing Issues in In re Tobacco II Cases

Posted on May 19, 2009
The California Supreme Court today issued its highly awaited decision in In re Tobacco II Cases, No. S147345 (Cal., May 18, 2009).  The 4-3 majority opinion addressed two issues relating to standing in class actions filed under the California Unfair Competition Law (”UCL”): 1) the UCL “standing requirements are applicable only to the class representatives, and not all [...

Chinese Drywall Litigation: How Best to Protect Your Company

Posted on May 18, 2009
Baker & Hostetler’s products liability and construction litigation practice teams issued an Executive Alert today on class action and other litigation involving allegedly defective drywall manufactured in China.  This is a litigation trend that has been getting quite a bit of press lately...

How to Tell if Your Witness Is Lying

Posted on May 14, 2009
Although not directly related to class actions, Melanie Lindner of Forbes has an article today discussing tips on how to “sniff out a liar” that is worth reading for any litigator.  The article includes a link to a pictorial listing of simple tips on how to spot someone who is being less then honest...

Speeding Ticket? Don?t Just Fight it, File a Class Action

Posted on May 12, 2009
According to this story from the CBC News, a class action has been filed against the Canadian Province of Manitoba for its policies in issuing and prosecuting photo radar speeding tickets near construction areas.  The complaint alleges that the government violated the law by not placing signs properly to mark reduced speed zones and by attempting to enforce reduced speed [...

Save the Date - July 24 - Economic Crisis Litigation CLE

Posted on May 06, 2009
The Securities and Class Actions subsections of the Colorado Bar Association litigation are co-sponsoring a half-day CLE in connection with CLE Colorado, to be held the morning of July 24 at the CBA offices in Denver. The seminar will examine trends in litigation arising out of the current economic crisis in three key areas: securities, ERISA, [...

May 2009 Federalist Society Class Action Watch Now Available

Posted on May 06, 2009
The latest issue of the Federalist Society’s Class Action Watch is now up and available on the organization’s website.  Thanks to Randy Maniloff of White and Williams LLP, for the tip.  A synopsis of Maniloff’s own contribution to the issue, from the author himself, appears below...

Colorado Supreme Court Rejects ?Fraud on the Market? Theory in Consumer Insurance Class Action

Posted on April 27, 2009
The Colorado Supreme Court issued one of its most significant class action decisions in recent years today in Farmers Ins. Exch. v. Benzing, No. 07SC483 (Colo., April 27, 2009), rejecting the so-called “fraud on the market” theory of reliance and loss causation in an insurance class action...

Class Actions Make America Great

Posted on April 24, 2009
In the entertaining Free Refills and Why I Love America, Ann Arbor, Michigan blogger Wally has listed class actions as the number #11 best thing about living in the U.S., just behind the Super Big Gulp. Class action-philes might feel a bit slighted about not making the top 10, but at least we got a mention!  Wally’s colorful description of [...

Supreme Court Case Combines Issues of Education, Federalism, Separation of Powers, and Politics

Posted on April 21, 2009
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument Monday in a Horne v. Flores, a case that originated as a class action against the State of Arizona for insufficient funding of education for non-native-English speaking students.  For a report on the oral argument, see this AP article...

PWC Issues Annual Securities Class Action Report

Posted on April 16, 2009
PriceWaterhouseCoopers has published its 13th annual report on trends in private securities class actions.  The 2008 report offers a variety of statistics, trends, and insights into securities class action litigation from the past year.  Some of the statistical highlights include an overall increase in filings but a decrease in the number and amount of settlements...

American Lawyer: Trend in Subprime Securities Dismissals

Posted on April 15, 2009
No time for extended entry this evening, but here’s a link to a tidbit from Andrew Longstreth of the American Lawyer (via Law.com) discussing a possible trend in the federal courts ruling on motions to dismiss subprime-related securities class actions for failure by the plaintiffs to meet the scienter requirements under Tellabs...

LSI?s Litigating Class Actions Conference to Be Held in Seattle on May 7 and 8

Posted on April 09, 2009
I got an email the other day about LSI’s 5th Annual Litigating Class Actions conference.  I’ve been to this seminar in the past and thought it was very well done.  I can’t make it this year, but for anyone interested I thought I’d pass along the details: Litigating Class Actions - 5th Annual Conference May 7 & 8, 2009 Seattle, [...

?Class Actions in Canada?: the Source for Class Actions in Canada

Posted on April 09, 2009
The loyal reader will note that ClassActionBlawg covers class action trends in other parts of the world, including Canada.  But since I live about 1000 miles (or 1609.344 km) from Canada, and certainly have no license to practice law there, you have to take anything I say about trends in Canadian law with a huge grain of salt...

Can You Just ?Double it and Add 30? to Get to a Reasonable Fee Award?

Posted on April 08, 2009
According to SCOTUS Blog, the ABA Journal, and other sources (see the citations within Debra Cassens Weiss’s ABA Journal article), the U.S. Supreme Court has accepted certiorari in Perdue v. Kenny A., et al., Case No. 08-970.  The appeal involves an attorneys fee award to attorneys who successfully prosecuted a class action on behalf of thousands of foster children in Georgia’s [...

