A recent article by Ann Woolner of Bloomberg offers an interesting profile of class action pioneer William Lerach, who has been traveling the world and relaxing in his seaside mansion since his release from prison last year. Lerach was convicted in 2007 for his part in a kick-back scheme in which lawyers agreed to split fees with clients in order to convince [...]
Posts Tagged ‘class action reform’
Disgraced Class Action Lawyer Enjoying the Good Life
Posted in Class Action News, class action reform, tagged class action, class action reform, tort reform, scandal, lerach, fee splitting, kick-back, milberg, coia, enron on October 26, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Mexico Joins the Class Action Club
Posted in International Class Action Law, tagged class action reform, collective action, international class action, latin america class action, mexican class action, mexican collective action, mexico on September 6, 2011 | 1 Comment »
On Friday afternoon, I received a comment to a December post entitled Are Class Actions About to Make a Run for the Border? that deserved a more conspicuous mention. The comment came from Mexican attorney Jorge de Hoyos Walther, who had the following update on the status of legislation in Mexico introducing collective actions: In April 2011 [...]
Schonbrun: Are Statutory Penalty Class Actions WMDs?
Posted in class action reform, Commentary, tagged class action, class action criticism, class action reform, class action watch, conspicous, FACTA, fcra, schonbrun, statutory penalty, weapons of mass destruction on March 1, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Class Action Watch executive director Lawrence W. Schonbrun has an opinion piece in yesterday’s Huffington Post entitled The Class Action Mess in a Nutshell. In the article, he questions whether the same “weapons of mass destruction” label that Warren Buffet gave to financial derivatives should apply equally to class action lawsuits. As an example, he offers a [...]
Minnesota House Considering Significant Consumer Class Action Reform Measures
Posted in Class Action News, class action reform, Commentary, tagged class action reform, consumer, consumer class action, consumer fraud, deceptive trade practices, democratic farmers labor party, minnesota, tort reform, unfair competition on February 10, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
According to this February 8, 2011 article from Lee Ann Schultz of the Twin Cities Daily Planet, the Minnesota legislature is considering a bill that, according to its sponsors, would curtail consumer class action litigation in the state. The bill, HF211, has three key provisions of interest, which would: limit private actions under three consumer protection statutes to [...]
Are Class Actions About to Make a Run for the Border?
Posted in class action reform, Class Action Trends, International Class Action Law, tagged class action reform, International Class Action Law, latin america class action, mexican class action, mexico class action on December 15, 2010 | 3 Comments »
According to this December 9, 2010 Bloomberg article from Adriana Lopez Caraveo and Jens Erik Gould, the Mexican Senate has passed a bill that would introduce a form of class action litigation to Mexico. According to the article: The bill, which now moves to the lower house, would allow Mexicans to bring class action suits against companies [...]
The Seventh Circuit is Serious, All Writs Act Allows District Court to Enforce Collateral Estoppel Effect of its Class Certification Denial – Or – Don’t $%#& with Posner
Posted in class action reform, Class Action Settlements, Class Action Trends, tagged all writs act, blackmail settlement, class action abuse, class action reform, Class Action Settlements, collateral estoppel, posner, sears, sears class action, sears dryer, stainless, thorogood on December 2, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
In a case rife with lessons, a lawyer learned another valuable one today: If you’re going to dish out the vitriol in your briefing with certain judges, be ready to be put in your place. The case of Thorogood v. Sears Roebuck & Co. is already famous for the suggestion made by plaintiffs’ counsel in oral [...]
California Class Action Bill “Died at Desk”
Posted in Class Action News, class action reform, rule 23, tagged california class action, california class action bill, california class action rule, class action reform, class action rule, rule 23 on March 16, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
A proposed bill to amend the California Code of Civil Procedure to create a class action rule similar to Rule 23, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, has apparently failed for the time being. Among other things, ABX8 38 would have replaced Code of Civil Procedure Section 382 with a rule setting forth more specific, statutory prerequisites to class certification, similar to [...]
Long Live the Reversionary, “Claims-Made” Settlement
Posted in Class Action Settlements, Commentary, tagged claims made settlement, class action reform, class action settlement, cy pres, reversion, reversionary settlement on February 23, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
The other day, a colleague tipped me off to a December 2009 blog posting by Oakland, California employment and civil rights attorney Bryan Schwartz entitled Death to the Reversionary, “Claims-Made” Settlement, a thoughtful, well-written article with which I completely disagree and to which I felt compelled to respond. Schwartz is critical of what he alternatively calls [...]
UK Facing Identity Crisis in Class Action Debate?
Posted in Class Action Legislation, Class Action News, class action reform, International Class Action Law, tagged class action reform, european class action, International Class Action Law, opt out collective action, uk class actions, UK collective action on August 31, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Anyone interested in curious in an outsider’s critique of the U.S. class action system should be following the debate over the adoption of an opt-out collective action scheme in the U.K. Opponents of opt-out collective actions point to the “looniness” of the American system as a reason why not to adopt a similar scheme. Proponents [...]


Warding Off “Professional” Objectors to Class Action Settlements
Posted in class action reform, Class Action Settlements, Commentary, Practice Tips, tagged class action, class action reform, class action settlement, collusion, objection, predatory, professional objector, settlement notice on March 31, 2011 | 3 Comments »
Legal commentator and unabashed crusader for class action reform, Lawrence W. Schonbrun, has a new article on The Huffington Post discussing so-called “professional” objectors in class action lawsuits. Schonbrun criticizes what he believes is hypocrisy in plaintiffs’ class action lawyers attempting to vilify those who seek to object to class action settlements for profit because, in his view, many class [...]
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