Class Action

Recent federal decision on classwide reliance: Wiener v. Dannon Co.

Posted on February 27, 2009

Judge Brick's "Guidelines on Preliminary Approval of Class Action Settlements"

Posted on February 26, 2009
This blog post mentioned that Alameda County Superior Court Judge Steven A. Brick has a handout on preliminary approval motions, including compliance with the Court of Appeal's recent decision in Kullar v. Foot Locker Retail, Inc., 168 Cal.App.4th 116 (2008)...

California Channel to televise argument in In re Tobacco II Cases

Posted on February 26, 2009
Yesterday, the Supreme Court granted The California Channel's request for extended media coverage in In re Tobacco II Cases, no. S147345. The California Channel's website does not mention Tobacco yet, but presumably they will provide coverage on their cable station...

Class Action issue of CAOC Forum

Posted on February 25, 2009
The January/February 2009 issue of Forum, the magazine of Consumer Attorneys of California, is devoted to the topic of class actions. It includes these articles: "California Class Action Classics" by Elizabeth J. Cabraser (a must-read for anyone who practices in...

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Will Stern's Rutter Group UCL seminar next week in San Francisco and Los Angeles

Posted on February 24, 2009
Every year, Will Stern, author of the leading UCL practice guide, presents a live UCL seminar in conjunction with the Rutter Group. This year, his co-speakers are Justice H. Walter Crosky of the Second Appellate District, Division Three, and Sharon...

Rehearing petition filed in Meyer v. Sprint Spectrum

Posted on February 23, 2009
On February 17, 2009, a petition for rehearing was filed in the Supreme Court CLRA case, Meyer v. Sprint Spectrum, no. S153846. The opinion is available here: Meyer v. Sprint Spectrum L.P., ___ Cal.4th ___, 2009 WL 197560 (Jan. 29,...

"Adopting Wikis in Law Firms"

Posted on February 21, 2009
Yesterday, Law.com had an interesting article on how attorneys can effectively use wikis to create a collaborative reference work for their firm.

Recent federal UCL preemption decision: Lockwood v. Conagra Foods, Inc.

Posted on February 20, 2009
The plaintiffs' claim in Lockwood v. Conagra Foods, Inc., ___ F.Supp.2d ___, 2009 WL 250459 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 3, 2009) is that "defendant engages in misleading conduct by advertising its 'Healthy Choice' pasta sauce as 'all natural' when in fact...

Ninth Circuit withdraws opinion in Sullivan v. Oracle Corp. and certifes questions to California Supreme Court

Posted on February 17, 2009
Today, the Ninth Circuit issued an order withdrawing its opinion in Sullivan v. Oracle Corp., 547 F.3d 1177 (9th Cir. 2008), and certifying these three questions to the California Supreme Court under Rule of Court 8.548: First, does the California...

"Wal-Mart wins chance to block class-action suit"

Posted on February 16, 2009
Saturday's San Francisco Chronicle reported on the Ninth Circuit's order granting en banc rehearing in Dukes v. Wal-Mart (discussed in this blog post from Friday). Now that en banc rehearing has been granted, what happens next? Paragraph (3) of the...

"Dan Harris ? A Flavorful Blawgger"

Posted on February 14, 2009
Happy Valentine's Day! Mister Thorne of Set in Style (a blog on legal writing) has an interesting interview with Dan Harris, author of China Law Blog. The interview has some great advice and thoughts on law blogging.

Supreme Court activity this week: Harper v. 24 Hour Fitness and Kullar v. Foot Locker Retail

Posted on February 13, 2009
This week, the Supreme Court took action in two cases involving class certification issues. In both cases, it allowed the Court of Appeal opinions to stand: The Court denied review in Harper v. 24 Hour Fitness, Inc., 167 Cal.App.4th 966...

BREAKING NEWS: Ninth Circuit grants en banc rehearing in Dukes v. Wal-Mart, Inc.

Posted on February 13, 2009
Today, the Ninth Circuit granted en banc rehearing in Dukes v. Wal-Mart, Inc., in which the three-judge panel (with one judge dissenting) affirmed an order granting class certification of plaintiffs' gender discrimination claims under Title VII. Dukes v...

New class-certification-related opinion: Cristler v. Express Messenger Systems, Inc.

Posted on February 12, 2009
In Cristler v. Express Messenger Systems, Inc., ___ Cal.App.4th ___ (Jan. 23, 2009; pub. ord. Feb. 11, 2009), the Court of Appeal (Fourth Appellate District, Division One) declined to reverse an order denying the plaintiff's motion to amend the class...

"Hydrogen Bomb"

Posted on February 11, 2009
Professor Linda S. Mullenix of the University of Texas School of Law has an article in today's Recorder on the Third Circuit's recent class certification decision, In re Hyrdogen Peroxide Antitrust Litigation, ___ F.3d ___, 2008 WL 5411562 (3d Cir....

Chief Justice George recused from panel in In re Tobacco II Cases

Posted on February 10, 2009
According to the Supreme Court's oral argument calendar notice, Justice Eileen C. Moore of the Fourth Appellate District, Division Three, will be sitting in place of Chief Justice George in In re Tobacco II Cases, no. S147345. A quick Westlaw...

