Class Action

New Song-Beverly Class Action Filings Slashed In Half Yet Retain Top Spot Among Weekly Class Actions Filed in California State And Federal Courts

By Michael J. Hassen

To assist class action defense attorneys anticipate the types of cases against which they will have to defend in California, 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 time frame. This report covers the time period from March 11 - 17, 2011, during which time 81 class actions were filed in these courts. The effect of the California Supreme Court's Song-Beverly opinion continues to be felt, as it precipitated the filing of another 21 new class actions alleging violations of Song-Beverly -- well below the 43 Song-Beverly class actions filed during the last reporting period, but representing 26% of the total number of new class actions filed during this reporting period and good enough to hold onto the top spot among class actions filed during the past week. The only other categories to break the 10% threshold involved class actions alleging labor law claims, which came in a close second with 18 new class actions (22% of the total number of new class actions filed) and violations of California's Unfair Competition Law (UCL), which includes false advertising claims, with 14 new filings (17% of the total number of new class actions filed).

Full post as published by Class Action Defense Blog on March 19, 2011 (boomark / email).