ClassActionBlawg.com

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

Class Action Decisions

The Complex Litigator and The UCL Practitioner offer analysis of a recent California class certification decision addressing a variety of issues, including ascertainability of the class, evaluation of the merits in ruling on class certification, commonality and predominance:

http://www.thecomplexlitigator.com/2008/08/certification-d.html

http://www.uclpractitioner.com/2008/08/new-class-cer-1.html

Class Action Defense Blog provides a synopsis of a Second Circuit Court of Appeals decision upholding the district court’s order reducing a negotiated fee award from 8.5% to 3% in a securities class action settlement:

http://classactiondefense.jmbm.com/2008/08/class_action_defense_casesin_r_115.html

CAFA Law Blog summarizes a Massachusetts state court decision that looked to provisions of the federal Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) in rejecting a coupon settlement, recognizing that while CAFA did not apply expressly in the state court proceeding, its provisions reflected “mainstream” concerns with coupon settlements:

http://www.cafalawblog.com/-case-summaries-judge-says-chew-on-this-in-disapproving-settlement-in-smokeless-tobacco-class-action.html

Mass Tort Defense reviews a recent decision by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri denying certification of a class of rice farmers claiming damages resulting from genetically modified rice contamination (synopsis also provided by Class Action Defense Blog, cited in last week’s CABWR):

http://www.masstortdefense.com/2008/08/articles/mdl-court-rejects-class-action-in-genetically-modified-rice-litigation/

Consumer Advertising Law Blog discusses a Fifth Circuit decision reversing class certification in a case involving allegations of unsolicited faxes in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA):

http://www.consumeradvertisinglawblog.com/2008/08/the-fax-of-the-matter-court-holds-that-consumer-protection-case-not-proper-for-class-certification.html

Florida Appellate Blog discusses a recent Florida state court decision addressing the practice of “picking off” a class representative by offering to settle for the full amount of his or her claim in an effort to moot the class action:

http://www.floridaappellateblog.com/2008/08/ucc-notice-requirements-and-picking-off-a-class-representative-is-not-condoned.html

Dispatch Monthly Magazine reports on a federal court’s decision to grant class certification to a class of police dispatchers in a case challenging department regulations for returning to work after sick or injury leave:

http://www.911dispatch.com/db/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1996

HousingBath.com discusses the denial of class certification in a lawsuit filed against a condominium developer by purchasers seeking to void their contracts due to alleged defects in the building:

http://housingbath.com/2008/08/daily-soak-august-25.html

TortsProf Blog comments on an article from the Legal Intelligencer (reprinted at www.Law.com) discussing a ruling by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals reversing the dismissal, on preemption grounds, of a consumer class action against a manufacturer for alleged failure to warn about the dangers of mercury in tuna:

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/tortsprof/2008/08/mercury-in-tuna.html

Class Action News

More from American Thinker, Death by 1000 Paper Cuts, National Review Online’s The Corner, Libertyville, Under the Dome, Spencer Blog, and LukeFord.net on Warren Buffett’s recent suggestion that contributors file a class action against John Edwards for concealing his extramarital affair (See ClassActionBlawg.com entry here)…

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2008/08/buffett_suggests_edwards_suppo.html

http://deathby1000papercuts.blogspot.com/2008/08/john-edwards-campaign-refunds-more.html

http://libertyville.wordpress.com/2008/08/25/buffet-calls-for-class-action-on-edwards/

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YTIyMDI3ZGUzZmNkZGI0ZWE2ZWUzOGNlMDc4ZmMzNzg=

http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/buffett_says_donors_should_sue_edwards

http://www3.allaroundphilly.com/blogs/delcotimes/gils/2008/08/buffett-on-edwards-sue-em.html

http://lukeford.net/blog/?p=3966

… with follow up from NewsBusters.org and Perfunction regarding efforts by Edwards to refund contributions to just one of his “Two Americas” (Spoiler: it’s the one with the class action lawyers in it, not the one with Buffett’s proposed class action plaintiffs):

http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/p-j-gladnick/2008/08/25/web-scoops-msm-edwards-refunds-contributions-one-his-americas

http://perfunction.typepad.com/perfunction/2008/08/coda-john-edwar.html

Class Action Commentary

Legal Theory Blog summarizes an article by Vanderbilt Law Professor Richard A. Nagareda with the fairly self-explanatory title, “Class Certification in the Age of Aggregate Proof”:

http://lsolum.typepad.com/legaltheory/2008/08/nagareda-on-cla.html

Mass Tort Litigation Blog provides an abstract and link to an article by Michigan law student Patrick Luff criticizing the weighing of the costs and benefits that could result from certifying a class in making a class certification decision:

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/mass_tort_litigation/2008/08/new-scholarship.html

Overlawyered comments on a curious case of forum shopping where plaintiffs’ counsel was successful in pursuing a nationwide class action filed in Oklahoma seeking to apply Texas law after a Texas court had previously rejected the same claims, holding that Texas law did not permit the type of nationwide class that the plaintiffs sought to pursue:

http://overlawyered.com/2008/08/the-inverted-federalism-of-grider-v-compaq/

Nonlawyer Commentary

See this www.eHow.com article for a non-lawyer’s perspective on the practical aspects of starting a personal injury class action lawsuit:

http://www.ehow.com/how_4491550_personal-injury-class-action-lawsuit.html

And if you are looking for one consumer’s viewpoints on participating in a class action settlement, see this entry from Queercents:

http://www.queercents.com/2008/08/22/are-class-action-lawsuits-worth-your-time-and-money/

Legal Ethics

Wage Law has posted a request from the California State Bar for public comment on a proposed ethics rule regarding “Offers of Settlement Conditioned on Client’s Waiver of Statutory Right to Seek Attorney’s Fees”:

http://wagelaw.typepad.com/wage_law/2008/08/public-comment-sought-on-proposed-ethics-rule.html

Class Action Trends

Apparently www.SueEasy.com is still alive and going strong, according to these entries from WebWare and MakeUseOf.com:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10020627-2.html?part=rss&subj=Webware

http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/sueeasy-file-complaint-class-action-lawsuit/

Class Action News

Sagwatch Blog reports on the setting of a trial date in a class action filed by former NFL players against the NFL Players Association seeking payments under a group licensing agreement:

http://blog.sagwatch.net/2008/08/25/sept-22-trial-date-set-in-players-inc-lawsuit/

International Class Action Law

Point of Law comments on a unique feature of British law that allows investors to purchase an ownership interest in litigation and examines the challenges of allowing a similar mechanism in the United States:

http://www.pointoflaw.com/archives/2008/08/beyond-continge.php

The D&O Diary comments on what NERA has called “the largest settlement in a class action securities case in Canadian history,” the relationship between the Canadian case and the U.S. subprime crisis, and its potential impact on trends in subprime litigation in the U.S.:

http://www.dandodiary.com/2008/08/articles/subprime-litigation/subprime-litigation-a-glimpse-of-the-end-game/

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