In the entertaining Free Refills and Why I Love America, Ann Arbor, Michigan blogger Wally has listed class actions as the number #11 best thing about living in the U.S., just behind the Super Big Gulp. Class action-philes might feel a bit slighted about not making the top 10, but at least we got a mention! Wally’s colorful description of class actions as the perfect embodiment of all that is good about American litigiousness, laziness, and greed is definitely worth a few moments of your day.
Posts Tagged ‘entrepreneurial litigation’
Class Actions Make America Great
Posted in Class Action Humor, tagged america class action, entrepreneurial litigation on April 23, 2009| 1 Comment »
Prospecting for Class Action Gold in Canada
Posted in Class Action Trends, Commentary, International Class Action Law, tagged canadian class action law, Class Action Trends, class counsel, employment class action, entrepreneurial litigation, International Class Action Law, lead counsel, private ordering on August 27, 2008| Leave a Comment »
Canadian attorney Howard Levitt has an interesting article published today on FinancialPost.com about trends in Canadian employment class action law. The article offers some practical preventative tips for employers, but also makes a few keen observations about the dynamics surrounding a recent increase in employment class actions in Canada, including this gem:
It’s a new phenomenon: Roving groups of lawyers searching for corporate conduct deleteriously affecting large groups of employees quickly move to find one employee willing to start a class action on behalf of all.
Many of these lawyers have little or no expertise in employment law.
Levitt’s description conjures images of Canada as the wild frontier of employment class action law. Certainly, there are many examples of young lawyers who have hit it big in class action lawsuits in the U.S. But the inexperienced class action lawyers roaming the country in search of class actions like 49ers speculating for gold have long since settled down to cultivate the fertile class action ground south of the border.
The roving bands have settled into established firms and consortiums of trial lawyers with the expertise, resources, and influence to edge out even the most enterprising of young lawyers. This often occurs behind the scenes through a process called “private ordering,” politely described in the Federal Judicial Center’s class action Pocket Guide for judges as when counsel competing for the role of lead counsel in a case agree amongst themselves to divide up responsibilities and fees. Sometimes, however, the struggle becomes more public, as it did when several different groups of firms competed for the role of lead counsel in this recent case. “Auctioning,” or competitive bidding for the role of class counsel, has also been used in some cases.
So, if you’re a young enterprising class action lawyer in the U.S., you may have to pay your dues a bit before you earn your first private jet. And for those would-be prospectors thinking about heading north to stake your claims, in addition to a quality gold pan and a sturdy mule, you’ll need to submit an application to the National Committee on Accreditation.
For some online articles discussing the phenomenon of “entrepreneurial litigation” try these links:
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/MULR/2006/14.html#Heading131
http://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/MR969/MR969.ch10.pdf
Concepcion Point/Counterpoint
Posted in Class Action Trends, Commentary, Consumer Class Actions, tagged arbitration, arbitration waiver, AT&T Mobility, class action abuse, class action lawyer, class arbitration waiver, concepcion, consumer class action, corporate greed, defense lawyer, entrepreneurial litigation, plaintiffs' lawyer, scalia, trial lawyer on May 26, 2011| 2 Comments »
In response yesterday’s entry discussing Daniel Fisher’s article on the potential impacts of Concepcion, I got one of the best comments that I’ve ever received on this site. It comes from Portland complex injury and consumer class action attorney David Sugerman, who blogs at www.davidsugerman.com. Of course, I disagree with just about every word of it, but with imagery like a bunch of corporate fat cats “fixing to celebrate the opening of the all-you-can-eat trough of greed,” I could not help but re-post it here:
Ok, David, friendly banter on.
First, I must say that I don’t know a single defense lawyer who owns a private jet, but I know several plaintiffs’ lawyers who do, so all this talk about “high-priced” defense firms rings a little hollow to me.
Second, defense lawyers will have jobs for as long as there are plaintiffs’ lawyers around to file lawsuits, and somehow I don’t see the plaintiffs’ bar throwing in the towel this easily. What you may see is simply a shift in the kinds of class actions that get filed in the future, or the industries that are targeted. I say “targeted” because in my experience trends in consumer class actions are more often driven by the creativity of the entrepreneurial trial bar than by any epidemic of corporate greed. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying there aren’t well-publicized scandals involving an epidemic of corporate greed (See Enron), but they tend to generate securities or ERISA class actions, not consumer class actions.
Finally, I’ll wager you, although not for money. Only for pride. (I’m not made of money after all, I’m just a defense lawyer). I’ll bet that not only don’t we see a decrease, but we’ll actually see an increase in consumer class actions over the next year. Sort of like the rash of class actions filed just before CAFA took effect. I’m not sure at this moment how we’ll measure this, but I’d imagine that there’s a consulting firm out there (no doubt worried about the effect Concepcion is going to have on its own bottom line) planning just the kind of research we need.
So, if you’re a consulting firm looking for a project, we’ve got a job for you (pro bono, of course)…
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