ClassActionBlawg.com

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

Class Action Art?

In one of the more original class action-related blog postings ever featured in the CABWR, Artist Izhar Cohen has created a graphic description of an Israeli court’s recent class action ruling in a case filed against a milk container manufacturer in his blog My Window (see CAB entry discussing the decision here):

http://izharcohen.wordpress.com/2008/10/20/297/

Class Action Decisions

The Complex Litigator and Wage Law break the news on the California Supreme Court’s decision to grant a petition for review in the wage and hour class action case, Brinker v. Superior Court:

http://www.thecomplexlitigator.com/2008/10/breaking-news-p.html

http://wagelaw.typepad.com/wage_law/2008/10/supreme-court-to-review-brinker.html

Also see The Complex Litigator for this commentary on a California Court of Appeal decision reversing de-certification of a class action brought under the California Unfair Competition Law (UCL) based on the ascertainability of class members:

http://www.thecomplexlitigator.com/2008/10/court-reverses.html

The UCL Practitioner summarizes a California Court of Appeal decision addressing the distribution of funds set aside to pay class action settlement awards in a claims-made settlement (See CAB entry discussing claims-made settlements here), when the parties have not agreed to a specific method for dealing with those funds…

http://www.uclpractitioner.com/2008/10/new-class-action-settlement-decision-cundiff-v-verizon-california-inc.html

…and a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision discussing choice of law issues in a case involving the enforceability of a class arbitration waiver clause:

http://www.uclpractitioner.com/2008/10/ninth-circuit-opinion-on-no-class-action-arbitration-clauses-hoffman-v-citibank-south-dakota-na.html

ContractsProf Blog reports on a New York appellate court decision upholding the denial of a motion to dismiss in a would-be class action filed against a credit card company over alleged improper disclosure of gift card fees:

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/contractsprof_blog/2008/10/gift-card-class.html

Phoenix New Times blog Valley Fever discusses a federal court’s ruling in favor of a class of inmates challenging the constitutionality of their treatment and the conditions at the Maricopa County, Arizona jail:

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2008/10/breaking_fed_judge_rules_again.php

The Overtime Blog discusses a wage and hour class certification decision discussing the information that the defendant was required to produce in order to assist the plaintiff to update address information for class members:

http://overtimelaw.blogspot.com/2008/10/northern-district-of-illinois-court.html

CAFA Law Blog has an uncharacteristically serious analysis of a case highlighting the importance of a putative class definition in determining whether jurisdiction exists under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA):

http://www.cafalawblog.com/-case-summaries-class-definition-can-be-the-determinative-factor-in-deciding-cafa-diversity-jurisdiction.html

Class Action Defense Blog offers a synopsis of a Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decision reversing class certification in a case under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), holding that the plaintiff could not prove lack of consent to receive fax advertisements on a class-wide basis:

http://classactiondefense.jmbm.com/2008/10/class_action_defense_casesgene.html

International Class Action Law

China Business Law Blog and China Law Blog both comment on a New York Times article discussing the challenges facing efforts to seek redress in China’s courts from injuries allegedly caused by the recent tainted milk scandal.  (See previous CAB entry here):

http://chinabusinesslawblog.com/?p=60

http://www.chinalawblog.com/2008/10/chinas_courts_and_tainted_milk.html

Class Action (and Related) Commentary

Point of Law offers analysis of a challenge to the constitutionality of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, which permitted the U.S. Attorney General to seek dismissal of pending class actions against telecommunications companies for their roles in cooperating with a federal surveillance program:

http://www.pointoflaw.com/archives/2008/10/back-in-court-f.php

FP Legal Post expresses disgust over a battle between Canadian class action firms over the right to represent the plaintiff class in a settlement with a life insurance company:

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/legalpost/archive/2008/10/16/battle-over-class-action-clients-disgusting.aspx

Mass Tort Litigation Blog comments on and makes a request for input on the phenomenon of Internet forums dedicated to communication between mass tort claimants and their attorneys:

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/mass_tort_litigation/2008/10/query-on-messag.html

North Carolina Business Litigation Report explains some of the nuances of a shareholder class action filed in the North Carolina Business Court seeking to enjoin a bank merger:

http://www.ncbusinesslitigationreport.com/2008/10/articles/class-actions/shareholder-class-action-filed-in-north-carolina-business-court-to-enjoin-wachoviawells-fargo-merger/

Class Action News

Classified summarizes recent class action-related news:

http://www.carltonfields.com/classactionblog/blog.aspx?entry=242

The Am Law Daily and the NLJ Legal Pad/LA report on the filing of a class action lawsuit under the federal WARN Act and various state wage laws by several former employees against the recently dissolved international law firm Heller Ehrman:

http://amlawdaily.typepad.com/amlawdaily/2008/10/heller-faces-cl.html

http://www.lalegalpad.com/2008/10/three-laid-off-heller-ehrman-employees-file-class-action-complaint-against-the-firm.html

Love Note Press reports on a plea from a Singapore politician for investors not to file securities class action suits against failing banks:

http://lovenotepress.com/2008/10/22/low-thia-khiang-urges-affected-investors-not-to-file-class-action-suits-against-banks/

… and more on the story and related news from The Online Citizen:

http://theonlinecitizen.com/2008/10/wp-concerned-about-class-action-suitby-investors/

Overlawyered comments on an Australian newspaper’s report on a class action against the International Olympic Committee, asserting that the organization failed to act quickly enough in taking action against a website that was using its trademarks to scam ticket purchasers:

http://overlawyered.com/2008/10/bogus-olympic-ticket-scam/

Class Action Trends

The D&O Diary provides an update on the latest in litigation filed in the wake of the global financial crisis and government bailout:

http://www.dandodiary.com/2008/10/articles/subprime-litigation/global-bailouts-us-lawsuits/

E-Tips discusses trends in decisions on the enforceability of class arbitration waivers in various jurisdictions in the U.S. and Canada:

http://www.dww.com/?p=1353

Gabe’s Guide to the e-Discovery Universe describes a harrowing escape from a hurricane and throws in some tidbits on e-discovery and subprime litigation trends:

http://gabesguide.com/?p=1064