Litigation

Pella v. Saltzman

By Ted Frank

In Pella v. Saltzman, the Seventh Circuit took a surprising view of the appropriateness of class certification. The defendants have petitioned for certiorari.

Last week, the National Association of Home Builders, Window and Door Manufacturers Association, the National Association of Manufacturers, the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, the American Architectural Manufacturers Association, and the Center for Class Action Fairness filed an amicus brief in support of the petition.

An argument that we did not make that I wish we did: when district court judges certify unworkable class actions, it's not just defendants who want to settle. Class attorneys don't want to force the case into an unworkable trial, either, because they risk decertification if the judge wakes up. And that hurts consumers, because the class attorneys then have every incentive to agree to a settlement that pays their fees while leaves the class in the cold. The only winners when a district court makes this sort of bad certification decision are the lawyers.

Full post as published by Point of Law on October 18, 2010 (boomark / email).