Class Action

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...

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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 [...

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