Judicial Council of California Report on Class Action Trends Released

Posted on April 08, 2009
Hilary Hehman, Senior Research Analyst, Office of Court Research, Judicial Council of California, offered the following comment today, which deserves its own entry: The Judicial Council of California just released the first in a series of reports detailing the findings of a study of class action litigation in California state courts...

Supreme Court of Canada Deals Setback to Nationwide Class Action Settlements

Posted on April 07, 2009
A colleague tipped me off today to the Supreme Court of Canada’s April 2 decision in Canada Post Corp. v. Lépine, 2009 SCC 16.  In that case, Canada’s high court upheld a lower court decision limiting the reach of a settlement class action filed in Ontario, purportedly on behalf of all residents of Canada other than residents [...

Could U.S. Deep Pockets Be Key to Expansion of Collective Actions in China?

Posted on April 03, 2009
ConsumerAffairs.com issued this report Tuesday about a “class action” lawsuit being considered in China against an American manufacturer for importing allegedly contaminated shampoo products into that country.  Recent attempts by Chinese litigants to seek a collective civil remedy in the Chinese courts against government-controlled Chinese companies for manufacturing allegedly tainted baby formula have met with serious government resistance (see various [...

Does Class Action Spell Doom for Pico-Blogging?

Posted on April 02, 2009
The newest Internet craze, “pico-blogging” may be over as soon as it started.  Lawyers representing two users of the popular pico-blogging site, www.a.com, filed a class action Wednesday accusing the site’s owners of fraud, copyright infringement, violations of the Colorado Consumer Protection Act, loss of consortium, and a variety of other legal transgressions...

CAB Showcase on Class Action-Related Print Materials

Posted on April 01, 2009
I finally found a few moments the other day to organize the teetering stack of professional journals, magazines, and flyers that had been piling up in my inbox.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that the most recent issue of the ABA Commercial & Business Litigation section’s Winter newsletter is a collection of articles focusing on [...

Class Certification Means ?Everything? for Baltimore Arrestees

Posted on March 24, 2009
According to Tricia Bishop of the Baltimore Sun, a U.S. District Court Judge has certified a class of people who allegedly have been subject to being detained and strip-searched by officials in Baltimore’s Central Booking and Intake Center.  Bishop quotes the attorney for the class, William Claiborne, as saying that the decision means “everything” to arrestees because [...

Securities Class Actions on the Rise in Australia?

Posted on March 19, 2009
An article by Karina Barrymore published March 16, 2009 in heraldsun.com offers some interesting insights into trends in securities class action litigation in Australia.  The article discusses the impact of the poor economy and the increasing interplay between securities regulators, plaintiffs’ firms, and litigation funders in fostering an environment ripe for securities class actions...

Where?d CABWR Go?!

Posted on March 16, 2009
A perfect storm of work, family, and other professional obligations have left me with less time than I would like to dedicate to this blog, so I’ve had to give up the Class Action Blogosphere Weekly Review columns for the short term.  Hopefully CABWR will be back this summer...

Forbes: Market Downturn Hasn?t Boosted Securities Class Action Business

Posted on March 15, 2009
Forbes.com published an insightful article on March 11, 2009 discussing trends in securities class action lawsuits.  Citing statistics from the Stanford Securities Class Action Clearinghouse, the article discusses various factors that may explain why the total amount of securities class action settlements has fallen from $16...

Want to Cash in on the Next Class Action Settlement? Save Those Receipts

Posted on March 03, 2009

Gibson Dunn & Crutcher Report Offers Nice Summary of Class Action Trends from 2008

Posted on February 27, 2009

Strong Article on International Class Arbitration

Posted on February 24, 2009
Many thanks to University of Missouri Law Professor Stacie I. Strong for the following tip about her article on international class arbitration.  If you’re interested in developments in either class arbitration or international class action law, this article is a must read: Your readers may be interested in an article on international class arbitration that was [...

Legislator Says Interlocutory Appeals of Class Certification Orders Key to California Economic Recovery

Posted on February 19, 2009
According to the Daily Pilot and the California Chronicle, a California lawmaker has introduced a bill, AB 298, to allow defendants to file interlocutory appeals of class certification decisions.  The bill’s sponsor, Assemblyman Van Tran, has authored a guest blog post on The California Civil Justice Blog explaining the objectives behind the bill, which include helping [...

Could Korean Serial Killer Class Action Be Worth Billions?

Posted on February 17, 2009
According to South Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo, families of five victims have filed a “class-action” against a confessed serial killer, seeking to recover more than a billion won.  The eye-catching amount sought in the case loses some of its “wow” factor when one considers that a billion won, translated into U...

Is There Hope Yet for Group Lawsuit in Chinese Tainted Milk Case?

Posted on February 12, 2009
A February 12 article by Dune Lawrence on Bloomberg.com offers several keen insights into the legal and political challenges  facing a group of victims seeking collective relief in the Chinese courts for injuries caused by melamine-tainted milk last year...

New CADS Report Highlights International Class Action Litigation Trends

Posted on February 11, 2009
I just received my quarterly issue of the ABA Class Actions and Derivative Suits Committee (CADS) Newsletter.   The Winter 2009 issue features several articles on trends in international class action law, highlighted by Class Actions San Frontiers, an article authored by three Canadian panelists from a presentation of the same name from November’s ABA National [...

Reader Mail: ?Do You Think this is for Real??

