The Fourth Circuit recently weighed in on a technical question involving the process for removing a case against multiple defendants to federal court—namely, whether every defendant must actually sign the notice of removal. The Fourth Circuit concluded that “[w]e can see no policy reason why removal in a multiple-defendant case cannot be accomplished by the… Continue Reading
Tag Archives: Class Action Fairness Act
Supreme Court Rejects Plaintiffs’ Efforts To Avoid Federal Jurisdiction By “Stipulating” To Limit Class Recoveries To Under $5 Million
Posted in U.S. Supreme CourtEarlier today, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in Standard Fire Insurance Co. v. Knowles, No. 11-1450, that should make it a lot harder for plaintiffs and their counsel to avoid federal-court jurisdiction over significant class actions. The Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 authorizes the removal of class actions to federal court when,… Continue Reading
Can Plaintiffs Evade The FDCPA’s Cap on Total Statutory Damages in a Class Action by Filing Multiple, Gerrymandered Class Actions?
Posted in Class Certification, Motions Practice, SuperiorityThe Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), which regulates the conduct of debt collectors, authorizes plaintiffs suing over violations to recover statutory damages of up to $1,000. Because these amounts can rapidly add up to exorbitant numbers in a class action for very minor, technical violations, Congress capped the total amount of statutory damages that… Continue Reading
Are Quasi-Class Action Suits By State AGs Removable Under CAFA (Or, For Securities Fraud Cases, Barred By SLUSA)?
Posted in Antitrust, Class Action Trends, SecuritiesA number of courts recently have weighed in on a question we’ve blogged before—whether lawsuits by state attorneys general seeking restitution on behalf of private citizens are subject to removal under the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (pdf) (“CAFA”). These rulings have broad implications for the litigation of these quasi-class actions. They also are of… Continue Reading
What’s Next for the Class Action Plaintiffs’ Bar? Getting Deputized by State Attorneys General
Posted in Class Action TrendsSome academics and commentators have been reading the tea leaves in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes (pdf) and AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion (pdf) as spelling doom for consumer and employment class actions. That’s overwrought; Dukes rejected an extremely adventuresome application of the class action rules by the Ninth Circuit, and Concepcion merely reminded courts… Continue Reading
CAFA Showdown in the Supreme Court: Today’s Oral Argument In Standard Fire Insurance Co. v. Knowles
Posted in U.S. Supreme CourtThis morning I attended the oral argument before the Supreme Court in Standard Fire Insurance Co. v. Knowles, the first major case in which the Court will address the provisions of the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (CAFA). For class-action lawyers on both sides, this case has been seven years in the making. From… Continue Reading
Do Class Counsel Owe Fiduciary Duties to Absent Class Members Before Class Certification (and Should Defendants Care)?
Posted in Adequacy, Class Action Trends, Class CertificationAccording to an interesting student note that will soon be published in the Stanford Law Review, the answer to both questions is “yes.” Specifically, the would-be class counsel must “protect[] the substantive legal rights of putative class members . . . from prejudice” “resulting from the actions of class counsel.” The implications for defendants opposing… Continue Reading
What Are Courts Doing With Fee Requests Made in Connection with Class Settlements?
Posted in Class Action Settlements, Class Action TrendsIn recent years, courts generally have cast a more skeptical eye on fee requests made by plaintiffs’ counsel who have negotiated a class action settlement. In the past, courts often rubberstamped outlandish fee requests. In fact, settlements awarding class counsel “excessive attorneys’ fees with little or no recovery for the class members themselves” were the… Continue Reading
District Court Confirms that Class Action Fairness Act Authorizes Removal when Request for Punitive Damages Causes Amount in Controversy to Exceed $5 Million
Posted in Motions PracticeThe first step in defending a class action filed in state court is to check whether it may be removed to federal court. To some, removal may seem hopeless if the plaintiff asserts only state-law claims and the amount of potential actual damages at stake appears to be well below the $5 million amount-in-controversy threshold… Continue Reading
Schlesinger v. Ticketmaster: California Trial Court Rejects “Pure” Coupon Settlement As Well As “Clear Sailing” Agreement To Pay Class Counsel $15 Million In Attorneys’ Fees
Posted in Class Action SettlementsOn September 26, California Superior Court Judge Kenneth Freeman rejected a proposed class settlement of allegations that Ticketmaster had misled ticket buyers by implying that fully disclosed charges for an Order Processing Fee and delivery by U.P.S. represented its actual costs. Before commenting on the grounds for rejecting the settlement, though, I can’t resist observing that… Continue Reading
Standard Fire Insurance Co. v. Knowles: Supreme Court To Decide Whether Plaintiffs May Evade Federal Jurisdiction Under CAFA By Stipulating That They Seek Less Than $5 Million In Damages
Posted in Motions Practice, U.S. Supreme CourtThe first question my colleagues and I ask when a client has been sued in a class action in state court is whether the case can be removed to federal court. Often, the only ticket out of state court is the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (“CAFA”), which authorizes removal of certain mass and… Continue Reading