Suppose that the central issue in a putative class action is a legal issue pending before the Supreme Court. Depending on how the Supreme Court rules, the plaintiffs will recover either nothing or up to $600 million. But...more
5/16/2024
/ Attorney's Fees ,
Auto-Dialed Calls ,
CAFA ,
Class Action ,
Class Members ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Settlement ,
Statutory Violations ,
TCPA ,
Text Messages
When a class certification decision overlaps with merits issues, can a court of appeals deciding an interlocutory appeal from a class certification order also review an earlier decision on a motion to dismiss if it was...more
Think twice about whether the Class Action Fairness Act’s “local controversy” exception applies to your case. Even if more than two-thirds of the proposed class members are citizens of the forum state, there is a significant...more
A recent Ninth Circuit decision highlights the importance of the defendant clearly pleading the basis for alleging the amount in controversy in a notice of removal under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA). In this case,...more
Last week the Eleventh Circuit addressed an issue that many class action practitioners probably haven’t thought much about: whether approval of a class action settlement requires that each class member obtaining relief have...more
8/1/2022
/ Article III ,
CAFA ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Class Members ,
FRCP 23(e) ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Settlement Negotiations ,
Standing ,
TCPA
The Fifth Circuit recently addressed the scope of appellate jurisdiction under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA). CAFA allows federal courts of appeals to hear, on a discretionary basis, appeals from “an order of a...more
A recent Sixth Circuit decision caught my eye because it addressed an important issue on which I have not seen any other appellate decisions (and none were cited in the opinion). The plaintiff argued that the Class Action...more
Federal district court orders remanding cases to state court are generally not appealable, as provided by 28 U.S.C. § 1447(d). One exception to this is that the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) allows a court of appeals, in...more
A recent Seventh Circuit decision made two rulings on issues arising under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) that defendants may find useful in other cases. First, potential punitive damages exceeding a single-digit ratio...more
A recent Eleventh Circuit decision on the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) caught my eye. It involves the kind of question legislators (and their staffs) probably never think about when drafting a statute. Law professors...more
The U.S. Supreme Court held yesterday that a third-party defendant could not remove a class action to federal court under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) because the term “defendant” as used in CAFA refers only to the...more
The U.S. Supreme Court recently granted certiorari in Home Depot U.S.A. Inc. v. Jackson, No. 17-1471 to decide whether a defendant to a class-action counterclaim can remove the case to federal court under the Class Action...more
Justice Scalia made major contributions to class action law, writing the Supreme Court’s opinions in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes and Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, two of the Court’s most significant class action decisions in...more
2/3/2017
/ Abuse of Discretion ,
BP ,
CAFA ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Judicial Appointments ,
Neil Gorsuch ,
Nominations ,
SCOTUS ,
Trump Administration
As I’ve done in past years, this post and the next one will summarize some takeaways I gleaned from this year’s DRI Class Action Seminar.
Impact of Dart Cherokee: Nowell Berreth, who argued this case in the Supreme...more
7/28/2015
/ Attorney's Fees ,
CAFA ,
Class Action ,
Dart Cherokee Basin Operating Co. v. Owens ,
Daubert Standards ,
Dukes v Wal-Mart ,
FRCP 23 ,
Insurance Industry ,
Mediation ,
SCOTUS ,
Wal-Mart
It is important to remember that when a putative class action is remanded to state court under the Class Action Fairness Act (“CAFA”), that may not be the end of the jurisdictional battle. ...more
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in Dart Cherokee Basin Operating Co., LLC v. Owens, No. 13-719. Unsurprisingly, the Court held that a notice of removal under the Class Action Fairness Act does not need to...more
A recent Ninth Circuit decision caught my eye. It addressed whether a state enforcement action can be barred by a class action settlement on the same issue, finding that it was barred in part, to the extent the suit sought...more
12/2/2014
/ Advertising ,
CAFA ,
Class Action ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Advertising ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Privity of Contract ,
Res Judicata ,
Restitution ,
Settlement ,
Unfair Competition
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument this week in Dart Cherokee Basin Operating Co. v. Owens, No. 13-719. This case involves whether a defendant must provide evidence with its notice of removal under the Class Action...more