Posted on February 06, 2009
I got the following query by email yesterday from Erik Cansler of Class Action Administration, Inc., probably my most loyal reader (maybe my only loyal reader), and got his permission to share with the world.  Unfortunately, I can’t confirm the story, but I can say that other reputable blogs, such as Overlawyered, seem to have picked it up, maybe [...

Word of Advice for European Class Action Reformers?

Posted on February 05, 2009
Laptop Legal’s “Class Action Thought for the Day” looks to West’s “Headnote of the Day” as food for thought for those considering the expansion of class actions in Europe and the former Soviet Union: Purpose of a class action is to simplify the resolution of complex litigation, not complicate it...

Second Circuit Strikes Down Class Arbitration Waiver Provision

Posted on February 02, 2009
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably already heard about the Second Circuit Court of Appeals’ opinion on class arbitration waivers in In re: American Express Merchants’ Litigation.  But in case you’re as out of the loop as I have been over the past week, the court has posted a copy of the slip opinion on [...

Class Action News Tidbits

Posted on January 29, 2009
I’m still on the road with plans to return to Denver later today, but in the interest of keeping the loyal reader completely up to date on the latest in class action news, here are a couple of quick items: This Vancouver Sun article summarizes a NERA Consulting report on trends in securities class action litigation continues to [...

The Examiner On Tort Reform

Posted on January 28, 2009
I’m on the road this week with limited time to blog, but for those of you who are desparate for class-action related news and opinion, here are a pair of interesting op-eds about tort reform issues from The Examiner: First, this editorial by Quin Hillyer discusses efforts in several states to pass tort reform measures that [...

Class Action Blogosphere Weekly Review

Posted on January 23, 2009
Here are some blog posts from the week that was that might be of interest to class action practitioners: Class Action-Related Post of the Week Debbie Schlussel does not think too much of a class action settlement offering “victims” free makeup and perfume that the named plaintiffs’ claimed cosmetics companies cheated them out of in an alleged price-fixing [...

Seyfarth Shaw Report Tracks Trends in Workplace Class and Collective Actions

Posted on January 21, 2009
Karen Sloan authored this January 21 article in The National Law Journal (available at Law.com) summarizing a recent report by Chicago employment defense firm Seyfarth Shaw summarizing trends in employment-related class and collective actions in 2008...

Another Attempt at Collective Redress for Victims of Tainted Milk in China

Posted on January 21, 2009
Here is a follow up on a story of interest to anyone following the development of class and collective action procedures in developing markets.  As reported yesterday by the Winston-Salem Journal a new product liability lawsuit has been filed against 22 dairies in the Supreme People’s Court in Beijing on behalf of alleged victims of baby formula tainted with the [...

Class Action Blogosphere Weekly Review

Posted on January 16, 2009
CABWR is finally back after a three week holiday hiatus!  Here are some blog posts from the week that was that might be of interest to class action practitioners: Class Action Decisions CAFA Law Blog discusses a Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decision addressing jurisdiction under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) before reversing class certification in a case [...

Strategies for Pursuing Appellate Review Under FRCP 26(f)?Or Not

Posted on January 15, 2009
If my recent post about the upcoming January 20, 2009 Class Action Law Monitor/Strafford Publications CLE on Rule 23(f) appeals didn’t convince you to sign up, perhaps this preview of the speakers and topics will: I.                   Key features of Rule 23(f) (Barry Sullivan, Partner, Jenner & Block, Chicago) A...

Intriguing Online Resource Provides a Forum for Sharing Information about Judges

Posted on January 12, 2009
Every once in a while I actually open one of those seemingly hundreds of spam emails that I get from legal publishers each week.  Today, I had the even rarer occasion to come across one that was advertising a resource I might actually use.  The resource in question is a website called The Robing Room, operated by North Law Publishers, Inc...

Wherefore, the Plaintiff Class Asks that the Defendant Be Imprisoned for a Term of Not Less than 100 Years

Posted on January 08, 2009
In a sign that plaintiffs’ class action lawyers are becoming more powerful than ever, the following quote appeared in an article in today’s issue of The Economic Times: Class actions are very strong in the US and are pretty serious in terms of penalties and imprisonment...

Register Now for the Most Exciting CLE Program on Rule 23(f) Appeals Ever

Posted on January 07, 2009
If you’re looking for a fun-filled way to spend a Tuesday lunch hour and need CLE credits, check out Strafford Publications’ upcoming CLE Teleconference Rule 23(f) Class Certification Appeals: Strategies for Pursuing or Opposing Appellate Review in the Absence of Clear Standards...

Securities Class Action Trends in the US and Australia

Posted on January 05, 2009
As we welcome in the first full business week of 2009, two news sources have recent stories discussing trends in securities class action litigation from 2008.  First, the Wall Street Journal Blog reports that 2008 saw an increase in securities class action filings...

Third Circuit Examines Impact of the Rigorous Analysis Standard on Conflicting Expert Testimony

Posted on December 31, 2008
Shannon P. Duffy of The Legal Intelligencer has authored an article summarizing the Third Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision in In re Hydrogen Peroxide Antitrust Litigation, No. 07-1689 (3d Cir., Dec. 30, 2008), which the article calls a “ruling that is sure to be required reading for antitrust lawyers...

