Waiting for Miller

Pessimists and disaster voyeurs, they say, watch the Weather Channel. Now, we can wait for the California Supreme Court to decide Miller v. Bank of America.

The California Supreme Court agreed on March 21 to review an appeal court decision that overturned a $1.5 billion judgment that Bank of America Corp. was ordered to pay to over a million California class members.

AND:

What’s New in 17-Two?

The California courts have been busy this quarter, mostly trying to figure out what the voters meant when they passed Proposition 64, a 2004 initiative that reformed California’s much-abused unfair competition law, Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200.

Do plaintiffs have to show they relied on the allegedly offensive representation or omission and lost money or property “as a result”? Two new cases construing California’s Proposition 64 say yes.

AND:

Fireside Chat

Can a trial court in a class action case rule on the substantive merits before deciding that a class

can be certified? The answer, according to the California Supreme Court’s recent decision in Fireside Bank v. Superior Court, 40 Cal. 4th 1069 (2007), is no.