ClassActionBlawg.com

Here are some blog entries from the week that was that might be of interest to class action practitioners:

 

Class Action Decisions

 

Here is a great new entry from North Carolina Business Litigation Report summarizing a recent NC supreme court decision that addresses several interesting Rule 23 issues, including pre-certification dismissal without court approval and full faith and credit issues surrounding foreign states’ class certification decisions and settlement approvals.

 

http://www.ncbusinesslitigationreport.com/2008/07/articles/class-actions/full-faith-and-credit-and-class-actions/

 

The UCL Practitioner is back after a brief hiatus with an excellent summary of a recent California decision addressing pre-certification rights of putative class representatives.

 

http://www.uclpractitioner.com/2008/07/new-decision–1.html  

 

CAFA Law Blog provides a rendition of Led Zeppelin’s “When the Levee Breaks,” re-mixed with a bit of CAFA removal local controversy exception law.

 

http://www.cafalawblog.com/-case-summaries-everyone-raise-their-lighters-and-sing-together-the-immortal-words-of-led-zeppelin.html

 

Wage Law has a thorough review of a recent California Court of Appeal decision upholding the validity of a municipal “living wage” ordinance in a class action seeking payment of the wages due under the ordinance.

 

http://wagelaw.typepad.com/wage_law/2008/07/hayward-living-wage-ordinance-upheld.html

 

Illinois Construction Blog comments on a recent decision addressing third party claims against a contractor who installed a credit car system payment at the premises of the vendor being sued in a would-be class action for violations of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA).

 

http://www.illinoisconstructionblog.com/2008/07/a-construction-contracts-ambig.html

 

Shaw Valenza LLP’s Blawg addresses a recent California decision granting a pre-certification motion to strike a plaintiff’s class allegations, a case addressed by other blogs in recent weeks (see July 1, 2008 CABWR).

 

http://shawvalenza.blogspot.com/2008/07/pre-certification-motion-to-strike.html

 

Mass Tort Litigation Blog provides a summary and link to a slip opinion by the New Mexico Supreme Court upholding certification of a multistate insurance class action.

 

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/mass_tort_litigation/2008/07/new-mexico-high.html

 

Several blogs, including Wallet Pop, Overlawyered, and Class Reactions commented on the decision of an Indiana trial court to grant class certification in a fraud case brought against the Hoosier Lottery.  (see my entry here).

 

http://www.walletpop.com/2008/07/10/indiana-lottery-sued-over-misleading-advertising

http://overlawyered.com/2008/07/indiana-lottery-class-action-certified/

http://classreactions.com/?p=48

 

Consumer Law and Policy Blog comments on the recent Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals decision holding that “less” means “less” for the purpose of interpreting the provision of CAFA permitting appeals of decisions to remand in cases removed under the Act…

 

http://pubcit.typepad.com/clpblog/2008/07/seventh-circuit.html

 

…and more on the same decision from Class Action Defense Blog:

 

http://classactiondefense.jmbm.com/2008/07/cafa_class_action_defense_case_17.html

 

300-Page Class Certification Discussion Drafts

 

This post from Drug and Device Law Blog provides a quite-a-bit-more-concise summary of a 291-page “discussion draft” of a federal court’s class certification decision in a RICO case involving claims by third-party payors against a drug company.

 

http://druganddevicelaw.blogspot.com/2008/07/bridge-to-zyprexa.html

 

Class Action Trends

 

The D&O Diary reports on trends in options backdating class action lawsuits:

 

http://www.dandodiary.com/2008/07/articles/options-backdating/blast-from-the-past-a-new-options-backdating-lawsuit/

 

Commentary

 

The Modern Woman’s Divorce Guide offers a commentary critical of the filing and settlement of a class action against an auctioneer for sending unsolicited faxes.

 

http://www.themodernwomansdivorceguide.com/blog/2008/07/a-lawsuit-like-many-that-gives-lawyers-a-bad-name-justifiably

 

Ellen Brown provides a commentary on her website webofdebt.com discussing the subprime mortgage crisis and the potential for “[m]assive class action suits by defrauded borrowers” under the Truth in Lending Act (TILA).

 

http://www.webofdebt.com/articles/bracing-storm.php

 

Electronic Discovery

 

The Complex Litigator has been following closely an e-discovery dispute and related public relations issues arising out of a lawsuit between Viacom and Google involving alleged copyright violations by users of the popular website YouTube.  Although the case is not a class action, the e-discovery issues in this case are similar to those that often arise in the class action context.

 

http://www.thecomplexlitigator.com/2008/07/google-and-viac.html

http://www.thecomplexlitigator.com/2008/07/viacom-in-frene.html

http://www.thecomplexlitigator.com/2008/07/google-offers-e.html

 

International Class Action Law

 

Canadian law blog, The Court, comments on a recent class action decision by the Supreme Court of Canada addressing the use of private tort law to redress individual harms allegedly caused by the government acting outside the scope of its authority.

 

http://www.thecourt.ca/2008/07/14/holland-v-saskatchewan-had-the-potential-to-fundamentally-change-the-rules-of-the-game-2/

 

Class Action Scandals

 

Horse racing blog Paulick Report provides an update on story about the link between a decorated racehorse and two Kentucky lawyers whose trial for wire fraud arising out of a fen-phen class action settlement ended with a deadlocked jury last week.

 

http://www.paulickreport.com/blog/the-week-that-was-july-6-12/

 

Here’s a link to the latest update in the trial from the WSJ Law Blog (through Mass Tort Litigation Blog)

 

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2008/07/10/jury-foreman-in-fen-phen-prosecutors-didnt-do-their-job-correctly/

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/mass_tort_litigation/2008/07/update-on-kentu.html

 

Class Action Legislation and Reform

 

Point of Law provides continuing commentary on the FISA Amendments Act, passed by Congress and signed into law last week, which provides immunity to telecommunications companies from pending civil class action lawsuits:

 

http://www.pointoflaw.com/archives/2008/07/just-to-wrap-things-up-on-fisa.php