2008 Recap of Class Action Decisions and Trends, America Votes

Posted on December 30, 2008
As the new year approaches, everyone seems to be doing a “top ten” list for 2008, so of course, ClassActionBlawg has to have one too.  However, this “top ten” list has two improvements.  First, the rankings will be decided by reader vote...

Seasons Greetings from ClassActionBlawg

Posted on December 23, 2008
I’ve decided to take a week away from the blogosphere while I focus on family obligations during Christmas.  ClassActionBlawg will be back with more class action-related content next week. In the meantime, my very best wishes to everyone during this holiday season...

AAJ Weighs in on ?Judicial Hellholes?

Posted on December 18, 2008
The AAJ hasn’t published a “generous dispensers of recompense” list to compete with the ATRA’s list of “judicial hellholes,” as I very seriously suggested yesterday.  But the AAJ did send an email response to Robert J...

Where Not to Get Sued

Posted on December 17, 2008
Legal Blog Watch has a new post from Robert J. Ambrogi up today summarizing the latest edition of the American Tort Reform Association’s annual “Judicial Hellholes” rankings for 2008-09 (see the link on the executive summary page for the full report)...

Class Action Blogosphere Weekly Review

Posted on December 17, 2008
Here are some blog posts from the week that was that might be of interest to class action practitioners: Top Stories that Are Hopefully Not Indicative of Class Action Trends Overlawyered reports on a courtroom fistfight between two lawyers pursuing rival class action suits against the same defendant: http://overlawyered...

And Now, for Something Completely Different?

Posted on December 16, 2008
If you’re looking for a refreshing story about a class action settlement that isn’t all about money, the LA Times has a story for you.  This article by Teresa Watanabe recounts the history of a series of class actions brought against the U...

Recap of CBA Class Actions Subsection CLE on Class Arbitration

Posted on December 16, 2008
If you’re a Colorado attorney who didn’t make it to the quarterly CLE luncheon sponsored by the CBA class actions subsection, you missed out.  Dirk W. de Roos and O. Russel Murray gave excellent presentations on developments in class arbitration...

Class Action Blogojevich Weekly Review

Posted on December 11, 2008
Here are some blog posts from the week that was that might be of interest to class action practitioners: Class Action-Related Post of the Week Kudos to the folks at Drug and Device Law Blog on their excellent review, with the help of O’Melveny’s John Beisner, of the most recent draft of ALI’s Principles of Aggregate Litigation: http://druganddevicelaw...

?Public Nuisance Class Actions? Clarified

Posted on December 11, 2008
Thomas R. Bender, who blogs on Nuisance Law, recently posted an article entitled Pollution vs. Lawful Product: Nuisance vs. Non-Nuisance, which clarifies some nuances and distingushing characteristics between the Rhode Island Supreme Court?s decision in Rhode Island v...

Local Governments Consider Predatory Lending Suits

Posted on December 09, 2008
In the wake of the Wall Street meltdown, recent press on subprime mortgage class action litigation has focused on securities class actions and cases involving subprime investments.  Less has been written about trends in class actions seeking redress for alleged predatory lending practices...

CAFA Makes Strange Bedfellows of Trial Lawyers and Strict Constructionists

Posted on December 05, 2008
Mark Moller of the Cato Institute posted this commentary today arguing that true originalists should not be so quick to extol the virtues of the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (CAFA), which is often hailed as a conservative victory in tort reform.  Moller and various other conservative commentators argue that the Act, which expands the statutory grant of [...

No CABWR This Week, But Here?s a Tidbit

Posted on December 04, 2008
Given that it took me until Saturday to get last week’s Class Action Blogosphere Weekly Review out, I plan to wait until next week to do the next one.  In the meantime, here’s an interesting tidbit that Werner Kranenberg of With Vigour & Zeal  tipped me off to earlier in the week...

Colorado Supreme Court Hears Argument in ?Fraud on the Market? Consumer Class Action

Posted on December 04, 2008
The Colorado Supreme Court held oral argument today in the case of Farmers Insurance Exchange v. Benzing, No. 07SC483.  Audio of the argument is now available at the Colorado Supreme Court’s website.  Among the issues in the case is whether the “fraud on the market” theory, and other presumptions of reliance recognized in securities cases, applied [...

Beware of Class Action Scam, But Get Cash Now!

Posted on December 04, 2008
Local Phoenix ABC affiliate KNXV-TV has a report today about a consumer scam in which people are told that they are eligible for money in a class action.  The scam involves individuals being contacted by telephone to tell them that they are part of a class action lawsuit and are entitled to recover hundreds or thousands [...

ClassActionBlawg Is Now Tweeting

Posted on December 02, 2008
I didn’t realize that I was getting left behind in the Twitter revolution until recently, but no longer.  ClassActionBlawg is now feeding to Twitter.  (For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, you will soon).  I have added a link to my Twitter page, @classaction, as well as the Twitter RSS feed...

Consumers Don?t Benefit from UK Collective Actions. So How Exactly Does that Make them Different from US Class Actions?

Posted on December 01, 2008
UK legal publication The Lawyer has an interesting article out today for anyone tracking trends in class and collective action reform across the pond.  According to the article, Which?, a consumer organization granted the right to pursue collective redress on behalf of consumers harmed by conduct declared to have violated antitrust laws, isn’t convinced that it would [...

