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Class Action Blogosphere Weekly Review’s “Lay Down the Gauntlet” Challenge of the Week

I know this is going to make me sound like Ayn Rand, but why would we possibly want to encourage a public policy that imposes liability on employers for failing to force all of their hourly employees not to work during meal and rest breaks?

I sense that there are a few bloggers out there who will have an answer (or who will take great issue with the premise of the question).

For continuing coverage of proceedings in the California wage and hour class action decision, Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court, and other recent decisions involving wage and hour claims for unpaid time worked during meal and rest breaks, see this post and others from The Complex Litigator…

http://www.thecomplexlitigator.com/2008/10/brinker-redux-in-brinkley-v-public-storage-inc.html

… and this post from Wage Law:

http://wagelaw.typepad.com/wage_law/2008/10/old-and-busted-brinker-new-hotness-brinkley.html

With that out of the way, here are some more blog entries from the week that was that might be of interest to class action practitioners:

Class Action Decisions

William Shatner stars in this typically colorful case review from CAFA Law Blog of a California federal court’s order remanding to state court a class action that had been removed under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA), finding that the defendant had filed to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the $5 million amount in controversy threshold was met:

http://www.cafalawblog.com/-case-summaries-dont-be-a-namby-pamby-negotiate-your-own-amount-in-controversy-for-cafa-removal.html

Classified discusses another CAFA amount-in-controversy decision accepting jurisdiction where the damages requested only “likely exceed” the $5 million amount:

http://www.carltonfields.com/classactionblog/blog.aspx?entry=243

North Carolina Business Litigation Report summarizes a North Carolina Business Court’s decision permitting a plaintiff to withdraw class claims and enter into a confidential settlement with the defendant:

http://www.ncbusinesslitigationreport.com/2008/10/articles/class-actions/business-court-allows-confidential-settlement-of-individual-claims-in-class-action-suit/

Class Action Defense Blog provides a synopsis of a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision addressing choice of law issues and their impact on the enforceability of a class arbitration waiver:

http://classactiondefense.jmbm.com/2008/10/ucl_class_action_defense_cases_7.html

This guest post on Drug and Device Law Blog addresses the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals’ recent decision concluding that a “reverse payment settlement” in which a the holder of a patent to a branded drug agreed to make payments to a generic challenger in settlement of a patent infringement lawsuit did not violate antitrust laws:

http://druganddevicelaw.blogspot.com/2008/10/federal-circuit-upholds-reverse-payment.html

How Appealing summarizes a decision by Judge Richard A. Posner that “offers a useful discussion of the pros and cons of class actions” and draws from the personal experience of the wives of the panel’s members in reversing class certification in a deceptive advertising case:

http://howappealing.law.com/102808.html#030880

Class Action (and Related) Commentary

Overlawyered reports on an order compelling the transfer of more than 600 mentally disabled residents of a nursing facilities to group homes entered as the result of a settlement in a public interest group’s class action against the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the objection of the parents of one of the residents arguing that their son’s health would be endangered by the transfer, and proposed legislation to require courts to notify parents and guardians in class actions and give them a right to opt out:

http://overlawyered.com/2008/10/evicted-by-his-own-class-action-lawyers/

In this Huffington Post entry, Tracy Siska comments on the indictment of former Police Commander Jon Burge and class actions filed against the Chicago Police Department alleging that illegal detentions and prisoner abuse persisted in the department persisted until as recently as 2005, years after the events underlying Burge’s indictment:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tracy-siska/chicago-police-burge-and_b_138242.html

Point of Law offers an abstract from a National Review article discussing the Alaska “loser-pays” rule for shifting attorneys fees:

http://www.pointoflaw.com/archives/2008/10/commonsense-jus.php

Class Action Trends

Jan Norman on Small Business discusses trends in California wage and hour class actions and offers tips for employers from employment lawyer John McKasson:

http://jan.freedomblogging.com/2008/10/28/californias-fad-workplace-class-action-lawsuits/3411/

The D&O Diary discusses “The New Phase of Credit Crisis Litigation” as well as other class-action-related trends, and provides a bit of comic relief at the end of this post:

http://www.dandodiary.com/2008/10/articles/subprime-litigation/the-new-phase-of-credit-crisis-litigation/

Class Action Scandals

The New York Times Deal Book Blog reports on the sentencing of two former Milberg Weiss partners for their role in an illegal kickback scheme (see CAB entry here):

http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/28/bershad-gets-6-months-in-class-action-scheme/

Mass Tort Litigation Blog reports on the Kentucky Supreme Court’s decision to disbar two lawyers involved in a scandal involving alleged wire fraud in connection with a Fen-Phen class action settlement:

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/mass_tort_litigation/2008/10/lawyers-involve.html

Class Action Potpourri

FP Legal Post comments on a video game featuring vicious class action lawyers.  (See CAB entry here) …

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/legalpost/archive/2008/10/28/surefire-class-action-defence.aspx

… and Securities Docket doesn’t think the game is a good idea:

http://www.securitiesdocket.com/2008/10/27/worst-video-game-ever-class-action-killers/

The Australian newspaper’s Letters Blog includes a reader’s entry suggesting a government-sponsored class action is a better response than a bailout to the economic crisis:

http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/letters/index.php/theaustralian/comments/class_action_will_show_wall_st_we_mean_business/

and finally, The UCL Practitioner offers “An Introduction to the California Blogosphere,” which includes reviews of several of the great California-and-class-action-centric blogs often featured on CABWR and others covering a variety of legal topics:

http://www.uclpractitioner.com/2008/10/blawg-review-183.html

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