Mass Torts vs. Class Actions: A Tale of Two Strategies
Eighth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Putative Class Claims
Class Action | Eleventh Circuit Reinstates No Hire Antitrust Claims Against Burger King
John Lewis of BakerHostetler Discusses Use of Social Media in Gawker Class Action
Wearables and the Future of Intellectual Property Law
In a recent decision, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia denied a retailer’s motion to compel individual arbitration of a claim brought in a putative class action lawsuit. The complaint alleges that...more
In Elijah Baer, et al. v. Tesla Motors, Inc., fifteen plaintiffs filed a putative class and Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”) representative action lawsuit against Tesla, Inc. (“Tesla”) alleging wage-hour violations of...more
In an important decision regarding the size and potential scope of a putative class, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio recently granted a defendant’s motion to exclude from a class action all...more
When there are two conflicting contracts—one requiring a court to address whether a case should be decided by arbitration or court action, and another requiring an arbitrator to address that issue—who decides which contract...more
On May 23, 2024, the United States Supreme Court held that if parties’ agreements conflict as to whether a dispute is subject to arbitration, then a court (not an arbitrator) must decide which contract controls. Coinbase,...more
On April 12, 2024, the United States Supreme Court ruled that an individual does not need to work directly in the transportation industry to be within the scope of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) exemption for...more
In a rare published decision, the Michigan Court of Appeals enforced a provision in an auto lease that allowed either party to demand arbitration, even though the dealer had assigned the lease to a finance company and no...more
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld a decision compelling arbitration based on an arbitration provision in website “terms of use,” even though those terms were in a hyperlink....more
Online retailers routinely include arbitration clauses in the terms of service for their website, seeking to send any consumer claims to arbitration and to eliminate a consumer’s right to file a class action lawsuit....more
In an appeal presenting recurring issues facing district courts in managing whether and how prospective parties are brought into wage and hour lawsuits under the collective action procedures of the Fair Labor Standards Act...more
A Single Incident Of Harassing Conduct May Create A Hostile Work Environment - Beltran v. Hard Rock Hotel Licensing, Inc., 97 Cal. App. 5th 865 (2023) - Stephanie Beltran, a server at the Hard Rock Hotel in Palm...more
On December 5, 2023, the Ninth Circuit in Bielski, et al. v. Coinbase, Inc., No. 22-15566 (9th Cir. 2023) concluded that federal courts can look to the parties’ agreement as a whole when determining whether the delegation...more
Welcome back to the Class Action & MDL Roundup! This edition covers notable class actions from the third quarter of 2023. In this edition, a mistake is just a mistake, “99.99%” isn’t 100% clear, and faxes aren’t always...more
When parties are battling over whether a court should compel a putative class action to arbitration, the outcome often turns on who decides the “gateway” arbitrability issues of whether a valid arbitration agreement exists...more
This past Friday, the Second Circuit reversed a lower court’s denial of a motion to compel arbitration in a putative consumer class action against fintech company Klarna. Edmundson v. Klarna, Inc., Case No. 22-557-cv (2d...more
In Bazemore v. Papa John’s U.S.A. Inc., the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals considered the plaintiff’s appeal of an order granting the defendant’s motion to compel arbitration and to dismiss the plaintiff’s complaint brought...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Ninth Circuit recently extended the scope of which transportation workers are exempt from arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”). In Carmona Mendoza v. Domino’s Pizza, LLC, – F.4th –,...more
On July 21, 2023, a unanimous three-judge panel once again affirmed a California federal court’s ruling that the truck drivers who deliver ingredients from Domino’s Southern California Supply Chain Center to Domino’s...more
In Powers v. Receivables Performance Management, LLC, the First Circuit Court of Appeals considered the defendant’s interlocutory appeal of the denial of a motion to reconsider an underlying denial of its motion to compel...more
In a victory for parties seeking to compel arbitration, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a district court must stay the proceedings when a party seeks interlocutory appeal of an order denying a motion to compel arbitration....more
In January 2023, a federal district court in Texas dismissed Michael v. Opportunity Financial, LLC, a putative class action filed in June 2022 claiming that fintech Opportunity Financial, LLC (OppFi), not its out-of-state,...more
The District of Massachusetts’s recent decision in Fairfield v. DCD Auto. Holdings, Inc., No. 22-cv-11977, 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 109463 (D. Mass. June 26, 2023) serves as a key reminder for businesses not only to have...more
In Coinbase, Inc. v. Bielski, the Supreme Court of the United States resolved a circuit split over whether district courts must stay proceedings while an interlocutory appeal of a denial of a motion to compel arbitration is...more
In a matter of first impression, a panel for the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed a judgment of the District Court of New Jersey in Singh v. Uber Techs., Inc. (April 26, 2023), compelling arbitration in a...more
Arbitration. The Ninth Circuit held Xerox waived its right to compel arbitration against putative class members when it acted inconsistently with its right to arbitrate prior to class certification in litigation against a...more