Class Action Blogosphere Weekly Review

Posted on November 29, 2008
CABWR Challenge of the Week Recap I’m very disappointed to have to report that last week’s “Lay Down the Gauntlet” Challenge of the Week did not generate a single vote or comment.  This means that I must arbitrarily assign a label for class actions filed against institutional investors for failing to make a claim in another class [...

Lloyd?s/RAND Report Covers Key Trends in International Class Action Litigation

Posted on November 25, 2008
Lloyd’s, in cooperation with RAND Europe and the RAND Institute of Civil Justice (ICJ), has issued an intriguing report on trends in transnational class action litigation and related topics entitled Litigation and Business: Transatlantic Trends...

Balancing Ease of Participation and Fraud Prevention in Class Action Settlements

Posted on November 24, 2008
Class action settlements are often criticized because claim verification requirements can seem onerous and seemingly intended to create a disincentive for class members to participate.  However, here is a story that may illustrate the legitimate rationale for including strict claims verification requirements...

Comment on dit ?public nuisance? en Québécois?

Posted on November 22, 2008
“Public nuisance” environmental class actions have not fared well in the U.S. recently, but apparently not so in Canada.  Close on the heels of the Rhode Island Supreme Court’s decision in Rhode Island v. Lead Industries Association, the Supreme Court of Canada has affirmed a Quebec Superior Court’s finding of liability based on the theory that a company’s emissions [...

Class Action Blogosphere Weekly Review

Posted on November 20, 2008
Class Action Blawgosphere Review “Lay Down the Gauntlet” Challenge of the Week In Monday’s ClassActionBlawg entry, I commented about the possibility of “nested” class actions, or class actions seeking damages for breach of fiduciary duty for failing to make a claim in another securities class action...

New Federalist Society Class Action Watch Available

Posted on November 20, 2008
The October 2008 issue of the Federalist Society’s Class Action Watch is now available for free download at the organization’s website (see link to the March 2008 issue here).  This installment includes articles on punitive damage limits, medical monitoring, the selection of lead counsel in securities class actions, product-based public nuisance cases, the impact of conflicts of state law on [...

ABA Journal Seeks Help with Legal Job Market Survey

Posted on November 18, 2008
I don’t have time for a full entry this evening because I’m off to the Sixth Annual Judicial Excellence in Colorado Dinner this evening, where my friend and role model, Denver County Court Judge Alfred C. Harrell, is among the honorees. However, the ABA Journal sent the following request to blawgers signed up on its Blawg Directory today, [...

Class Action Exposure for Failing to Claim Benefits in a Class Action Settlement?

Posted on November 17, 2008
According to Sundeep Tucker of the Financial Times, a recent study by the Goal Group, a UK-based “class action services specialist,” found that Asian institutional investors were not taking advantage of settlement funds available in U.S. securities class action settlements...

Collective Suit Filed over Tainted Milk in China After All

Posted on November 14, 2008
Chinese lawyers have decided to pursue a collective action against the government-owned manufacturer of milk that sickened tens of thousands of people earlier this fall.  As discussed in this October 1, 2008 ClassActionBlawg entry, victims and their lawyers were slow to turn to the courts for redress due at least in part to pressure from government officials that pursue redress through [...

Class Action Blogosphere Weekly Review

Posted on November 13, 2008
Here are some blog posts from the (2) weeks that were that might be of interest to class action practitioners: Responses to the October 29 CABWR ?Lay Down the Gauntlet? Challenge of the Week Many thanks to Walter Olson at Point of Law for posting a link to the “Lay Down the Gauntlet” Challenge of the Week from the last [...

California Labor Law?s Extraterritorial Reach

Posted on November 13, 2008
Baker Hostetler’s Employment and Labor Group issued an Executive Alert today on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ wage and hour decision in Sullivan et al. v. Oracle Corporation, (case no. 06-56649), where the court found that California state overtime rules apply to non-residents who perform work in California...

CBA Class Actions Subsection to Hold CLE Program on Class Arbitration

Posted on November 12, 2008
I’m pleased to report that the Colorado Bar Association Class Action, Derivative Suits, and Mass Torts Subsection has scheduled its Fall 2008 CLE Luncheon for December 16.  Dirk de Roos of Faegre & Benson will speak on class arbitration waivers and O...

Rare Class Trial Results in Verdict for Retired NFL Players

Posted on November 11, 2008
Here is a quick update to a class-action-related story that you may have been following over the past few months. (See CABWR entries dated September 9 and October 15).  According to an AP article published in the San Fransisco Chronicle and various other sources, a federal jury in San Fransisco has rendered a verdict in favor of a [...

Notes from the 12th Annual National Institute on Class Actions

Posted on November 08, 2008
As promised, here are some highlights of my notes from Friday’s 12th Annual National Institute on Class Actions: What are the Hot Trends in Class Actions? Following an introduction from Tydings & Rosenberg partner and National Institute on Class Actions founder and John B...

No Class Certification in Hepatitis C Exposure Case

Posted on November 06, 2008
A Nevada state court judge has denied class certification in a lawsuit filed by endoscopy patients who sought damages for emotional distress after being exposed, although not infected, to the blood-borne illness hepatitis C by a health clinic that used contaminated medication...