New Second Circuit opinion on "no-class-action" arbitration clauses: In re American Express Merchants' Litig.

Posted on February 09, 2009
On January 30, 2009, the Second Circuit refused to enforce a "no-class-action" arbitration clause in a contract between American Express and merchants who accept AmEx cards. In re American Express Merchants' Litig., __ F.3d ___ (2d Cir. Jan. 30, 2009)...

Recent Fifth Circuit American Pipe tolling decision: Taylor v. United Parcel Service

Posted on February 06, 2009
Class action junkies, take note. The Fifth Circuit handed down a new opinion on American Pipe tolling just before the end of the year. Taylor v. United Parcel Service, Inc., ___ F.3d ___ (5th Cir. Dec. 30, 2009). [Via Wage...

New UCL public prosecutor decision: People v. iMergent, Inc.

Posted on February 05, 2009
In People v. iMergent, Inc., ___ Cal.App.4th ___ (Jan. 20, 2009), the Court of Appeal (Second Appellate District, Division Six) upheld a preliminary injunction prohibiting the defendants from violating the UCL and the Seller Assisted Marketing Plan ("SAMP") Act (Civ...

MORE BREAKING NEWS: Oral argument set in CLRA case, Fairbanks v. Superior Court

Posted on February 04, 2009
Thanks to the blog reader who pointed out that yet another case of interest has been set for argument during the first week of March. In Fairbanks v. Superior Court, no. S157001, the Supreme Court will consider whether insurance is...

UCL/CLRA case filed against Coca-Cola based on alleged misrepresentations about VitaminWater

Posted on February 03, 2009
You may have read news reports (such as this one from Law.com) about the false advertising case recently filed in the Northern District of California against Coca-Cola Co. for its VitaminWater product. Here is a copy of the complaint. It...

Deadline to apply for State Bar Executive Committees extended to Feb. 17, 2009

Posted on February 03, 2009
I have been reliably informed that the deadline to submit your application (including letters of recommendation) to become a member of the Executive Committee of the State Bar's Antitrust and Unfair Competition Law Section (as well as the other Sections)...

BREAKING NEWS: Oral argument scheduled on Prop. 64 issues in In re Tobacco II Cases

Posted on February 03, 2009
Today, the Supreme Court scheduled the oral argument in In re Tobacco II Cases, no. S147345. The argument will take place on Tuesday, March 3, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. in San Francisco. As I'm sure you all know, these are...

The UCL Practitioner now available on Amazon for Kindle users

Posted on February 02, 2009
Those of you with Kindle devices may now subscribe to The UCL Practitioner via Amazon and take the blog with you wherever you go. Appropriately, I will receive royalties on any such subscriptions (the bargain price is $0.99/mo.). Sometimes, I...

More coverage of Meyer v. Sprint Spectrum

Posted on January 30, 2009
Today's Recorder reports that "CLRA Suits Require Actual Injury" (subscription). The article begins: More than four years ago, California voters passed Proposition 64, limiting suits filed under the state's unfair competition law to individuals actually injured by someone else's illegal...

Reminder: Apply by Feb. 2 for the State Bar Antitrust and UCL Executive Committee

Posted on January 30, 2009
As a reminder, this coming Monday, February 2, 2009, is the deadline to submit your application (including letters of recommendation) to become a member of the Executive Committee of the State Bar's Antitrust and Unfair Competition Law Section. See this...

Landmark Supreme Court CLRA decision: Meyer v. Sprint Spectrum L.P.

Posted on January 29, 2009
The Supreme Court's opinion is now up in Meyer v. Sprint Spectrum L.P., ___ Cal.4th ___ (Jan. 29, 2009). It holds that Civil Code section 1780(a) creates a standing requirement even for CLRA injunctive relief cases, and that plaintiffs lacked...

BREAKING NEWS: Supreme Court to hand down Meyer v. Sprint Spectrum decision tomorrow

Posted on January 28, 2009
The Supreme Court just announced that tomorrow, it will hand down its eagerly-anticipated decision in Meyer v. Sprint Spectrum, no. S153846, in which the Court will interpret the CLRA. When the opinion is posted at approximately 10:00 a.m. tomorrow morning,...

New Ninth Circuit UCL "safe harbor" opinion: Hauk v. JP Morgan Chase Bank USA

Posted on January 28, 2009
In Hauk v. JP Morgan Chase Bank USA, ___ F.3d ___ (Jan. 23, 2009), the Ninth Circuit held that the defendant's compliance with the Truth-in-Lending Act (15 U.S.C. §§1601-1667f) and Reg. Z (12 C.F.R. Part 226) did not create a...

New UCL "unlawful" prong decision: Lu v. Hawaiian Gardens Casino, Inc.

Posted on January 27, 2009
In Lu v. Hawaiian Gardens Casino, Inc., ___ Cal.App.4th ___ (Jan. 22, 2009), the Court of Appeal (Second Appellate District, Division Three) held that claims for violation of certain Labor Code provisions could proceed under the UCL's "unlawful" prong, even...

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