In the Soundtrack of Our Lives, one of the songs that I still get to hear from time to time on Sirius XM, is “Still the One” which was recorded and released by the band Orleans in 1976. I was in the tenth grade just to be...more
In this episode of Decision Dive, Balch’s Jason Tompkins, Chair of Balch & Bingham’s Issues & Appeals Practice, is joined by Conrad Anderson IV, partner in the firm’s Litigation Practice, to explore the Alabama Court of Civil...more
When you finally reach an agreement to settle a hotly contested class action, you want more than anything for the court to approve your settlement agreement and for the case to be over. But, to get to the end of the case,...more
Class action settlements can be structured in a variety of ways. Many include a common fund, consisting of an agreed-to amount the defendant deposits into a Qualified Settlement Fund, or “QSF,” a tax vehicle that facilitates...more
By legislation enacted last month, on June 9, 2021, amending the New York Finance Law, Mental Hygiene Law and Executive Law, New York State established an opioid settlement fund (“OSF”). Finance Law §99-nn(1). The purpose...more
The CFPB has filed an amicus brief in the Maryland Court of Appeals urging the court to affirm the decision of the Court of Special Appeals reversing the trial court’s approval of a settlement agreement in a class action...more
On November 1, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued a summary order rejecting the appeal of an objector to the Foreign Exchange Antitrust Settlement. A few weeks earlier, U.S. District Court...more
Equifax has agreed to pay $575 million to settle consumer as well as state and federal regulatory claims for its 2017 data breach. This is the largest data breach settlement to date. ...more
Cy pres distribution of residual settlement funds has come under increased scrutiny in recent years. Perhaps for this reason, the Florida Supreme Court on May 16, 2019, refused to approve an amendment to Florida Rule of Civil...more
We previously wrote about the Yahoo data breaches, subsequent class action pending in California, and the company’s estimate of potential settlement costs. Based on the Plaintiffs’ recent Motion for Preliminary Approval of...more
Here is a situation that comes up quite a bit in the world of business contracts containing indemnification provisions, and in the insurance industry as well. First, a party (“Party A”) gets sued, or threatened with a suit,...more
When class action settlement funds are not amenable to individual claims or to a meaningful pro rata distribution, courts have used the cy pres doctrine to distribute the funds to nonprofit charitable organizations whose work...more
Plaintiffs signed engagement letters with the law firm Finkelstein & Partners (the “law firm”) to represent them in two separate personal injury lawsuits on a contingency basis. ...more
In four decisions from the past few months, the Seventh Circuit has staked out positions on several cutting-edge consumer class action issues. See In re: Subway Footlong Sandwich Marketing & Sales Practice Litig., 869 F.3d...more
We previously reported that the Connecticut Attorney General, on behalf of himself and the Attorneys General of Indiana, Kansas and Vermont (the “state AGs”), had filed a joint motion to intervene in a CFPB enforcement action...more
On June 7, 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a memorandum directing that “Department attorneys may not enter into any agreement on behalf of the United States in settlement of federal claims or charges . . . that...more
We previously reported that the Connecticut Attorney General, on behalf of the Attorneys General of Indiana, Kansas and Vermont, (the “state AGs”) had filed a joint motion to intervene in a CFPB enforcement action against...more
Two consumer class actions recently hit a roadblock when courts denied final approval for class settlements. In In re Target Consumer Data Security Breach, the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota preliminarily...more
An insured corporation settles a class action, and a portion of the settlement pays the plaintiffs’ attorneys. Payments to the class are excluded from coverage under the terms of the corporation’s liability policy. But can...more
We learned yesterday of the effect that broken mergers are having on some hedge funds. Now comes news that, like many other institutional investors, large US insurance companies are yanking huge sums of money out of their...more
More than a year and a half ago, Home Depot announced that it had been a victim of one of the largest data breaches in U.S. history. Media outlets reported that the breach had affected Home Depot’s customers who had made...more
Most self-funded ERISA medical plans provide that participants who have been injured by other people (think car accidents) must reimburse the plan if the participant recovers from the other person for those injuries. In order...more
The year 2016 has only just started, and we have already seen several important court decisions related to employee benefit plans and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA). This Client Alert...more
Montanile v. Board of Trustees of the National Elevator Industry Health Benefit Plan is the fourth decision by the U.S. Supreme Court addressing the subrogation rights of self-insured ERISA-covered health plans. Three...more
The U.S. Department of Justice recently entered into a consent order with Evolve Bank & Trust to settle charges that the bank discriminated against mortgage loan applicants on the basis of disability and receipt of public...more