Class Action Blogosphere Weekly Review Will Be Back Next Week

Posted on November 06, 2008
My apologies for not posting this notice sooner, but I will not be doing a Class Action Blogosphere Weekly Review this week.  I am in New York for the 12th Annual ABA National Institute on Class Actions.  I’ll be posting a summary of some of the news, tips, and trends discussed during the conference for [...

Time Out for a Little Flag Waving

Posted on November 05, 2008
Forgive the overly sentimental, off-topic diversion, but I couldn’t let this night go by without commenting on how proud this evening’s events have made me to be an American and renewed my faith in our political system and our people. Both candidates showed the characteristics that we should always be lucky to see in our choices for President...

Debate Continues over Controversial Korean Class Action Law

Posted on November 03, 2008
Anyone who thinks that class actions are only good for allowing the powerless to take on the powerful, think again.  In Korea, some argue that the opposite is happening.  The Korea Times published an update today on a story involving a law that the ruling party is looking to enact to combat acts of protest...

Class Action Blogosphere Weekly Review

Posted on October 30, 2008
Class Action Blogosphere Weekly Review’s “Lay Down the Gauntlet” Challenge of the Week I know this is going to make me sound like Ayn Rand, but why would we possibly want to encourage a public policy that imposes liability on employers for failing to force all of their hourly employees not to work during meal and rest breaks? I sense that there [...

CABWR Addendum ? Spam Class Actions

Posted on October 30, 2008
In my haste in getting the CABWR out yesterday, I omitted a couple of interesting class-action-related posts from Spam Notes.  For those of you on the email distribution list, hopefully you’ll see the humor in getting spam about spam: http://spamnotes...

Second Circuit Unwilling to Reject ?Foreign Cubed? Class Actions Categorically

Posted on October 28, 2008
For those interested in the internationalization of class action law, be sure to read the Second Circuit’s decision in Morrison v. National Australia Bank Ltd., 2008 WL 4660742 (2d Cir. Oct. 23, 2008).  (Thanks to  The 10b-5 Daily and Point of Law for tipping me off to the decision)...

Robin Hood as a Lawyer?s Role Model

Posted on October 27, 2008
AP writer Greg Risling reported today on the sentencing of former Milberg Weiss partners Steven Schulman and David Bershad for their roles in a scheme involving the payment of kickbacks to plaintiffs in securities class actions.  Both lawyers were sentenced to six month prison terms...

The Perfect Video Game for Anyone Fed Up with Class Action Lawyers

Posted on October 24, 2008
I shouldn’t encourage this, but I just couldn’t resist.  OTS Software offers a free game called “Class Action Killers,” which it describes as follows: Class Action Killers is a 3D 3rd-person shooter game. Attorney Max Fees has dispatched his lethal lawyers to destroy the city...

Class Action Blogosphere Weekly Review

Posted on October 23, 2008
Here are some blog entries from the week that was that might be of interest to class action practitioners: Class Action Art? In one of the more original class action-related blog postings ever featured in the CABWR, Artist Izhar Cohen has created a graphic description of an Israeli court’s recent class action ruling in a case filed against [...

Politics and Class Action Reform

Posted on October 20, 2008
This evening, I came across an excellent blog article by David J. Sales, a trial lawyer with the Florida personal injury firm, Searcy Denney.  His article discusses Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama’s vote in favor of the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 and the significance of that vote in demonstrating an independent streak, allowing him to counter John McCain’s claim to being the [...

Will UK Damages Ruling Put a Damper on Collective Action Reform?

Posted on October 16, 2008
Efforts to expand access to collective redress in the UK have been the subject of several recent entries here at ClassActionBlawg (see these entries dated October 9, September 1, and August 28).  According to an article published today in the Times Online, a British appellate court has dealt a setback to reformers by rejecting theories of damages considered [...

?Not Enough Class Action Suits?

Posted on October 15, 2008
The Jerusalem Times published an interesting op-ed article today praising a Tel Aviv court’s decision in a consumer class action.  The case arose out of allegations that the defendant had knowingly used a carcinogenic silicon compound to line its milk cartons...

Who?s Reading?

Posted on October 15, 2008
WordPress has added a nift new polling feature, so I thought I’d try it out.  Let’s find out who’s reading ClassActionBlawg.  Please click all options that apply.       

Class Action Blogosphere Weekly Review

Posted on October 15, 2008
Here are some blog entries from the week that was that might be of interest to class action practitioners: Class Action Blog Post Title of the Week CAFA Law Blog’s entries often make me chuckle, but here is one that had me rolling for some reason (probably lack of sleep due to late night blogging): “Plaintiff Gets [...

Trends in Subprime Crisis Class Action Litigation

Posted on October 13, 2008
Magnified by the most recent credit crisis, subprime mortgage litigation continues to be a hot topic among those following developments in class actions.  Peter Page of the National Law Journal authored an interesting article, published today, discussing the most recent wave of lawsuits stemming from the ugly recent turn in the subprime mortgage crisis...

Class Action Blogosphere Weekly Review

Posted on October 09, 2008
Here are some blog entries from the week that was that might be of interest to class action practitioners: Class Action-Related Post of the Week Rebecca Tushnet’s 43(B)log provides a nice overview of a Massachusetts federal court’s decision to certify two multi-state subclasses of consumers in a case against pharmaceutical companies for allegedly inflating the Average Wholesale Prices (AWPs), used in establishing reimbursement schedules under [...

