Here are some blog posts from the week that was that might be of interest to class action practitioners:
Class Action-Related Post of the Week
Kudos to the folks at Drug and Device Law Blog on their excellent review, with the help of O’Melveny’s John Beisner, of the most recent draft of ALI’s Principles of Aggregate Litigation:
http://druganddevicelaw.blogspot.com/2008/12/umm-what-he-said.html
Class Action Decisions
Securities Docket summarizes and links to the latest decision from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York discussing federal jurisdiction in a “foreign cubed” securities class action:
http://www.securitiesdocket.com/2008/12/01/sdny-dismisses-vodafone-securities-class-action-for-lack-of-subject-matter-jurisdiction/
Class Action Defense Blog discusses a pair of Federal district court decisions in class actions involving claims under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA):
http://classactiondefense.jmbm.com/2008/12/class_action_defense_cases_ste.html
http://classactiondefense.jmbm.com/2008/12/fdcpa_class_action_defense_cas_11.html
North Carolina Business Litigation Report discusses a North Carolina federal court’s decision denying a motion for a preliminary injunction and discusses other developments in a class action seeking to enjoin a high profile bank merger:
http://www.ncbusinesslitigationreport.com/2008/12/articles/class-actions/nc-business-court-denies-motion-for-preliminary-injunction-in-wachoviawells-fargo-merger-case/
The Complex Litigator offers a synopsis of a California Supreme Court decision addressing the availability of punitive damages in wage and hour class actions:
http://www.thecomplexlitigator.com/2008/12/for-the-moment-california-law-is-clear-no-punitive-damages-for-violations-of-labor-code-provisions-r.html
The UCL Practitioner provides a link to the latest in California Court of Appeal decisions addressing the injury-in-fact requirement for standing under the Unfair Competition Law (UCL) after Proposition 64:
http://www.uclpractitioner.com/2008/12/new-ucl-standing-decision-troyk-v-farmers-group-inc.html
Wage Law offers a synopsis of a California decision discussing the impact of practical difficulties in ascertaining class membership on the viability of class certification in a wage and hour case:
http://www.californiawagelaw.com/wage_law/2008/12/harper-v-24-hour-fitness.html
Class Action News
Spam Notes discusses and provides a link to the complaint in a putative class action seeking liability against an Internet company for allegedly violating the Washington State gift card law by removing credits from customers’ “stored value accounts” due to inactivity:
http://spamnotes.com/2008/12/08/class-action-filed-against-skype-for-wa-gift-card-violations.aspx
WDSU.com reports on a class action against the City of New Orleans challenging the constitutionality of using automated cameras to catch drivers who run red lights:
http://www.wdsu.com/news/18215832/detail.html?rss=no&psp=news
Mercury News discusses an order by a California federal judge certifying a class in a case against a collection firm for alleged unlawful threats in bad check notices to debtors:
http://www.mercurynews.com/localnewsheadlines/ci_11139841?source=rss
The Wall Street Journal Law Blog provides details on an unsealed indictment of defendants accused of participating a conspiracy to collect class action settlement proceeds using forged documents and fake companies. (See previous ClassActionBlawg commentary on the story here):
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2008/12/03/class-action-fraud-alive-and-well-philly-prosecutors-say/
Class Action Scholarship
Mass Tort Litigation offers links variety of interesting scholarly articles on class action-related issues, including this abstract of an article by Tanya Monestier of Queen’s University entitled Personal Jurisdiction Over Non-Resident Plaintiffs in Multi-Jurisdictional Class Actions: Have We Gone Down the Wrong Road?
http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/mass_tort_litigation/
Class Action Trends
The D&O Diary discusses the “new wave” in subprime credit crisis litigation:
http://www.dandodiary.com/2008/12/articles/subprime-litigation/the-evolving-credit-crisis-litigation-wave/
Class Action Commentary
Point of Law responds to a commentary on the Cato Institute’s Cato-at-Liberty blog arguing that the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) is contrary to the originalist interpretation of the United States Constitution. (See ClassActionBlawg reaction to the same commentary here):
http://www.pointoflaw.com/archives/2008/12/moller-constitu.php
Overlawyered discusses the reasons for the race to the courthouse shortly after a tragic event like the Black Friday shopper trampling:
http://overlawyered.com/2008/12/5-minute-after-suits-and-the-wal-mart-trampling/
A climate change skeptic responds to a researcher’s claims that he can calculate the difference between damage caused by a storm and the damage that would have been caused but for global warming, on The Air Vent:
http://noconsensus.wordpress.com/2008/12/10/class-action-suits-to-stop-global-warming/
International Class Action Law
Jurist reports on the rejection of a collective action brought in China by alleged victims of the recent tainted baby formula scandal. (See previous ClassActionBlawg entry here):
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2008/12/china-court-rejects-tainted-milk-class.php
Canadian Tax Resource discusses a bulletin issued by the Canadian Revenue Agency describing the department’s views on the tax implications of a Canadian securities class action settlement:
http://blog.taxresource.ca/cra-provides-direction-on-the-nortel-class-action-settlement/
Financial Post discusses the possibility of cross-border class action litigation by U.S. plaintiffs’ firms following the expected failure of a leveraged buyout of a Canadian company:
http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=1057781
The Court briefs a recent decision by the Supreme Court of Canada upholding the imposition of strict liability against a cement company in a public nuisance class action. (See earlier ClassActionBlawg commentary on the case here):
http://www.thecourt.ca/2008/12/10/recognizing-no-fault-civil-liability-in-respect-of-neighbourhood-disturbances-in-quebec-civil-law/
Oh, and by the way, the title of this week’s CABWR is not a typo. I just thought I’d make a belated pitch for that open Illinois Senate Seat.
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ClassActionBlawg.com Slapped with Class Action Lawsuit
Posted in Commentary, tagged Class Action News, class action press release, class action publicity on August 12, 2009| 4 Comments »
Not really. I just had to vent.
Try typing the phrase “class action” into a Google news search on any given day and you’ll find hundreds of catchy headlines like:
… You get the idea.
To the casual observer, many of these dramatic headlines might sound like real news, rather than a plaintiffs’ firm with a good SEO consultant supplementing its latest complaint with a press release in order to drum up publicity for its filing. The truth is, any yahoo with a law license can file a “class action” complaint. But the case doesn’t become a class action until the judge certifies a class, and the mere filing of a lawsuit is a far cry from a determination that the case has any merit. Some of these complaints may actually become “major” class actions, but the fact that they seem to accompany every filing where the plaintiff seeks to represent a class makes it almost impossible to distinguish the truly meaningful cases from those that you’ll never hear about again.
I’m sure a good plaintiffs’ lawyer could come up with an eloquent explanation for why it is necessary to treat each new case as the story of the century. It could be driven by a desire for publicity, a belief in the righteousness of the cause, or even a means of defending a firm’s turf against possible rivals. Whatever the reason, to someone searching for meaningful class action news, having to sift through the countless case announcements can be more than irritating.
Maybe some day the search engines will come up with some kind of filter to separate out the press releases from real news. Then again, if it was so easy to find class action-related news, would there be any need to visit ClassActionBlawg.com?
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