Does an Opt-Out Collective Action Scheme Spell Doom for Businesses in the UK?

Posted on October 09, 2008
Fullbright & Jaworski International attorneys Antony Corsi and Ian Pegram authored an article published yesterday in the Times Online discussing whether proposed opt-out collective action procedures are likely to lead to huge increases in litigation costs for companies doing business in the UK and due to a rash of frivolous class actions...

Pair of Upcoming CLE Programs to Focus on International Group Litigation Issues

Posted on October 08, 2008
If you’re interested in following international developments in class action law, there are a couple of upcoming ABA CLE programs that might be of interest.  Unfortunately, the are both scheduled for the same weekend, so you’ll have to choose: The 12th Annual National Institute on Class Actions is scheduled for November 7 at the New York Marriott [...

Governmental Immunity from Negligence Claims an Issue in Recent U.S. and Canadian Class Action Rulings

Posted on October 06, 2008
Class action suits against governmental agencies in the U.S. and Canada for alleged negligence saw mixed results in a pair of recent rulings this past week, with a favorable ruling for the plaintiffs from a federal trial court in Louisiana and a ruling for the government by an appellate court in Ontario...

Class Action Blogosphere Weekly Review

Posted on October 02, 2008
A bout of the stomach flu delayed this week’s CABWR, but better late than never.  Here are some blog entries from the week that was (plus a few days) that might be of interest to class action practitioners: Class Action-Related Post of the Week This entry from Wage Law about a conversation overheard between two judges in a coffee [...

Tainted Milk Case Excentuates Differences Between Chinese and American Tort Law

Posted on October 01, 2008
The Christian Science Monitor published an interesting article on September 22 exploring the reasons why the scandal involving melanine-tainted milk that has killed at least four children and sickened tens of thousands more in China has not resulted in the flood of litigation that the incident would have caused in the United States...

AAA Website Offers Helpful Class Arbitration Resources

Posted on September 30, 2008
During a reception yesterday, I met Lance Tanaka, local Denver representative of the American Arbitration Association (AAA), who tipped me off to AAA’s class arbitrations page.  The site has several great public resources for anyone interested in class arbitration rules or cases, including: AAA’s general Commercial Arbitration and Mediation rules The Supplementary Rules for Class Arbitrations The organization’s Policies on Class Arbitrations Searchable [...

Seventh Circuit: TILA Rescission Claims Are Not Suitable for Class Action Treatment

Posted on September 26, 2008
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals’s highly anticipated Truth In Lending Act (TILA) class action decision in Andrews v. Chevy Chase Bank, No. 07-1327 (7th Cir., Sept. 24, 2008) was finally issued Wednesday.  The court reversed the district court’s class certification decision and joined the First and Fifth Circuit Courts of Appeals in holding that the TILA’s rescision remedy (at the [...

Beware of Post-Certification Communications with Class Members

Posted on September 25, 2008
The blog Wait A Second!, which covers civil rights issues in the Second Circuit, posted a synopsis today of a recent New York federal court decision in which a class action defendant was sanctioned as a result of communications with class members following a class certification order...

Class Action Blogosphere Weekly Review

Posted on September 24, 2008
Here are some blog entries from the week that was that might be of interest to class action practitioners: Class Action Decisions The UCL Practitioner quotes a recent California Court of Appeal decision reversing a trial court’s order denying class certification on the ground that the court had not allowed pre-certification discovery of the identity of possible replacement [...

UK Pension Funds an Increasingly Key Player in Securities Litigation Abroad, Association Reports

Posted on September 24, 2008
Wales Online reported today on the increasing number of UK pension funds taking part as a lead plaintiff or “active participant” in securities class actions, which have to be pursued in other countries since the UK does not currently have a class action procedure...

Climate Change and Class Actions

Posted on September 22, 2008
An article yesterday in the Australian newspaper The Age quotes Australian “climate change lawyer” Renee Garner as predicting a trend in securities class actions for companies’ failure to disclose information about their carbon output, information that she says will arguably impact on a company’s value given the likely implementation of a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme in Australia...

Shivar Me Timbarrs, The Alien Tort Claims Act Isn?t Just for Pirates Anymore

Posted on September 19, 2008
Ahoy, Maties!    In honour of Talk Like a Pirate Day, I’d lyke to present ye with a bit o’ pirate law trivia.  No, I’m not talking about software or media piracy.  I mean authentic buccaneers of the Blackbeard variety, aaaarrrrr. Did you know that the Alien Tort Claims Act, which has been used successfully over the past few years to [...

Will New Federal Rule of Evidence 502 Actually Reduce Litigation Costs?

Posted on September 18, 2008
Anyone who practices in the area of class actions is no doubt intimately familiar with the complex issues and potential pitfalls involved in the discovery of electronic data.  As reported by the National Law Journal (through Law.com), Congress has passed legislation designed to create a new Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 502, which is intended to [...

Class Action Blogosphere Weekly Review

Posted on September 17, 2008
Here are some blog entries from the week that was that might be of interest to class action practitioners: Class Action Decisions For a “brief” commentary on a case addressing the removability under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) of a class action counterclaim by a plaintiff/counterclaim defendant, see this guest commentary from Dallas attorney Jonathan Bridges on CAFA [...

5 Blogs & 5 Blawgers

Posted on September 10, 2008
“A good fortune may forebode bad luck, which may in turn disguise good fortune.”  - Chinese Proverb I’ve been sent the blogging equivalent of a chain letter.  The kind folks at Drug and Device Law Blog have tagged ClassActionBlawg.com with an Internet Meme (if you don’t know, click the link–It was the first I’d heard of such a thing)...

Class Action Blogosphere Weekly Review

Posted on September 10, 2008
Here are some blog entries from the week that was that might be of interest to class action practitioners: Class Action Decisions Law and Insurance discusses a recent Texas Supreme Court decision holding that a duty to defend was triggered in the context of class actions in which the plaintiffs argued that an alleged product defect in [...

Not So Fast: The Push to Internationalize Securities Class Actions Hits a Bump in the Rue

Posted on September 08, 2008
In late July, I commented on a possible trend in courts allowing foreign investors to be included as class members in securities class actions filed in U.S. courts.  At the time, the primary decision allowing foreign investors to be included in an opt-out securities class was In re Vivendi Universal, S...

Class Actions as a Weapon to Stifle Democracy?

Posted on September 08, 2008
A few weeks ago, I commented on legislation proposed in Korea that would allow people harmed by public protests to bring class action lawsuits against the protesters.  On Friday, progressive Korean newspaper The Hankyoreh published an editorial criticising the proposal as anti-democratic effort to squelch peaceful dissent...

Technically Speaking, You don?t ?Join? a Class Action

Posted on September 04, 2008
As someone who reads a lot of news articles about class action lawsuits, I see a lot of technical misstatements by the media in reporting on the mechanics of class action procedure.  To most casual readers, these errors may not be that important to the overall story about a particular lawsuit, so the distinctions that I [...

Class Action Blogosphere Weekly Review

Posted on September 02, 2008
Here are some blog entries from the week that was that might be of interest to class action practitioners: Class Action Decisions The UCL Practitioner provides a summary of recent decisions in several U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals involving the standards for approving class action settlements and fee awards...

Claims-Made Settlements In Consumer Class Actions

Posted on June 12, 2008
This article on claims-made settlements appeared originally in the guest column section of the March 10, 2008 issue of ProductLiabilityLaw360.  Under the submission guidelines, I retain copyrights to the article, but I was required to wait at least three months before reprinting the article elsewhere...

Class Action Blogosphere Weekly Review

Posted on June 11, 2008
Here are some blog postings from the week that was that might be of interest to class action practitioners.  The topic headings may or may not be a permanent addition to this weekly column.  They made sense this week given logical groupings in the topics being discussed around the blogosphere...

Class Action Lawyers Losing their ?Good Guy? Image?

Posted on June 10, 2008
Washington Post columnist has David Ignatius published a great op-ed last week regarding the downfalls of high-profile plaintiffs’ class action lawyers Melvyn Weiss and Dickie Scruggs.  The column appears in the June 5 edition of the Post under the title Reining in the Kings of Tort and in the June 6 edition of the Indianapolis [...

Check out this great directory of online legal research tools

Posted on June 06, 2008
Genie Tyburski, a law librarian for the firm of Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll and web manager for the site www.virtualchase.com, has put together a nice list of online legal research tools available for litigators entitled “10 Essential Web Sites for Litigators...

Get The ?Official? Perspective on CAFA Notice to Appropriate Government Officials

Posted on June 05, 2008
The Class Actions, Derivative Suits, and Mass Torts subsection of the Colorado Bar Association has scheduled its inaugural CLE luncheon for June 25, 2008 at noon at the CBA offices in Denver.  The topic will be “appropriate” government official notification of federal class action settlements under the Class Action Fairness Act, 28 U...

Class Action Blogosphere Weekly Review

Posted on June 04, 2008
It’s that time of the week already.  Here are some blog postings from the past week that might be of interest to class action practitioners.  The fallout from several plaintiffs’ class action corruption scandals took center stage in the class action blogosphere this week...

Did You Ever Wonder Where Class Actions Came From?

Posted on June 03, 2008
If you are new to class action law or even if you are a seasoned class action practitioner, you may be curious about the origins and history of class actions.  Below you will find a sampling of articles available on the Internet that trace the history of class actions from medieval England to the 1966 amendment to [...

CBA Class Action Subsection Update

Posted on May 30, 2008
Last night we held our first official event of the newly formed Class Actions, Derivative Suits, and Mass Torts Subsection of the Colorado Bar Association’s Litigation Section.  A dozen or so class action and mass tort lawyers from around the Denver metro area attended our cocktail function, and by all accounts the event was a [...

I Hear their Toilets Also Flush in the Opposite Direction

Posted on May 29, 2008
I came across this article today from Australian news outlet The Age regarding proposed class action reforms being considered in the Australian Federal Court.  Among the possible reforms reportedly being considered is a measure “restricting an appeal on an interlocutory issue until the entire case is heard...

Class Action Blogosphere Weekly Review

Posted on May 28, 2008
Here are some blog entries of interest to class action practitioners from the week that was. It’s been a big week for blog postings on CAFA removal decisions… … after a bit of a hiatus, CAFA Law Blog is back with a rollicking review of the latest in CAFA removal decisions from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals [...